Exercise Intensity

The Best and Worst Ways to Measure a Workout

Sore muscles, target heart rate, calorie burn, and more. Our expert sounds off on the legitimate and not-so-legitimate ways we assess a workout well done
By Emily G. W. Chau fitbie
 

How Well You Can Hold a Conversation

You don’t need fancy equipment or equations to measure how hard you’re working. Turns out that the Talk Test—whether you can talk easily, barely or not at all while exercising—is one of the most accurate gauges of workout intensity. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse found that the Talk Test correlates with ventilatory threshold (V1 and V2), physiological markers of respiratory changes and oxygen uptake. You should aim to exercise at a clip where talking is possible but not easy (estimates V1). This is the range where you will maximize fat burn and be more likely to stick to your routine, conclude the researchers.

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