Understanding exercise intensity

When you're doing aerobic activity, such as walking or biking, exercise intensity has to do with how hard the activity feels to you. Exercise intensity also can be seen in your breathing and heart rate, whether you're sweating, and how tired your muscles feel.

You can measure exercise intensity in two basic ways:

• How you feel. Exercise intensity is a subjective measure of how hard physical activity feels to you while you're doing it, called your perceived exertion. Your perceived exertion may be different from what someone else feels doing the same exercise. For example, what feels to you like a hard run can feel like an easy workout to someone who's more fit.

  Perceived exertion may not always be similar to your heart rate level, and it depends on the person. But perceived exertion can be a general guide to measure your exertion level. If you think you're working hard, your heart rate is probably higher than usual.

• Your heart rate. Your heart rate offers a more fact-based look at exercise intensity. In general, the higher the heart rate during physical activity, the higher the exercise intensity.

You can use either way of gauging exercise intensity. If you like technology, you can check your heart rate with an activity tracker that includes a heart rate monitor. If you feel you're in tune with your body and your perceived exertion, you'll likely do fine without a monitor.