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Heart Rate vs PRE?

littlehedgy
littlehedgy Posts: 192 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
QUestion:

I have heard for years about the Perceived Rate of Exertion scale that tells you if you want to work really hard and burn the most calories you should not be able to hold a comfortable conversation.

What is weird is when I work out I am rarely really out of breath. I don't know if I have extreme breath control or my years of singing paid off because I can breath well, not easily, but I could probably tell a story. All that being said my heart rate gwets up high. I keep my heart rate between 175-185 when I work out hard.

So should I be pushing even harder to get higher on the PRE, or be content making my heart race?

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    If you believe the 220-your age as an an indicator of MaxHR (I don't personally, it's pretty arbitrary and inaccurate) your MaxHR would be in the 200ish range and if you're comfortable at 175-185 you're probably ok.

    If you're looking at it in respect only to burning the maximum number of calories and losing weight higher intensity is the way to go. (You'd probably find you're already getting pretty close to your LT).

    If your goal is to build aerobic endurance (for example - if you wanted to train for a marathon) you would want to mix up your workouts in terms of time and intensity (surprisingly, for runners it's the long slow runs that build endurance..)

    So the answer is......it depends on your goals. (Personally I lean towards perceived exertion over heart rate)
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