By Dr. Jack Daniels

• Every training session should have a purpose that improves one of the following physiological functions:
  1. Heart and sport-muscle strengthening
  2. Endurance
  3. Aerobic fitness
  4. Anaerobic fitness
  5. Speed
  6. Economy of movement
• Exercise heart rate is associated with each of the above-mentioned functions
  1. A faster-than-anticipated heart rate suggests over-training or inadequate recovery from previous exercise
  2. A slower-than-anticipated heart rate suggests improvement in fitness
• Resting heart rate is good to evaluate periodically as it may suggest improved fitness or inadequate rest, or when recovered complete from a session of warmup activity
• Recovery heart rate can help determine when to start the next work bout of several being performed