Another Heart Rate Question

Bump. I'm interested to hear the answer to this too xxx

if I want to be in the fat burning/endurance zone, my target is about 150- thats the aerobic zone and where most of the fat burning takes place. You're usually in that zone when you do mid level cardio or go for a nice run or bike ride. Most people who do endurance training are in this zone a lot.

when you go over your target, in my case, I'd be in the 170s, and 180s, thats anaerobic threshold. That's like if youre running a 5k at race pace (trying hard to beat your best time) or in a spinning class and doing one of the really tough intervals. This is the zone where you start to build muscle and ehance performance. not a bad zone to be in! you will be able to tell when you cross over into this zone...your muscles will be tired and you will be breathing hard

so the easiest answer is no, it's not bad to go over your target....just dont go under it if you want to experience the best results. and you're right, yours seems a little low. I'd do a bit more experimenting to find out where your aerobic zone actually is (when it comes to YOUR hr)

To find your target heart rate subtract your age from 220. Take that number x .70 to find the low end of the range and x .85 to find the high end of the range. For example, if you're 30 years old your target heart rate is between 133-162 and your maximum heart rate is 190.
1. 220 - age = maximum heart rate (220 - 30 = 190)
2. 190 x .70 = low end of target range (190 x .70 = 133)
3. 190 x .85 = high end of target range (190 x .85 = 162)

Google "target heart rate" for more information.

Side note: "bump" just moves the discussion to the top of "recent posts" so it's easier to find.

Apparently (I'm learning this also) from what I've read, if you go into anaerobic exercise (which would be over the 170 for you) as opposed to aerobic (the 128-170 it told you to stay in) your body cannot pump oxygen into your muscle as quickly as it needs to. What this creates is a large build up of lactic acid, which causes your muscles to be sore among probably other things, and you shift out of burning fat and will burn more muscle. In general it is not bad for you to go anaerobic, as long as it is for short periods of time. I've heard ballpark about 20% of your exercise time. So say you are jogging- it would be okay to do 1 min sprint, 4 min recovery... repeat. or something along those lines. If you are like me (which you are-exactly- same numbers and everything) this probably means at best a really slow jog/walk with maybe a couple quicker paced 1/4 miles in there. I know it's really frustrating- I too feel like I am not breathing hard and not really exerting myself- but according to the HRM I'm working my butt off at a snails crawl. Eventually my body will adapt and I will be able to go faster with less heart effort but for right now. this is where it's at. BTW the way I found all this out is I was trying to run and increase my pace. Worked up to doing 8 miles at a good paced jog, but my legs weren't healing after (calves specifically). I would be above 170 (anaerobic) pretty much the whole time. I've taken about three weeks off now (well backed off at least). And just this last week decided I was going to try to stay under 180 as I run, but mostly under 170. It's hard, and it takes longer, but it doesn't hurt.

Ok someone tell me if I'm wrong

Oh- and like above poster said- HRMs can be wrong, as they are generalized. The only true way to know is to get a professional to measure your VO2 levels and do a fitness test. But I think probably in general, if you aren't a super athlete and are just starting out, the heart rate zones are a good guess.