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breathing, how fast your heart is beating, how much you’re sweating, and how
tired your legs feel — anything that contributes to the effort of sustaining the
exercise.

The purpose of putting a numerical value on exercise is not to make your life
more complicated but rather to help you maintain a proper workout intensity.
For example, suppose you run 2 miles around your neighborhood, and it feels
like an 8. If after a few weeks running those 2 miles feels like a 4, you know it’s
time to pick up the pace. Initially, you may want to have a perceived exertion
chart in front of you. Many gyms post these charts on the walls, and you can
easily create one at home. After a few workouts you can use a mental chart.
Table 8-1 shows a sample perceived exertion chart.

Table 8-1 Perceived Exertion Chart

Numerical Rating Subjective Rating Sample Activities

0 Nothing at all Sitting still, reading

1 Very light Standing in line

2 Light Taking a leisurely stroll

3

4 Light/moderate

5 Moderate Walking at a moderate pace,

gardening

6

7 Hard Jogging briskly, cycling over

rolling hills

8 Very hard Running

9

10 Extremely hard Sprinting up a steep hill

Measuring your heart rate ...............................................................

The talk test and the perceived exertion chart are both valid ways to make
sure that you’re exercising at the right pace. But there’s a more precise way:
measuring your heart rate,the number of times that your heart beats per

Chapter 8: Cardio Crash Course 109