Intense exercise gets your heart pounding and body sweating. You’re only able to speak a few words at a time and if you were to rate the difficulty of the workout, you’d give it an 8 or 9 out of 10.

 

It’s different for everyone, because we all have different fitness levels. For people not used to regular exercise, a brisk walk could get their heart rate up, whilst a marathon runner would have to work a bit harder!

 

To determine whether you’ve done intense exercise, we look at your heart rate. First, we estimate your maximum heart rate using your age, gender and Body Mass Index (calculated from your height and weight). Then we determine how many of your exercise minutes were spent at 80-85% of this maximum heart rate. These make up your Intense Exercise Minutes.

 

A seasoned runner might go for a 12-mile jog on a Sunday afternoon – but if their heart rate remains below this 80-85% threshold, their exercise minutes are more likely to be classed as Moderate Exercise Minutes.

 

But remember – even if just one of your exercise ratings are green – Intense or Moderate – then you’re doing excellent things for your health!