Heart Rate Question

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RandomMiranda
RandomMiranda Posts: 298
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 30 years old, so according to the Mayo Clinic my target heart rate is 133-162, and over that is 'above my zone.' During my workout today my heart rate was around 175 while running, according to my Polar FT4. I felt fine- working hard for sure, but I wouldn't have thought my heart rate was at around 90% of max. So my question is, how bad is it for my heart rate to be up that high? I don't have any kind of heart problems, and I am overweight for my height but not obese (175/5'8"). Am I potentially doing some kind of damage? Or should I just keep at it and my heart rate will decrease as my cardiovascular health improves?

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  • fretless1965
    fretless1965 Posts: 26 Member
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    I have the exact same question. I went running with a friend who let me borrow his HRM. We ran 7 miles at a 10:15 pace. It was a very comfortable run, and my heart rate averaged 168. My max heart rate is supposedly 173.

    I couldn't care less about being in the "fat burning zone" or whatever, I just want to run faster but I am concerned about pushing my heart too far.

    Does anybody know if there is an authoritative word on this matter, or is the medical community still trying to figure this out?

    BTW, my resting heart rate is 72. Before I started losing weight my resting heart rate was 92.
  • gxm17
    gxm17 Posts: 374
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    I'm not a doctor. But I have tachycardia and my doctor told me not to worry about how high my heart rate gets during exercise. Apparently, at least as I understood it, what matters is the recovery time, how fast your heart rate goes back down. At least that's my interpretation of what the doc told me. Anyone with more expertise, please correct me if I'm wrong.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Unfortunately, all of the common equations for estimating max heart rate have a fairly large standard of error. That means that someone can have a TRUE max HR that is 20-35 beats/min above the calculated number and still be in the "normal range".

    It is always best to associate your exercise heart rate number with your feelings of perceived exertion (esp breathing). If it "feels" easy, it probably is easy, regardless of the actual heart rate. That's not always the case, so you also have to be aware of other symptoms such as dizziness, arrhythmia, and inappropriate shortness of breath. But, in the absence of a medical condition or the symptoms described, along with an appropriate level of perceived exertion, it is likely that there is nothing "abnormal" about your heart rate response.
  • dlegros
    dlegros Posts: 162 Member
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    Don't forget that predicted max heart rate is just that - predicted.

    It is a mathematical estimation, commonly using the Haskell and Fox equation of 220-age (so mine would be 220-38=182bpm) however this was not a clinical trial or study but a meta-analysis of other studies. Nor does it indicate any SD.

    It does get used in cardiology to predict like origin of some tachycardias (overly fast heart rate) but this is a patient lying in a trolley/bed not exercising.

    I ran 5K HIIT on a treadmill this week and my HR went to 102% predicted max.

    Another formula deemed "better" is 206-(0.685*age) +/- 6.4, so again for me - 206-(0.685*38) = 178 +/- 6.4 = 171-184 -- still less that my max HR when I ran and I'm still alive :smile:

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