Your New Peak Heart Rate

amberlykay1014
amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was hoping to start an informative discussion on your peak heart rate. My HRM tells when when I've achieved a new record peak heart rate in my workout summary. I'm assuming that breaking this record heart rate is a good thing? Should I strive to beat it? Aside from calories burned, what are the benefits of having a high peak heart rate, if any? Just great cardio health in general?

When I first started running a few months ago, my record heart rate was in the 180's. Now it's 193. What's your peak heart rate if you know it?

Just curious to see what people have to say -- Thanks!

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    As far as I know it goes the other way. I try to get my HR down for the same exercise not higher. I'm trying to improve my cardio function so my heart isn't beating out of my chest when I exercise.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    In my normal workouts I usually peak at 195-ish, if it's a really intense workout. My first 5k my heart rate peaked at 207, my second 5k, it peaked at 203. You want your heart rate to get lower, not higher. A lower peak heart rate means your heart is becoming more efficient.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Keep in mind that 220 ish is max heart rate. You shouldn't be getting anywhere near that. If your HR is going that high you need to back off whatever you're doing. I usually start to feel a bit light headed in the high 180's and know it's time to back it down.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    Keep in mind that 220 ish is max heart rate. You shouldn't be getting anywhere near that. If your HR is going that high you need to back off whatever you're doing. I usually start to feel a bit light headed in the high 180's and know it's time to back it down.

    Yeah, my first 5k I did push too hard. I felt like I was going to puke at the finish line. My second 5k I felt fine, I pushed a little harder than my normal runs, but was surprised that my heart rate got up to 203. I have asthma though and live 6,000 feet above sea level so that might have something to do with it.
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    Ok, cool. I've just been pushing myself harder, which sometimes gives me a new peak heart rate. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, or whether I should just ignore it.

    Edit to add: When I said in my original post that when I started running, my HR was in the 180s, I just meant as a peak, not for the whole duration! I think my average usually ends up being in the 150s or so.
  • chuckles9189
    chuckles9189 Posts: 343 Member
    I think it also depends on what you're going for. If you're training for cardio keep it lower but if you're trying to maximize fitness I've read that you should be pushing yourself to a new "peak." If you consistently peak at 180 but are trying to train like an athlete and have the best top performance in the world...then "they" (the experts of which I am not!) suggest to increase your training to get a new peak. However, if you are just getting in great cardio shape by running...you definitely don't want your heart rate to keep peaking so high.


    (I am no expert...far from it...but this is the general idea from what I've read in various things. I had the same question once)
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    I guess what I'm trying to do is just have more endurance for the other things I do, like backpacking/climbing. I don't want to get so winded when I'm carrying my pack up a steep hill! My rationale was that if my heart rate goes up, then my body must be getting more comfortable with high exertion?

    I'm also not doing any specific running program. I just go out and jog and occasionally break into a sprint when I'm feeling inspired. I guess maybe I should find a program or something to match my goals?

    Thanks all for your information!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I was hoping to start an informative discussion on your peak heart rate. My HRM tells when when I've achieved a new record peak heart rate in my workout summary. I'm assuming that breaking this record heart rate is a good thing? Should I strive to beat it? Aside from calories burned, what are the benefits of having a high peak heart rate, if any? Just great cardio health in general?

    When I first started running a few months ago, my record heart rate was in the 180's. Now it's 193. What's your peak heart rate if you know it?

    Just curious to see what people have to say -- Thanks!

    Heart rate is an indication of relative intensity--the actual number has no meaning by itself and so striving to hit a new "peak" is not really an effective workout goal.

    The two ends of the "heart rate spectrum" are Resting Heart Rate and Maximum Heart Rate. If you subtract Resting from Max, you come up with Heart Rate Reserve and it's the percentage of that reserve that can give you an indication of training intensity.

    Maximum Heart Rate is something that is more or less genetically determined. There is some question as to how much Maximum Heart Rate changes over time, but it is not something that is affected by training.

    Resting Heart Rate can also be influenced by genetics, but it usually is much more affected by training.

    Working at a higher heart rate just indicates you are working at a higher intensity. Exercise programs should include workouts at different intensity levels--easy, medium, hard -- so you would not want to try to "break a record" for peak HR every day.
  • WAMarathoner
    WAMarathoner Posts: 44
    As others have noted, your heart rate when exercising should go DOWN as you become more fit. There are a lot of formulas. Here's one, but the one-size-fits-all formula is far from perfect.

    207 minus two-thirds of your age

    So if you are 30, your maximum heart rate is 187 (207 minus 20). The old formula of 220 minus age is now considered inaccurate. That should be a 'never to exceed' number!

    Your max heart rate should then be a number to help you set different types of workouts:
    Extremely hard - goal is 95% of max rate
    Hard - goal is 85-95%
    Moderate - goal is 75-85%
    Easy - goal is 60-75%

    As time goes by, you should be able to have the same workout with a lower heart rate. Or even better, you should be able to have a harder workout at the same rate!
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    What you really should be tracking is your resting HR. While its still mostly genetic, it's still where your fitness shows up.
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
    As others have noted, your heart rate when exercising should go DOWN as you become more fit. There are a lot of formulas. Here's one, but the one-size-fits-all formula is far from perfect.

    207 minus two-thirds of your age

    So if you are 30, your maximum heart rate is 187 (207 minus 20). The old formula of 220 minus age is now considered inaccurate. That should be a 'never to exceed' number!

    Your max heart rate should then be a number to help you set different types of workouts:
    Extremely hard - goal is 95% of max rate
    Hard - goal is 85-95%
    Moderate - goal is 75-85%
    Easy - goal is 60-75%

    As time goes by, you should be able to have the same workout with a lower heart rate. Or even better, you should be able to have a harder workout at the same rate!
    All formulas are inaccurate. I'm 41 years old and hit 196 a month ago.
  • kmorganlfc
    kmorganlfc Posts: 115 Member
    The higher your MHR and the lower your RHR, the wider the zones in between become. On the whole, MHR is just a number, and what number it is has no baring on your fitness at all. If you see yourself being a sprinter at any point, training close to your MHR (whatever number it is) and being able to sustain it for a few seconds is very important. Also, knowing what it is is useful if you take HRM training seriously.
  • amydee714
    amydee714 Posts: 232 Member
    So what is a good target rate to try to keep my heart rate at? I honestly don't know.

    ETA: I guess what I mean is, if the 2 ends of HR is resting and Maximum, how do I know what is the most effective range to keep my heart rate at. My max can spike quite high so I don't really know what is "normal".
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    Thanks for all the intelligent responses today! I wonder why my HRM seems to want to celebrate if I set a new peak heart rate record? It seems silly now.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    Thanks for all the intelligent responses today! I wonder why my HRM seems to want to celebrate if I set a new peak heart rate record? It seems silly now.

    It's not really that silly depending on how you are using that information or how long you can hold that "peak". The longer you can hold it without keeling over the more it means your power threshold has increased (if it's close to your max HR that is...)

    However, working at varying intensities is a great thing so if your focus only becomes "I must hit a new peak everyday" you will be short changing yourself.

    The hardest and most humbling thing for me as a cyclist is training in Zone 2....
  • amberlykay1014
    amberlykay1014 Posts: 608 Member
    Thanks for all the intelligent responses today! I wonder why my HRM seems to want to celebrate if I set a new peak heart rate record? It seems silly now.

    It's not really that silly depending on how you are using that information or how long you can hold that "peak". The longer you can hold it without keeling over the more it means your power threshold has increased (if it's close to your max HR that is...)

    See! This was kind of my rationale at the beginning! Backpacking (especially on hills) is a lot of power and I want to be able to keep pushing up that hill instead of feeling like I need to keel over. So, maybe it is good that I continue to really "push it" at times to increase my power threshold. That totally makes sense. Or maybe I'm more confused. It makes sense in my head.. lol.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Thanks for all the intelligent responses today! I wonder why my HRM seems to want to celebrate if I set a new peak heart rate record? It seems silly now.

    It's not really that silly depending on how you are using that information or how long you can hold that "peak". The longer you can hold it without keeling over the more it means your power threshold has increased (if it's close to your max HR that is...)

    See! This was kind of my rationale at the beginning! Backpacking (especially on hills) is a lot of power and I want to be able to keep pushing up that hill instead of feeling like I need to keel over. So, maybe it is good that I continue to really "push it" at times to increase my power threshold. That totally makes sense. Or maybe I'm more confused. It makes sense in my head.. lol.

    Overall, you just need to balance your routine, that's all. Plus you need to find a different performance monitor, because eventually your HR response is going to even out.

    What I mean is that the HR reserve range (Max HR minus Rest HR) doesn't change that much. Max HR doesn't really change at all, and rest HR will decline only modestly. So the HR response is eventually going to become consistent.

    What changes is the INTENSITY of work you can perform at a given HR, and the length of time you can sustain that effort.

    For example, 160 beats/min might represent 75% of one's heart rate reserve. A beginner might hit that heart rate hiking at 3.0 mph. And they might only be able to sustain the effort for a few minutes. After training, that 160 beats/min will STILL represent 75% of the heart reserve, except that now the person might be able to sustain a hiking speed of 3.5 mph for 60 min.
  • Mighty_Rabite
    Mighty_Rabite Posts: 581 Member
    Setting a new peak heart rate might not be a terrible thing if it is because you are increasing the intensity of your workouts, but I would advise caution on it - if you ever start to feel faint/dizzy, real short of breath, chest pain or whatnot.. lay off of it a bit.

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