The first step to setting your cardiovascular (CV) training zones, your heart zones, is to set your maximum heart rate. But, is your maximum heart rate rapid like a hummingbird’s or slow like a whale? Consider the hummingbird for a short moment. A hummingbird’s heart beats ten times each second. That’s over 500 beats per minute. A hummingbirds heart is tiny, the size of a pencil eraser. Compare a hummingbird’s heart size to the world’s largest heart – the seven ton blue whale. A blue whale’s heart is as big as a room. It is so big that a child could walk around inside it only bending to walk through the valves. The heartbeat of a whale varies from whale to whale just like humans. In general, larger animals have a slower heat rate than smaller animals. The average heart rate of large whales is from about 10 to 30 heart beats per minute. Whales lower their heart rate when they dive beneath the water – this conserves oxygen and lets them dive longer.
Do you have a high maximum heart rate like a hummingbird or a low maximum heart rate like a blue whale? Find out by self-testing using the Heart Zones Sub-Max Tests which you can take for free or hire a certified Heart Zones CPT, Certified Personal Trainer or a Heart Zones CICI, Certified Indoor Cycling Instructor who can give you the test and set your training zones for you. Or, you can purchase from the Heart Zones USA website a packet of 8 sub-max test cards plus the max and zones card for only $9.95 and take the test using these colorful and descriptive workout cards.