You’ve probably noticed that your wearable fitness technology is monitoring your heart rate—but have you ever wondered why? There’s a direct relationship between your heart rate and your workout’s intensity.
Resting Heart Rate
As the name suggests, your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute (bpm). While your resting heart rate can vary daily, the typical range is 60-100 bpm. Improving your cardiovascular health can reduce your resting heart rate.
Heart Rate and Exercise
When you’re working out, you should strive to keep your heart rate within a target heart rate zone. This target heart rate zone is 50%‐85% of your maximum heart rate. To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. From there, you can find out your target heart rate numbers by multiplying your maximum heart rate by your target heart rate percentage. Once you’ve calculated your maximum and target heart rates, you can use these numbers to monitor your workout’s intensity and track your fitness.
Introducing Foods Early May Help Prevent Allergies
According to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), introducing allergenic foods like peanut products, fish or eggs may help prevent food allergies in infants at high risk of developing one. The report explains that when allergenic foods are given to infants as early as the age of 4 months, the immune system’s cells can take up the allergenic proteins and develop a tolerance to them.
While most infants aren’t considered to be at a high risk for developing food allergies, the report states that infants with a low or standard risk of food allergies can benefit from early introduction, too.
It’s important to remember, though, that every infant is different. For more information, consult your pediatrician.