Exceeding recommended heart rate?

So I see that being in those areas is good for peak performance and greatly increasing fitness, but should I be in those areas for 50% plus of my run? Does that mean I'm working too hard since I'm out of shape?

What about hitting my "max heart beat" which would put me at 100% or even 101% A sign to take it easier??

I had those same questions when I was doing some running with the HRM (Polar FT7) since I was typically running a full 20 minutes at about 105-110% of my HR Max (though I'm still alive to type about it). What I found was that eventually, as I became more cardiovascularly fit, the numbers dropped down a bit to 85-95% of my max whilst going at the same pace for the same amount of time. As you drop some weight your heart won't have to work as hard so it will get easier either way.

What I suggest is that you discuss this with your doctor, and if he gives you a clean bill of health then go for it. If you have no underlying health issues preventing you from going all out then go for broke! Life is short : GET SOME!!!!

here is a good little bit of info on heart rate training from polar...

http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/training_with_polar/training_articles/improve_fitness/exercise_zones

and another...

http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/training_with_polar/training_articles/maximize_performance/running/polar_sport_zones_for_running

they have a lot of good reading to go with their products, i use an ft80

Those articles talk about PERCENTAGES of maximum heart rate, they do not address the actual heart rate numbers.

They do that for a specific reason.

The issue for the OP--and a number of others--is that there is a wide range of maximum heart rates that is "normal". There are a number of equations that attempt to predict maximum heart rate--mostly based on age.

The biggest problem with any of these methods is that they all have a standard of error of 10-12 beats/min. So it is possible for someone to have a TRUE max heart rate that is 20-30 beats above the accepted, age-predicted number.

Your Polar is basing your "zones" off of a standard cookie-cutter equation that tries to lump everyone into one data point. They have to do that because the overwhelming consensus of information available--both in the popular press and in writings by health professionals--uses the exact same formulas. It would be corporate suicide for any company to suggest otherwise or to stray by one iota from the consensus recommendations.

If you notice that your heart rate is consistently higher than the "recommended" levels, and you still feel you are at a comfortable level of exertion, then you will either have to manually customize your settings or just ignore any "zone" and calorie readings.

Work as hard as you can, for as long as you can. Barring injuries of course. There's no such thing as "working too hard" unless your body can't keep up (lifting too much weight, poor form resulting injuries, that sort of thing). If you're just doing cardio and your heart rate is in the 180s, good. Worst case, if you exceed your capabilities you might start getting dizzy or faint, but you won't die.

There is zero reason to purposefully keep your heart rate lower unless you've got a medical reason not to (in which case, see a doctor, not us). Fat burning zones and all that crap is pure BS and is used as an excuse by people to slack off. Granted, it's a different story if you're trying to pace yourself for a marathon or something, but that's not the question you asked.

Finally, listen to your body, not your HRM. It has no idea what your max heart rate is or what you're capable of in general. All it knows is what your current heart rate is. What you do with that information is up to you.