The Heart Rate VO2 Relationship of Aerobic Dance: a Comparison of Target Heart Rate Methods

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO2) for aerobic dance exercise. Therefore, eleven females completed 20 minutes of aerobic dance with continuous monitoring of HR and VO2. These physiological responses were analyzed with correlation/regression techniques. The results showed that for aerobic dance to produce a response in excess of 50% of VO2 max, the target HR must be approximately 80% of the age-predicted HR max or greater. In contrast, previously reported data for treadmill running shows that 50% of VO2 max is achieved at approximately 65% of age-predicted HR max in females. The maximum heart rate reserve (Karvonen) method was also found to underestimate the actual VO2 of AD. With the Karvonen method, the target heart rate must approximate 65% of maximum HR reserve in order to elicit a VO2 response which is representative of 50% of VO2 max. These data support recent research which illustrates that target heart rate prescriptions derived from treadmill testing may fail to accurately place AD participants in the recommended training zone.