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Measuring your exercise intensity can help you reach your fitness goals and there are some simple ways to do it. No matter how fit you are, before you begin to begin to work out, you need to give some thought to your exercise intensity.

Choosing your intensity should be based on your goals, your fitness level and your health status. When engaging in cardiovascular exercise such as jogging, biking, swimming, hiking, you may not reach your fitness goals if you’re working too light. Alternatively, if you over exert yourself, you could end up with an injury or being too sore to work out again.

In order to discover the best workout intensity, as a general rule of thumb, you want to take yourself outside of your comfort zone. One simple way to gauge exercise intensity is to take the “talk test”: If you can carry on a conversation easily, you aren’t working hard enough. But if you can barely utter a word, you are working too hard.

You can also measure your exercise intensity by calculating your heart rate. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising at 55% to 85% of your maximum heart rate to achieve maximum benefits. Aim for the lower end of that range if you haven’t worked out for a while; and for the upper end if you’re physically fit and have been exercising regularly. To monitor your heart rate during exercise, it is best to purchase a heart rate monitor. These will give you the most accurate and constant readings.

However, you can check your heart rate on your own by taking your pulse, counting your heart beat for 15 seconds, and multiplying that number by four.