How high does your HR get?

cavaaller_85

When you're REALLY pushing yourself and working out hard, how high does your HR get? Will you start to feel weird before it gets dangerous? My HR gets kind of high when I'm running (I've been running for several months now), and I feel fine afterwards, but it still worries me. I'm 26 yrs old (female) and I know it gets up to 180 sometimes...

Dtrmnd86

I haven't seen mine get over 179, but I do feel like I'm pushing it waaay too much and need to slow down. i try to keep it between 140 and 165

SarahofTwins

When I first started it use to be high around 165...but since I've been less it stays around 145.

wbgolden

188 :O

ninpiggy

When you're REALLY pushing yourself and working out hard, how high does your HR get? Will you start to feel weird before it gets dangerous? My HR gets kind of high when I'm running (I've been running for several months now), and I feel fine afterwards, but it still worries me. I'm 26 yrs old (female) and I know it gets up to 180 sometimes...

Mine has gotten that high and it worries me too. In fact, my resting HR is fairly high. I have normal blood pressure but a high HR so I think a doctor's appointment is probably in order for me.


eta: I'm 24

sarahlong09

When i work out on an eliptical at the gym with a monitor... My heart rate gets up to 190 tops and then evens out at 180 when im at a steady speed. Ive wondered the same thing about if its dangerous. I feel fine though. I am 21 and 299 now.. i was 318. but even when i was 275 it was the same rate.

outersoul

When I'm going really hard I get to the mid 170s. I like to keep my HR above 150 and below 165.

MinnieInMaine

When I'm running, especially uphill and/or in the heat, it can get upwards of 180. I don't like to go any higher than that so I'll try to slow it down or even walk to get closer to 170.

FYI, standard calculation for max HR is 220 minus your age. Really the only way to tell is with a stress test but it's a good rule to follow anyway.

datguy2011

180-190

KevDaniel

I have seen the 180s but I like to keep it around 165ish

jkline919

I have been as high as 194. That was when I first started using a HRM. I used it in spinning classes mostly, but now I use it when I run, bike outside, hike, swim ... everything. I have not gotten much higher than into the 180s lately since I have been really working my butt off and been able to lower my threshold, but you will get to the point of starting to feel sick before your heart beats out of your chest. Now that I have lowered my threshold, I feel like I get way out of breath before my heartrate ever feels like it is too high, so keep going and you will lower your max heart rate the more you work on it. It is good to build your base by doing "endurance" training rather than getting it up as high as you can from the start. Work on keeping it steady in the 70%-80% range for a while and guarantee you will see that max number start to go down.

Hope it helps. Also, I am a 23 yr old female.

rebecca_florida

Mine gets into the 170 - 180 range when I'm pushing it, but I usually don't stay there on a prolonged basis - I slow down, take a quick break until I'm below 170. (I'm usually dying anyway!). 170 is the threshold my HRM tells me is still "in the zone" without exceeding it.

katapple

during sprints it will get into the 180s, but at a regular pace I am in the upper 160s, low 170s

99clmsntgr

Tempo runs and intervals I've seen my heart rate go up into the 180's. I haven't ever felt "weird" or light headed or anything like that, but I know I'm pushing myself pretty damn hard. Typical LSD or easy runs for me have my heart rate float in the 160 range. If you feel you're doing something unsafe, talk to your doctor, don't mess around.

My resting heart rate, on the other hand, is super low. Last physical the doctor recommended an ekg since I hadn't ever had one before and they could do it right then and there. My resting heart rate was 51, compared to a normal around 70. Doctor said that, if he didn't know that I run for fitness he'd be concerned. Contrast my resting heart rate with Lance Armstrong's which was reported to be as low as mid- to upper-30's during his Tour de France runs.

aippolito1

The highest I've seen was 193 but lately the highest is about 181 and that's when I'm running hard. I'm 22.

Skydemon53

Assuming you are healthy, and have a healthy heart, you can't damage it by execising so hard that it reaches your individual Maximum Heart Rate. You can estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. I quite regularly get above my 90% of my MHR, and it hasn't killed me yet!

Lanfear

Think my highest has been over 180, but it generally "peaks" between 160-180. The rule of thumb for max heartrate is a good rule but not always right, I don't think! According to that calculation my maximum should be 182 - very often it's up around 179 so pretty much 100% effort. And, when it's that high, I am NOT pushing myself like a mental thing or really overdoing it - I think that's just the way I'm made. I don't feel ill or dizzy or anything - I just seem to have a high heart rate.

I cycle every day, horse ride once a week and run at least 3 miles 6 days a week. My resting heartrate refuses to come down below 80bpm and my blood pressure remains high (checked by my GP who says just keep an eye on it) so for me I've come to realise that a high heart rate while exercising is just one of those things I can't do anything about.