High HR when exercising

xcmum

My resting HR is 58 (just took it manually now) -- I am 5'0, 114lbs and 26 years old
Whenever i head out for a run or bike i put my HRM on and i'm already at 100bpm and haven't even started exercising.
Average 169bpm cycling
Average 176bmp running

I have heard about HR training but as my HR is so high i don't know how i'd even be able to walk let alone run without going over what i should be doing.

Does anyone else have the same or know why this is happening?? Is it normal?

cmriverside

You don't have to stay in some magical "fat burning" zone on your HRM. Your heart rate is fine. The harder you work, the more calories you expend. As long as you feel okay, continue doing what you like. The "fat burning" zone is bunk.

cmriverside

This guy has been in the fitness industry for decades and writes good blogs about HR and HRMs etc.

Here is one, but all his blogs are interesting:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/new-hrm-how-to-make-the-calorie-estimate-more-accurate-183102

Here's a link to all of them:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak

xcmum

Thanks, i'm not looking for a fat burning zone i've just read about athletes who are training in certain zones to increase speed and so on

zlauerMom

Do you have any idea what your max heart rate is? 100 may not be all that high, especially if your Max HR is in the 210 range.

Also, you can't train to zones if you don't know your Max HR. And the formula 220-minus your age doesn't cut it. When I was 40 my Max HR was 195. You'll need to push yourself to your max at the end of a long workout. We did it in marathon training by sprinting after our long run was over for the day.

phjorg1

Thanks, i'm not looking for a fat burning zone i've just read about athletes who are training in certain zones to increase speed and so on

thats also individual to them.

they work in those zones as a % of their VO2MAX. They want to be using as much of the cardio system as possible and going hard enough that they are not using too little of there potential speed, but not going to hard where the lactic acid energy system is also starting to be used which is counter productive..

Azdak

My resting HR is 58 (just took it manually now) -- I am 5'0, 114lbs and 26 years old
Whenever i head out for a run or bike i put my HRM on and i'm already at 100bpm and haven't even started exercising.
Average 169bpm cycling
Average 176bmp running

I have heard about HR training but as my HR is so high i don't know how i'd even be able to walk let alone run without going over what i should be doing.

Does anyone else have the same or know why this is happening?? Is it normal?

The issue exists because there is a wide range of "normal" for an individual maximum heart rate. It's like the differences in height. If average male height is 5"10", someone 6"8" tall is not "abnormal", even though they are substantially different from "average".

Same thing with max heart rates. And since all the "zones" are derived from max heart rate, if someone has a max heart rate that is substantially different than "average", then none of the "zone" numbers will be relevant.

You have basically 3 choices:

1. Do a max heart rate test. This gives you a more accurate number, but not necessarily a completely accurate number. Why? because going to 100% of your heart rate is hard. It's not something that a lot of people can do, even if they work at what they think is "max" effort.

2. You can observe your HR response to different exercise intensities over time and develop your our sense of effort and your own "zones".

3. You can pay more attention to perceived exertion, esp breathing, and learn to read different levels of effort from that.

Especially if you are a beginner, there is no need to get too caught up in intricate "zone training" workouts. Keep it simple: easy, medium, hard. And use all three in your training.

If you want a little more focus, do a search for "tempo training" or "threshold training" and you should find some useful articles.

Coquette6

My resting HR is 58 (just took it manually now) -- I am 5'0, 114lbs and 26 years old
Whenever i head out for a run or bike i put my HRM on and i'm already at 100bpm and haven't even started exercising.
Average 169bpm cycling
Average 176bmp running

I have heard about HR training but as my HR is so high i don't know how i'd even be able to walk let alone run without going over what i should be doing.

Does anyone else have the same or know why this is happening?? Is it normal?

I'm about the same stats as you, 5'0'", 26 years old, though I'm about 10lbs heavier. My HR stats are about the same as you. Resting is anywhere from 50-65, right before exercise about 100, and depending what I'm doing during exercise, it can get up around 165-170. I'd say you're fine, especially if your heart rate drops relatively quickly after you stop exercising. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate#Recovery_heart_rate

scottb81

For building aerobic fitness in athletes, low heartrate training works. In fact, if you really look at the way elite distance runners train, a lot of their training is at low heartrates, even though they are still pretty fast at those heartrates. It doesn't have anything to do with the "fat burning zone". It is:

- Training the body for specific physiological adaptations.
- Running at an effort level that allows you to run a lot without wiping you out.
- Running at an effort level that provides aerobic training but leaves you fresh enough to really hammer the hard training session the next day; like the tempo run mentioned above.

If you are never training really easy then you are also either not training very much or not training really hard. EIther way, you are limiting your progress as a runner.

It is possible that that your max heartrate is way over the norm, but it is more likely that you are simply undertrained aerobically because you always exercise too hard, Even if your max right now is 200 (around 15 beats higher than predicted) you are doing all your runs at 88% max. All your runs are tempo runs. Training like that is guaranteed to initially improve your fitness quickly and then, after a few months, plateau forever.

The formula for continued improvement is simple:
- Run more (every day if possible, sometimes twice a day) **
- Run most of the time easy (70-80% max heartrate)
- Do a long run once a week
- Run up to 20% of your weekly mileage hard
- Run more and if you're really tired, like the day after a really hard run, run really easy (60-70% max heartrate)

** If you want to run that much build up to it intelligently, over time, and don't injure yourself in the process.

Below I am reposting what I wrote about low HR training earlier this year. I tried it and it works.

Low HR Training

Basically what everyone should do is 12+ week of basebuilding every year at easy pace. The problem is that most people, me included, tend to run easy pace too hard for optimum development of the aerobic system. The result is that it never really gets fully developed and if too much hard running is included can get eroded over time.

The method I am using is from Dr. Phil Maffetone’s "Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing". He has an internet site and this article by him summarizes his method and why it works. http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/cippianhotmail/files/Want_Speed_Slow_Down_2007.pdf

Essentially, you subtract your age from 180, add a plus or minus 5 modifier and run at that target heartrate to target minus 10 for 12 or more weeks or until you stop getting results. Then you add back in some speedwork and race. During the basebuilding period walk breaks are ok, especially going up hills, but slowing down the pace will probably also be necessary. According to a lot of people who have been through this the slowdown is temporary and within a few months the pace will be back up, except at a lower intensity.

This next article by a top level athlete speaks of the results he got from training with the Maffetone method. http://www.markallenonline.com/maoArticles.aspx?AID=2

This method is by an entirely different coach but ends up being very similar to Maffetone. The article at the link is from a very long post by that coach on the Let’s Run Forum a few years ago. The explanations in here are great. http://www.angio.net/personal/run/hadd.pdf

This was written by Arthur Lydiard in the days before heart rate monitors. It also stresses the importance of lots of easy miles for base building. Athletic Training by Arthur Lydiard, available free at http://www.maratonvu.hr/INDEX DOWNLOAD/al training eng.pdf

This link is to the runningahead Low HR Training subforum. It contains a lot of good information and ongoing discussion. It would also be a good place to ask questions of people who have been doing this a lot longer than I have. http://www.runningahead.com/groups/LOWHRTR/forum

This Low HR Training FAQ at that site also contains a lot of good information. http://www.runningahead.com/groups/LOWHRTR/forum/60275b29d3324bd384739e880f6a7495