heart rate question

beautifulnow

Hi I have been working out pretty hard for the last week and I bought a polar HRM and today I work REALLY hard...800 hundred calories in an hour...sorry I am SO proud of myself!! Anyway my heart rate was low 190's the whole time...is this to high and if so what can I do?

beautifulnow

Hi I have been working out pretty hard for the last week and I bought a polar HRM and today I work REALLY hard...800 hundred calories in an hour...sorry I am SO proud of myself!! Anyway my heart rate was low 190's the whole time...is this to high and if so what can I do?

arewethereyet

There are different schools of thought on this.
The general rule is 220- age= maximum heartrate

So if you are 20 your max is around 200.

You are working very hard when you get to 90-100.

Good job!! Keep on truckin!

FloridaGranny

You didn't say which kind. I traded my HRM (wrist type) last week for the one with the chest strap. You won't believe the differences in the calorie count! I too was getting the 700 and 800 count range - UNTIL I switched HRM's.... the chest strap is more accurate in the calorie count and the heart rate. Now I'm seeing 300 to 400 calorie range and know I'm working harder. If your heart rate is 190, that seems way too high - but, I don't have your specs either..... If mine gets up to 150 to 165 thats in the Hard Zone and I know it's too high for me. I have to push pause on my recorder and walk it down so I don't overdo.... your's should not be reading 190 the whole time; if anything, just when you are working extremely hard and fast - did you feel you were over extending and out of breath? I'd probably faint if mine went up to 190!

Congrats on the hard work!

beautifulnow

thanks for the info..I am 25 and 217 lbs and I have the chest strap and the watch...you have to have both on for it to work?.? I was not 190 the whole time I was 185 (lowest ) to 193 (highest) ...it was deff. a hard wokout though. I didnt' feel out of breathe ( like I was going to die) just felt like I was really pushin myself to keep going. I think it was high cause I am so over weight that it is a big job for such a little heart LOL

arewethereyet

that is actually pretty good. I have read a lot on the subject and you do want to vary your workouts a bit. You are young, so have more energy than I would for this type of workout.

As you get fitter, you will find it much harder to reach that 90 and up zone. You are definately doing your heart some good by exercising it!! That is what you are doing when you work out aerobically, workng out your heart!!

Great job!:flowerforyou:

arewethereyet

You didn't say which kind. I traded my HRM (wrist type) last week for the one with the chest strap. You won't believe the differences in the calorie count! I too was getting the 700 and 800 count range - UNTIL I switched HRM's.... the chest strap is more accurate in the calorie count and the heart rate. Now I'm seeing 300 to 400 calorie range and know I'm working harder. If your heart rate is 190, that seems way too high - but, I don't have your specs either..... If mine gets up to 150 to 165 thats in the Hard Zone and I know it's too high for me. I have to push pause on my recorder and walk it down so I don't overdo.... your's should not be reading 190 the whole time; if anything, just when you are working extremely hard and fast - did you feel you were over extending and out of breath? I'd probably faint if mine went up to 190!

Congrats on the hard work!

Yes, for you and I that would be heart attack on a platter! I am 47 and my target fat zone is 135-145 bpm. I try to hit 155-165 for at least 10 minutes of a 40 minute work out for my heart. When I hit 170-175 I can feel I am hitting too high and must slow!

Age has so much to do with THR

beautifulnow

Thank you I really NEEDED to hear I am doing something right LOL seems like the harder to try sometime the longer it takes to feel some sort of result or accomplishment and I deffinatly feel proud today!

debmac63

Food for thought...I always tried to run faster and further on the treadmill. Last week I read an article in a running magazine that said if you want to lose weight you have to slow down. I am going to try it for the month of December but let me tell you it's been hard.

I was running at 4.5 to 5.0 for 35-45 minutes everyday and it seemed to be working ok. However, now that I have my hrm that kind of running puts me in the 80%-90% heart beat range. If I want to lose the weight the article said I had to slow my heart rate down to 60%-70% range. Now I barely get over 3.4 on the treadmill but the hrm says I'm burning at 55% fat instead of 30% fat which I would do if I was running.

This is kind of long but I copied the article for you to look at. Like I said, I'm going to try it this month and see if I see better results.

Running For Weight Loss??.Slow Down

You may be out running your fat burning hormones

So you've loved running since your track days of high school. It's simple, you can do it anywhere and all you need is some good running shoes and pair of comfy cotton footies. But now it's taken on a sub-purpose. Age has allowed those extra pounds you use to leave choking on your dust to catch up with you and hit you right in the gut, literally. There are a billion reasons (or excuses) that justify your 10 or even 20 pounds that keep you company.

You are busier now, so you don't run as often, or as fast, or as long as you use to. You're getting older and your body can't take the as much. Or maybe it was the curse of the evil eye of all those non-runners over the years. (you know they were really jealous they can't run and sweat and look as good doing it

Whatever your justification, the bottom line is it's time to lace up the old running shoes a little more often. For the last few weeks you've hit the ground running. Enjoying the days of old. Marveling at your new found dedication to your workout schedule. But as you get on the scale once again the numbers barely budge. The problem may be your love for running. The pure exhilaration for the sport. If you consider your self a runner then your gut instinct will tell you to run faster. Try to shave another 2 minutes off your course time.

This time however DO NOT follow your gut feeling or you will be left with your gut to feel. As runner you are use to trying to run faster, cut your course time, beat your personal best or at least don't get any slower than you already have. But if you want to drop those pounds you have to slow down and work at a lower intensity. Using a heart rate monitor is the best way to determine if you are exercising at the proper intensity to reach your weight loss goal. Heart rate monitors due exactly as the name implies. They monitor the rate in which your heart is beating. (By the way, Heart Rate monitors are an invaluable tool for any serious or even semi-serious runner, no matter what your goal is. )

Knowing your personal heart rate percentage numbers can mean the difference in reaching your goal and trying to reach your goal. For weight loss you want to work at 60% to 70% of your heart rate max (HRM). Your hear rate max is the maximum amount of times your heart can beat in a minutes. To determine that number use the standard formula of subtracting your age from 220. Then take that number and multiply it by .60 and you have 60% of your heart rate max. Follow the same steps except replace .60 with .70 and you will come us with 70% of your heart rate max. Stay between these two numbers on your heart rate monitor and you are on the straight and narrow path to weight loss. (For example someone who is 30 years old. 220-30=190 190 x .60= 114 190 x .70 = 133. A 30 year old must stay between 114 and 133 HRM for a weight loss workout)

Over these percentages of your HRM your body tells your fat burning hormones (epinephrine, nor epinephrine and growth hormones) to shut down so it can use their energy, along with all other available energy, to your respiratory system to maintain your pace.

Working above 70% of your heart rate max over an extended period of time, like your whole 45 minute run, may allow you to burn more calories but less of those calories will be from fat. In the end you don't just want to burn calories, you want to burn fat calories for lasting weight loss. When your body can't use your fat stores to burn the next place it turns is to lean muscle stores, which is the last thing you want. Lean muscle is what keeps your metabolism up and running allowing you to keep off the extra pounds. For efficient and effective weight loss we want our calories to come from our fat stores not our lean muscle store. Working over 70% HRM may be beneficial speed training but it's just not an efficient way to loose weight. Despite popular opinion of "more is better" and "faster is the best", slowing down is a faster route to loosing weight. Don't misquote me you will burn calories no matter how fast or slow you run but for weight loss you want to burn as many calories from fat as you can.

Lastly and probably most importantly when trying to loose weight weather it's 5 pounds or 50 pounds. Now isn't the time to multi-task. Pick one goal and stick to it. Don't practice for a 5K to loose weight. You'd do yourself and your recorded time a favor if you loose the weight first then start a race prep running schedule. ( To be detailed in the next article) At 60% to 70% of your HRM you may not be running at your fastest pace or pushing your personal best time. In fact you may even have to slow down to a speed walking pace. And that's okay because you will arrive at your weight loss goal a lot faster if you slowed down.

mimielle

Another way to find out what your heart rates should be is to get tested at a lab. It's usually called a VO2 max test where you run on a treadmill while breathing into a tub with a HRM until failure or you can't run any more. They will have a graph of how your heart rate changes and will be able to tell you exactly what your zones will be. Mine cost $150 and I train most of the time using HR zones.

I had this done two years ago and my max heart rate was 196 on the test...When I'm working very hard or at the end of a running race, my HR will be above 180 and may even hit the 190's.

I have some fit training partners whose highest HR is over 200. HR between people can vary a lot and the equation is just a guideline.

hope this helps!

arewethereyet

:flowerforyou:

may_marie

debmac63, that was a very good article.. you showed put it as a main topic to everyone can see it

:flowerforyou:

arewethereyet

Deb, I agree....this is a very informative article. I :flowerforyou: so I could come back today and read the whole thing with fresh eyes (altho I am not sure how fresh I am at 6 am!! Coffee please!)

I am not a runner, but do my 2-3 miles walk/jogging and keep my HR in the 85-90 percentile. I am going to try to hold back and stay in the 60-70% zone and see if we can break this plateau together!!

Thanks!:flowerforyou:

pettmybunny

I never understood the 220-age thing, your max heart rate doesn't change over time, it's genetically determined, and unless you're not healthy, it should stay the same throughout your life.

Here's a great article that explains more about it, along with several tests you can do (even at home) that will get you a better idea of what your max heart rate is.

http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm

arewethereyet

I never understood the 220-age thing, your max heart rate doesn't change over time, it's genetically determined, and unless you're not healthy, it should stay the same throughout your life.

Here's a great article that explains more about it, along with several tests you can do (even at home) that will get you a better idea of what your max heart rate is.

http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm

thanks R

I checked it out and it is really a great article. can you post a Thread for it? Please!!??

I am also happy my max HR is exactly what I thought it was. SBS said the MAX is the one you reach when your legs stop moving!! lol. I get to 175-178 and I can feel the energy leaving my body. I checked my HRM and 178 is the highest I have ever hit and that was jogging with an oxygen tank!

debmac63

Deb, I agree....this is a very informative article. I :flowerforyou: so I could come back today and read the whole thing with fresh eyes (altho I am not sure how fresh I am at 6 am!! Coffee please!)

I am not a runner, but do my 2-3 miles walk/jogging and keep my HR in the 85-90 percentile. I am going to try to hold back and stay in the 60-70% zone and see if we can break this plateau together!!

Thanks!:flowerforyou:

Like I said, I'm going to try the slower way for the month of December and I sure hope I break this plateau. I'd love to hear from you and see if slowing down worked for you.

Bobbie145

Like I said, I'm going to try the slower way for the month of December and I sure hope I break this plateau. I'd love to hear from you and see if slowing down worked for you.

Debmac: How did this go for you?

Bobbie

PolarQueen

Oh this is the post I wanted to add. OOps. I guess I am still learning. :embarassed: