Is it okay to workout with a heart rate of 160?

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  • EatWholeFoods
    EatWholeFoods Posts: 174 Member
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    The heart gets fast on the tempo runs, race pace runs, and sometimes end of long run.
  • skysiebaby
    skysiebaby Posts: 88 Member
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    htimpaired wrote: »
    EatWholeFoods wrote: »
    How do I field test for my max heart rate? Also I have a garmin forerunner heart rate monitor. I care enough to even pay for a stress test etc. I think my max heart rate nay be higher than the equation and that's why I don't get sore or a lot of lactic acid build up.

    That equation is crap in my opinion. If I went by that, I should have had a heart attack a long time ago. I think there are many variables involved that the equations don't take into consideration. My HRM (also a garmin FR) regularly says I'm at 160-170 while I run. And my perceived exersion is moderate-I can talk, I'm breathing but not maxed out...trust how you feel. It's the best gauge.

    This is me too. My Polar H7 HRM says 170-180 on average for a 1hr15 run at around a 10.5 min mile but this is perfectly comfortable for me and my heart rate slows down quickly once I'm done. I'm 34.
  • EatWholeFoods
    EatWholeFoods Posts: 174 Member
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    Good to know and hear everyone's info. My resting rate is low too like 60 to 64 watching tv and had my heart rate monitor say 54 sometimes if I leave it on watching tv. So I guess its ok just we shouldn't get dehydrated and die out there lol in the heat. I read sodium can help you in heat retain water if you have the sodium before the run and water and can help keep your heart rate down a little.
  • wolfgate
    wolfgate Posts: 321 Member
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    Yes, maximum heart rate is very individual and related to how fast your specific heart can beat - not how fast you should let it beat. The formulas are only moderately helpful if someone is setting initial target zones for exercise. If you want to know your individual max heart rate, they are of no use. If someone wants to do heart rate training (as opposed to using perceived exertion) they at some point need to determine their own max HR and resting HR (which is much easier - LOL!)

    FWIW, the formulas would say my HR would max out in the upper 160s. (53 year old male). My 5k in June I pushed hard the last stretch and hit 183 at the end. As it was still increasing I'd estimate there are a few more beats per minute in there.
  • xtremefitness123
    xtremefitness123 Posts: 3 Member
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    A good way to see if your heart is ok with 160 is when you stop your cardio see how long it takes for your heart rate to drop under 120. Should be there within about 2 minutes or so. The problem would be if your heart rate stayed up near 160 after completing cardio. Hope this helps.
  • golden6911
    golden6911 Posts: 50 Member
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    I generally get pretty high heart rates when I run, especially in the summer if I am running in 80F temperatures. I don't run a huge number of miles - about 12 a week - so I am probably not as conditioned as some of you. I get heart rates up to 170-175 going up hills and 160ish running a decent pace on flats. Once it cools down my heart rates will dip down to about 150-155 on flats if I don't push faster.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    The goal of training is to develop the ability to run faster at a lower heartrate, not to see how high you can push your heartrate every day.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
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    When I was in my early 30's and not in stellar shape, my heart rate got up to a sustained 180 while hiking up art of Tuckerman's trail with a pack full of camera gear and a heavy Bogan tripod :)
    Get up to about 140 pushing hard in a spin class. Hard being 400W+ on the meter.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    lporter229 wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    lporter229 wrote: »
    The Maffetone 180 formula may be a better way of estimating your target heart rate zone.

    http://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/

    I'm 43 years old and have been running for a long while. I use 142 as my target ceiling based on the Maffetone formula.

    That seems wrong and gives me a max HR of 137

    I generally train at around 145-150 and HIIT will bring me peaks of 165-168

    I just focus on "can I talk" and does it come down quickly when I slow down

    It's not intended to give you your max HR. It's intended to give you your optimal training zone for developing aerobic fitness.

    I've always been perplexed by this TBH and am open to being educated

    Why is under 137 my aerobic training zone when I don't really feel the effort around there and feel as though I'm improving at higher rates ...I might be overthinking it, but it's genuine ignorance and interest in the science / source bit
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    This book explains it very well. I highly recommend it if you are interested in endurance training:

    http://www.amazon.com/80-20-Running-Stronger-Training-ebook/dp/B00IIVFAEY

    Basically, it's all about the recovery. You may not feel like the exertion on your body at HR=137 is enough to gain improvements in fitness, it definitely is. But not so much that you have a difficult time recovering. If you constantly train at a higher HR, you are gaining no additional benefits, but it takes more time to recover. Then when you actually do higher intensity workouts, you are unable to reach your max potential.

    The idea is to create a solid aerobic foundation through low intensity training. You are able to run much longer at this level. You can run 6-7 days per week without fatigue. All of this goes toward strengthening your aerobic base. Once you have a solid foundation you can add speed work/ tempo runs up to 20% of your training time and you will really start to reap the benefits.

    I don't know what you current level of training is so you may be fine doing speed work already. You just don't want to push yourself too hard on every run. If you shoot for your target zone of 137 for 80% of your running, you will see drastic improvements in your overall pace. I was very skeptical and struggled with this concept at first, but once I was able to grasp the concept and actually train this way, my half marathon and marathon times plummeted.

    For the record, I am guessing that scottb81 and others will be able to offer you a better explanation behind the physiology, so feel free to chime in :)
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    I use a Polar H7 and their associated algorithm to help time my recovery periods, but I push my HR at least once a week. I've never felt any adverse effects from this and this is your real concern. As long as you are healthy pushing your boundaries is a necessary tool for growth.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    CSARdiver wrote: »
    I use a Polar H7 and their associated algorithm to help time my recovery periods, but I push my HR at least once a week. I've never felt any adverse effects from this and this is your real concern. As long as you are healthy pushing your boundaries is a necessary tool for growth.

    I agree. And I don't think anyone intended to imply otherwise. It just shouldn't be pushed too high every time you run. At least, that's not the best way to increase your overall aerobic endurance. For someone with different goals, 20-30 minutes of HIIT twice a week might be appropriate. Sometimes the intent of these threads tends to get derailed.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    EatWholeFoods wrote: »
    I have been working out for 4 years, but kept my hwart rate 120-145 for workouts. I started running again which I used to do for 10 years but 10 years ago. I have a heart rate monitor and feel great. I just feel pushing like its hard but not too hard, but my heart rate gets to 160 and stays there for awhile when I run. Is that okay if I feel fine during and after workouts?

    I sure hope so, because my average heart rate was 173 during my last 5K race. For the last mile it was 178.

    However, you shouldn't be doing most of your workouts at a hard intensity. Most of them should be moderate. Rather than heart rate, I suggest the "talk test": can you talk in complete sentences? If not, slow down until you can.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    lporter229 wrote: »
    This book explains it very well. I highly recommend it if you are interested in endurance training:

    http://www.amazon.com/80-20-Running-Stronger-Training-ebook/dp/B00IIVFAEY

    Basically, it's all about the recovery. You may not feel like the exertion on your body at HR=137 is enough to gain improvements in fitness, it definitely is. But not so much that you have a difficult time recovering. If you constantly train at a higher HR, you are gaining no additional benefits, but it takes more time to recover. Then when you actually do higher intensity workouts, you are unable to reach your max potential.

    The idea is to create a solid aerobic foundation through low intensity training. You are able to run much longer at this level. You can run 6-7 days per week without fatigue. All of this goes toward strengthening your aerobic base. Once you have a solid foundation you can add speed work/ tempo runs up to 20% of your training time and you will really start to reap the benefits.

    I don't know what you current level of training is so you may be fine doing speed work already. You just don't want to push yourself too hard on every run. If you shoot for your target zone of 137 for 80% of your running, you will see drastic improvements in your overall pace. I was very skeptical and struggled with this concept at first, but once I was able to grasp the concept and actually train this way, my half marathon and marathon times plummeted.

    For the record, I am guessing that scottb81 and others will be able to offer you a better explanation behind the physiology, so feel free to chime in :)

    Thanks for that

    That might be the difference as I'm not a runner, I'm more a cardio for warm-up and HIIT type

  • bbontheb
    bbontheb Posts: 718 Member
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    xtremefitness123 wrote: »
    A good way to see if your heart is ok with 160 is when you stop your cardio see how long it takes for your heart rate to drop under 120. Should be there within about 2 minutes or so. The problem would be if your heart rate stayed up near 160 after completing cardio. Hope this helps.

    This helps answer my question. I would like to ask a stupid question though-in people that it stays high-what would that mean, or why would that happen?

    I'm new to exercise and I notice with my fitbit hr it shows my heart rate drops down quite quickly when I stop. Wasn't sure if this was good/bad.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
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    My workouts are mostly in anaerobic zone (MHR found by noted the maximum ever recorded with my HRM, 5 bpm higher than 220-age). The goal of my workouts are cardio vascular health, calories burned, other health benefits of exercise (stress, etc.) and the enjoyment of mountain biking. I'm not training for a race or to improve my time.

    Any negatives to working out mostly in this zone keeping these goals in mind?

  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,837 Member
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    MakePeasNotWar wrote: »
    I hit 180 fairly often, which would theoretically be 100% of max (I'm 40), but clearly isn't. I got up to 204 during HIIT last year and nothing bad happened.

    My doctor said as long as I feel fine and don't get dizzy or have chest pain I'm ok at 170-180bpm. You might want to double check with your doctor to see what he or she says.

    Exactly the same here. During normal runs I average 145 to 165, depending on pace. I've gone up over 190 during HIIT, but that was pretty much gasping. My average working rate is 155bpm

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    scottb81 wrote: »
    If you are really at 85 to 90% for most runs then yes that is too hard. You are running a Lactate Threshold effort every day. You should only run that hard once or twice a week and the rest of the time run at less than about 77% max. These guidelines are for best improving performance.

    OP has been doing it multiple times a week for months - I suspect the typical equation isn't right and OP is running below LT.
    To be sure you need to do a max HR test or run a hard 5k and see how high it gets in the last 400m sprint.

    I'll second that.

  • EatWholeFoods
    EatWholeFoods Posts: 174 Member
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    Recovery heart rate is a big part of it too. After stopping exercise for 1 min, my heart drops 40 bpm so I think I am fine and after 2 min it returns to my starting heart rate or almost starting speed prior to working out. Thanks everyone. Good input...I guess my max is somewhere above 181 since I hit 181 sprinting on a hot day.
  • EatWholeFoods
    EatWholeFoods Posts: 174 Member
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    If it stays high then your heart is not doing well and you should take it easy. If it deops after stopping that is good. Google recovery heart rate. @ Bbontheb

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