Physical Fitness Assessments
Target Heart Rate
Optimizing your physical performance requires precise monitoring of your physiological training responses. Your heart rate is one of your most vital training tools. In order to get the fitness goals that you want, you may want to monitor your heart rate to ensure that you are training in the appropriate heart rate range for your performance needs. The American Council on Exercise has a brief description for how to monitor your exercise intensity using your heart rate and why you would want to. Additionally, the American College of Sports Medicine has an online tool for calculating your target heart rate.
Ideal Body Weight
Body weight is another tool you can use to monitor your physical performance. Body weight is one of many factors used to assess total physical fitness. In the nonperforming population, body weight is often used as a measure of overall health (using Body Mass Index). Remember that body weight can be shifted according to your proportion of lean muscle mass. Click here to learn more about your ideal body weight.
Exercise 101
The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend doing moderately intense cardio for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. For more information about these guidelines, click here. However, elite athletes and tactical Warfighters train more to achieve higher levels of fitness and have higher training needs — see the Navy Seal Fitness Guide and the Building the Soldier Athlete Manual for more information.
