Seniors are more vulnerable to cardiovascular conditions than younger people. Exercise is the best practice to keep the cardiovascular system healthy. But the problem is elder people can’t do any exercise they want due to their physical limitations.
They must opt for low-impact exercise and an exercise bike is the safest and most effective option for strengthening cardio health. In addition, exercise bikes come with heart rate monitors that help users to track heart rate for effective cardio workout.
Now the question that might arise in your mind: are exercise bike heart rate monitors accurate for seniors? Well, the accuracy depends on the quality of the heart rate monitor. And, a high quality exercise bike equipped with a top-quality heart rate monitor that precisely delivers accurate information for all ages.
Read the article thoroughly to get detailed information regarding this query.
Are Exercise Bike Heart Rate Monitors Accurate For Seniors?
The benefits of heart rate monitors or HRMs is huge for all ages people who ride an exercise bike. But it’s more important for senior people as they shouldn’t ride with high resistance and intense workout. The HRMs of exercise bikes show the current condition of their heart rate while riding an exercise bike to avoid intense workout.
The biggest problem for seniors is that they can’t do high-impact or intense workouts like younger people due to physical limitations. Although an exercise bike is a low-impact exercise equipment, sometimes it could also accelerate your heart rate. That’s why senior people need to track their heart rate while riding an exercise bike.
Now the question is: are exercise bike heart rate monitors accurate for seniors? Well, the accuracy depends on the types and quality of the heart rate monitor equipped with the exercise bike.
What Type Of Heart Rate Monitor Comes With An Exercise Bike?
When you look for a heart rate monitor you’ll see Electric HRM and Optical HRM are the most popular options because of their high-accuracy. Electrical HRM technology uses an electrical pulse to read your heart rate. Optical technology uses light transmission in your skin and reads the light that comes back.
Between these two technologies electrical and optical, electrical is the more accurate. And, the good thing is most exercise bikes (upright and recumbent) use electrical technology to monitor heart rate.
However, optical technology such as fitbit devices, and wrist-based tracker also comes handy while using pedal exerciser for seniors. So, you can be confident about the accuracy of the heart rate monitor that comes with the exercise bike.
Why Seniors Need To Monitor Accurate Heart Rate?
Measuring or monitoring heart rate is not a matter of concern for younger and healthy people. But for seniors it’s something that they can’t skip. Especially if they have any heart problem which is very common among the senior people.
Riding an exercise bike will increase the heart rate which is risky for heart patients. But when they have a heart rate monitor with an exercise bike, they can track the heart rate precisely in real time. It’ll help them to stick to their limit and avoid pushing themselves too hard. (To avoid any intense workout issues.)
Benefits Of Monitoring Heart Rate For Senior
Using a HRM(heart rate monitor) during the time of riding an exercise bike will let you track how quick your heart is beating. When you ride an exercise bike you’re burning your energy. By using a HRM you can measure your heart rate and figure out how many calories you’re burning and what energy source you’re using.
The higher your heart rate reaches the more calories you’re burning. Therefore, while riding an exercise bike with a heart rate monitor, you can adjust your work intensity with your heart rate. By tracking the real time heart rate senior people can get alert when they overexert themself.
What Should My Heart Rate Be When Using An Exercise Bike?
Think that, you have a high-quality exercise bike that comes with a highly accurate heart rate monitor. But you have no idea, what should your heart rate be while using your exercise bike? Now tell me, what’s the benefit of having a high-quality exercise bike and heart rate monitor if you don’t know the right way to use them.
Don’t worry, down this section I’ll show you the right heart rate zone while using your exercise bike.
Heart Rate Zones
With a heart rate monitor you can easily identify your current heart rate while riding your exercise bike. But, before this you need to figure out your maximum heart rate that you should maintain while riding an exercise bike.
How To Determine The Max Heart Rate Zone
Well, the process of determining the max heart rate zone is very simple. You just need to subtract your age from 220 and the result is your max heart rate zone. For example, if you’re 40 years old, your max heart rate zone is 180. Now your target heart rate during riding an exercise bike should be 50%-80% of 180, 92 beats to 155 beats per minute.
Can Heart Rate Monitors Be Helpful For Seniors When Exercising?
Of Course! Let me explain why. Heart rate is the most vital, realistic and accurate process to determine and measure the intensity of the workout that a person engaged with. It’s especially crucial for senior people as they are bound with so many limitations.
With a heart rate monitor they can easily figure out whether their body is running to peak level or exceeding existing fitness level. Besides, tracking heart rate monitors helps the senior people to understand their physical condition, stamina and ongoing fitness level.
Below I’m going to show you some advantages of heart rate that seniors are going to enjoy while exercising.
Constant Feedback
If you exercise with a heart rate monitor, you’ll receive constant feedback on your activity. It’ll show you the current heart rate that’ll help you to understand how intense you’re exercising. As seniors, people shouldn’t exercise with high intensity, a heart rate monitor will alert them if they exceed the max limit.
Safety Exercise
One of the main advantages of a heart rate monitor is it ensures a safe workout. If you exercise with a heart rate monitor you can protect yourself from too long and inadequate workout. It helps you to do safe exercise by letting you know when you need to stop and take rest.
Increase Fitness Level
When you exercise your fitness level gets boosted up. But you can’t measure the progress you’re doing in exercising without tracking. With HRM you can see your progress and get motivated to do regular exercise.
Final Thoughts
Tracking heart rate while riding an exercise bike is an excellent practice for seniors. By tracking the heart rate senior people can measure the current intensity of their workout and adjust their exercise according to that.
Now before relying on exercise bike HRM, you may look for an answer: are exercise bike heart rate monitors accurate for seniors? Above in this article I’ve explained in detail about this query and I believe it’ll clarify all of your doubts.