Exercising over 85% heart rate

christineja

I'm a 45 y/o woman trying to lose weight and improve my fitness levels, so I'm exercising 60+ minutes a day daily, wearing a heart monitor. It's all cardio, mostly dvds. With the dvds I'm using, my heart is above the 85% threshold at least half of the time, sometimes hitting 100% and over (but that's only for a few minutes). The AmHeart Assoc says I should be aiming for 145 tops--that seems crazy to me. After the workouts my monitor says I average anywhere from 130-150 total, but again, I hit 160+ for at least 20% of the workout.

I feel good during and after my workouts--but should I cut back and march in place or something when I get above 145? Not only is that a bummer for my calorie burn, I feel like I won't improve my endurance, etc.

Thoughts?

spoiledpuppies

So, based on your age, your calculated/estimated HR training zones are:

zone 1: 113-132
zone 2: 133-149
zone 3: 150-167

It's totally fine to train in zone 3 if you're comfortable there. (Beginners may need to stay in zone 1, progress to 2, and so on.) It's a good idea to vary your workouts though. Do one per week where you alternate between zones 1 and 2. Do one per week where you alternate between zones 2 and 3. Do one where you stay in zone 2 the whole time. And do one where you actually go into zone 4, but only for about 30 seconds at a time followed by 30 seconds of recovery (repeat 5-15 times).

Note that these zones are only the estimates for your age. When you do the last routine I mentioned, you should really be fatigued and breathing heavily by the end of each 30 seconds--so push yourself hard for those.

Fit_in_Folsom

If you have are walking away from your workouts and feeling fine, nothing wrong with that. Doing intervals and staying at a higher hr will burn more cals and will also build your cardio engine. Everyone's hr max is different, and it does change as your fitness increases. I have been told you can't get to a max. I have seen 202 for myself on a 100 degree day climbing a 3 mile 12% incline at a fast pace on a bike, after riding 50 miles... and that was not max.

lisajsund

Improving overall fitness includes doing strengh training. Increased HR happens with strength workouts too. Bottom line on HR? Monitors are not super accurate - some are anywhere from 10-20% off. Agree with Fit_in_Folsom - if you feel fine, nothing wrong with that.

christineja

Thank you both, that's helpful info and very reassuring!

gobonas99

the HR calculators out there are all based on averages. There are people who have much higher and much lower max/working HRs than what the calculator says.

I will be 38 in January. By those calculators, my max HR should be 182. 85% should be 154. 75% should be 136. That calculator doesn't work for me, because I have a high working HR. When I run, I usually *average* 181-183 - max is usually 188-192, but I have hit 197 as recently as last week. When I bike, my average is usually 155 for an easy ride, and 165 for a race. I did a recovery power walk last week after my half marathon, and my average HR was 113. But....my resting HR is between 52-55, and I Have a very fast recovery time (ie I'll go from 180 at the end of a run down to 110 within 5 minutes of stopping, and down to 80 or less within 10 minutes of stopping).

If I followed those HR calculators, I'd never be able to do much more than walk. So I prefer to go by perceived exertion, and just make a note of where my HR is. I also only eat back half of my exercise calories, because I know my high working HR will cause my HRM to give me a too high calorie burn.

jacksonpt

So you are going over 100% of your max HR? Clearly the max HR set in your HRM is wrong.

999tigger

jacksonpt wrote: »

So you are going over 100% of your max HR? Clearly the max HR set in your HRM is wrong.

+1.