Heart rate too high?

MrsUnderwood
MrsUnderwood Posts: 114
edited September 22 in Fitness and Exercise
I have a question regarding heart rates while working out. I watch the Biggest Loser and think, wow if I pushed myself that hard my heart might explode out of my chest. I feel like I can push myself even more than I do now, but, when I check my heart rate on machines like the eliptical, bike and treadmill I find that my heart rate can get up to between 160-170 with moderate exertion. How high is too high? Should I slow down once I see my heart rate at 160? It seems that is the warning zone on the machines. It sucks cause I want to push a little harder but when my heart gets up there I don't want to over-do it.

Lil help?

Replies

  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
    Mrs Underwood.........I use the Mayo Clinic website for information about health and health tips. Again, its a web site, your Dr would be the one to ask, but I went ahead and checked into it , and for them, anything between 60 - 100 is considered healthy

    here is the site, its kinda cool to look up things that have an affect on us...Good luck, and good question.........Lloyd

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-rate/AN01906
  • khskr1
    khskr1 Posts: 392
    Unless you have any heart condition I would say you are fine especially at your age. Trust your body and go with what feels ok. I ran my first 2 miles last night and my heart rate monitor flashed the entire time (my hr was 168 most of the time). Just alternate your go hard days, with lighter easy days for your muscles (including heart muscle) to build and rest. But I wouldn't be worried provided you are in good health.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    if your chest feels like it's caving in...slow down...don't completely stop, just relax a little more...if you're feeling awesome and you could run a marathon on the treadmill...then keep going, just make sure you pay close attention to your body...my heart rate is 153 and i get it up to 170 if i mean it...and i'm ok...when my shoulder starts to hurt from breathing heavy, that's when i slow down
  • cozzy530
    cozzy530 Posts: 46
    Unless you are totally winded and your heart feels like it is coming out of your chest you are doing OK. I am 49 and my heart rate while jogging stays at around 160. When I sprint it goes up to 170+ and I have pushed it to 185 without any problems. If I try to slow my speed down to lower my heart rate I feel like I am not moving. Keeping your HR at around 160 will not hurt you as long as you do not have any heart issues.
  • MrsUnderwood
    MrsUnderwood Posts: 114
    My dad has had 2 heart attacks and I suffered from pericarditis once and am an asthma sufferer. Still, I feel good...when I get in the 160-170 range I can really feel my body working...anything higher than that is probably not very good...and I have gone higher but I do want to be careful.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    That's not necessarily the case. If you've had a cardiac doctor limit you that's one thing, but if you have a clean bill of health, and don't feel any numbness, dizziness, or pain in your chest, neck, arms, or shoulders, then you're probably fine.

    Max heart rates are predicted averages (unless you go to a Met lab and have it literally stress tested, which is one option if you're worried). At your age, for someone without any current medical conditions, you should be able to hit 90 to 95% max heart rate and hold it there for 30 to 90 seconds, if you can handle it physically (I.E. if you can breath that long, or your muscles don't tire first). Not that that is needed. 160 is 83% max heart rate for you (about), you should be able to maintain that for quite some time (again, if you can handle it muscularly or oxygen wise).

    The key is to listen to your body. Being really tired or out of breath is one thing, that's to be expected when ever you maintain a heart rate over 80%. But being dizzy, nauseous, feeling pain or constriction in your upper body, overheating, lightheadedness, or numbness in your extremities is quite a different thing.

    So watch for the symptoms, and don't wait until they become severe!
  • MrsUnderwood
    MrsUnderwood Posts: 114
    That's not necessarily the case. If you've had a cardiac doctor limit you that's one thing, but if you have a clean bill of health, and don't feel any numbness, dizziness, or pain in your chest, neck, arms, or shoulders, then you're probably fine.

    Max heart rates are predicted averages (unless you go to a Met lab and have it literally stress tested, which is one option if you're worried). At your age, for someone without any current medical conditions, you should be able to hit 90 to 95% max heart rate and hold it there for 30 to 90 seconds, if you can handle it physically (I.E. if you can breath that long, or your muscles don't tire first). Not that that is needed. 160 is 83% max heart rate for you (about), you should be able to maintain that for quite some time (again, if you can handle it muscularly or oxygen wise).

    The key is to listen to your body. Being really tired or out of breath is one thing, that's to be expected when ever you maintain a heart rate over 80%. But being dizzy, nauseous, feeling pain or constriction in your upper body, overheating, lightheadedness, or numbness in your extremities is quite a different thing.

    So watch for the symptoms, and don't wait until they become severe!
    Thanks!
  • brwnsugababe
    brwnsugababe Posts: 102
    That's not necessarily the case. If you've had a cardiac doctor limit you that's one thing, but if you have a clean bill of health, and don't feel any numbness, dizziness, or pain in your chest, neck, arms, or shoulders, then you're probably fine.

    Max heart rates are predicted averages (unless you go to a Met lab and have it literally stress tested, which is one option if you're worried). At your age, for someone without any current medical conditions, you should be able to hit 90 to 95% max heart rate and hold it there for 30 to 90 seconds, if you can handle it physically (I.E. if you can breath that long, or your muscles don't tire first). Not that that is needed. 160 is 83% max heart rate for you (about), you should be able to maintain that for quite some time (again, if you can handle it muscularly or oxygen wise).

    The key is to listen to your body. Being really tired or out of breath is one thing, that's to be expected when ever you maintain a heart rate over 80%. But being dizzy, nauseous, feeling pain or constriction in your upper body, overheating, lightheadedness, or numbness in your extremities is quite a different thing.

    So watch for the symptoms, and don't wait until they become severe!


    Thanks for this...It answered some of my unaswered questions too as I'm still in the learning process....
  • theGODwithin
    theGODwithin Posts: 7
    That's not necessarily the case. If you've had a cardiac doctor limit you that's one thing, but if you have a clean bill of health, and don't feel any numbness, dizziness, or pain in your chest, neck, arms, or shoulders, then you're probably fine.

    Max heart rates are predicted averages (unless you go to a Met lab and have it literally stress tested, which is one option if you're worried). At your age, for someone without any current medical conditions, you should be able to hit 90 to 95% max heart rate and hold it there for 30 to 90 seconds, if you can handle it physically (I.E. if you can breath that long, or your muscles don't tire first). Not that that is needed. 160 is 83% max heart rate for you (about), you should be able to maintain that for quite some time (again, if you can handle it muscularly or oxygen wise).

    The key is to listen to your body. Being really tired or out of breath is one thing, that's to be expected when ever you maintain a heart rate over 80%. But being dizzy, nauseous, feeling pain or constriction in your upper body, overheating, lightheadedness, or numbness in your extremities is quite a different thing.

    So watch for the symptoms, and don't wait until they become severe!

    kinda agree with this guy. in my opinion, youre probably just over thinking it. but what about your caffeine intake? that can definitely speed up your heartrate, thats why pre-workout drinks for bodybuilders contain a lotta caffeine to get give them that kick. and also, are you warming up properly? a moderate stretch before a workout with proper breathing techniques will calm strengthen you like no other.
  • MrsUnderwood
    MrsUnderwood Posts: 114
    That's not necessarily the case. If you've had a cardiac doctor limit you that's one thing, but if you have a clean bill of health, and don't feel any numbness, dizziness, or pain in your chest, neck, arms, or shoulders, then you're probably fine.

    Max heart rates are predicted averages (unless you go to a Met lab and have it literally stress tested, which is one option if you're worried). At your age, for someone without any current medical conditions, you should be able to hit 90 to 95% max heart rate and hold it there for 30 to 90 seconds, if you can handle it physically (I.E. if you can breath that long, or your muscles don't tire first). Not that that is needed. 160 is 83% max heart rate for you (about), you should be able to maintain that for quite some time (again, if you can handle it muscularly or oxygen wise).

    The key is to listen to your body. Being really tired or out of breath is one thing, that's to be expected when ever you maintain a heart rate over 80%. But being dizzy, nauseous, feeling pain or constriction in your upper body, overheating, lightheadedness, or numbness in your extremities is quite a different thing.

    So watch for the symptoms, and don't wait until they become severe!

    kinda agree with this guy. in my opinion, youre probably just over thinking it. but what about your caffeine intake? that can definitely speed up your heartrate, thats why pre-workout drinks for bodybuilders contain a lotta caffeine to get give them that kick. and also, are you warming up properly? a moderate stretch before a workout with proper breathing techniques will calm strengthen you like no other.
    I'm caffeine free :) I don't drink coffee and I have cut out soda from my diet. I'm probably not stretching before my workouts though, good point.
  • MrsUnderwood
    MrsUnderwood Posts: 114
    That's not necessarily the case. If you've had a cardiac doctor limit you that's one thing, but if you have a clean bill of health, and don't feel any numbness, dizziness, or pain in your chest, neck, arms, or shoulders, then you're probably fine.

    Max heart rates are predicted averages (unless you go to a Met lab and have it literally stress tested, which is one option if you're worried). At your age, for someone without any current medical conditions, you should be able to hit 90 to 95% max heart rate and hold it there for 30 to 90 seconds, if you can handle it physically (I.E. if you can breath that long, or your muscles don't tire first). Not that that is needed. 160 is 83% max heart rate for you (about), you should be able to maintain that for quite some time (again, if you can handle it muscularly or oxygen wise).

    The key is to listen to your body. Being really tired or out of breath is one thing, that's to be expected when ever you maintain a heart rate over 80%. But being dizzy, nauseous, feeling pain or constriction in your upper body, overheating, lightheadedness, or numbness in your extremities is quite a different thing.

    So watch for the symptoms, and don't wait until they become severe!

    kinda agree with this guy. in my opinion, youre probably just over thinking it. but what about your caffeine intake? that can definitely speed up your heartrate, thats why pre-workout drinks for bodybuilders contain a lotta caffeine to get give them that kick. and also, are you warming up properly? a moderate stretch before a workout with proper breathing techniques will calm strengthen you like no other.
    I'm caffeine free :) I don't drink coffee and I have cut out soda from my diet. I'm probably not stretching before my workouts though, good point.
  • JMun
    JMun Posts: 409
    good thread :)

    I just started running (c25k) and I'm going above my suggested heart rate when I'm jogging. My little watch goes *beep beep beep* for almost the entire 60 second jogging interval but I still feel fine when I slow down so I'm trying not to worry about it too much.
  • wjassell
    wjassell Posts: 104 Member
    There are many misconceptions with maximum heart rates and I have done a fair bit of reading on the subject. The reason I got interested in this was because my HR when working out was much higher than I expected. No formula can accurately predict your individual Max HR which is needed to determine your training zones. Some people have significantly higher or lower Max HR than that 220-Age formula. I recommend reading this article http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm My Max HR is around 205-207 at 28 years old which is 13-15 bpm higher than the formula predicts. Thus changing my training ranges significantly so my 80-90% zone moves from 153-173 to 166-186.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    the 'warnings' beeping are usually because you set it for fat burn. In Cardio burn my HR is supposed to be no more than 160 or so and I stay at 145-150 to burn........135 is supposed to be fat burn for me but I do not feel it at all.......and like the harder workout.

    :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: i LOVE my heart:heart::heart: :heart: :heart: :heart: :heart:
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