Question about heartrate

trannells
trannells Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Short version: I am almost 38 years old and in relatively decent shape. I started using an elliptical 2 months ago and my heart-rate would be (if maintaining a speed of 7.0 or higher) in the lower 190's. I am now (using the same speed) barely able to get my heart-rate to break the lower 180's. Is this an indication of greater heart-strength and I can now increase my speed/duration?

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    as your fitness improves, your HR should decrease. I'm a bit surprised by 190s though...that seems really high...even 180s seems really high. do you have an elevated resting HR?
  • trannells
    trannells Posts: 3 Member
    edited June 2015
    My resting HR is in the 75-85 range. I did the full on physical prior to beginning my workouts and was told that everything was in good order.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited June 2015
    trannells wrote: »
    To be honest I have no idea what my resting HR is in the 75-85 range. I did the full on physical prior to beginning my workouts and was told that everything was in good order.

    well just keep training then...as your fitness improves, your HR will come down. I have to work incredibly hard to get above 150 (I can only do this in bursts)...most of my sustained cardiovascular training is done in the 130 - 140 range.
  • trannells
    trannells Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for the info!
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 609 Member
    What are you using to measure heart rate?
  • professionalHobbyist
    professionalHobbyist Posts: 1,316 Member
    190's is intense!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    professionalHobbyist wrote: »
    190's is intense!

    yeah...I'm really having difficulty believing that anyone can sustain that kind of work for any duration of time. Personally, I think something is off here.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    professionalHobbyist wrote: »
    190's is intense!

    yeah...I'm really having difficulty believing that anyone can sustain that kind of work for any duration of time. Personally, I think something is off here.

    Indeed. Something doesn't stack up. The RHR doesn't suggest a level of fitness that can sustain a threshold in the 190s, particularly not on an elliptical.

    My running threshold is 175bpm, at 45yrs, with a cycling threshold at 165. Given the elliptical style of motion I'd struggle.

    I do get into the 190s when I'm doing sprint intervals, or hill work, but that's not sustainable.
  • solarfish
    solarfish Posts: 50 Member
    47 years old and a fairly regular elliptical user. My resting heart rate is now down to about 48 (it was 75+ before I started getting fitter) and even when doing high intensity intervals on the elliptical I can't get my heart rate above 170. For reasonably sustained effort, for example a hill program, I am seeing an average of about 139 over 45 minutes. The only time I see very high heart rate, 190+, is with weight lifting but that is obviously for very short duration.
  • WrenTheCoffeeAddict
    WrenTheCoffeeAddict Posts: 148 Member
    I'm curious to know how you're measuring your heart-rate, as that seems extremely high. I blacked out when my heart rate hit 190 once.
    If you're using the elliptical machine, it's probably wrong. All the gym machines at my gym are wrong when calculating heart rate. I use a chest strap HRM and base my calorie burn stats on that.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
    Just piling on here as well - 40 years old. HR does seem fairly high for a sustained workout. I probably can hit 180 running for 5-10 minutes but was never able to get that high on an elliptical.
  • solarfish
    solarfish Posts: 50 Member
    I always use chest strap HRM but sometimes I like to see what a machine thinks my heart rate is and in my experience the machines are reasonably close, however they can take a long time to focus in on the actual heart rate. For example I have been on a couple of ellipticals where the built in monitor would not show the correct reading until I had been holding on to the sensors for nearly a minute. If the sensors are on the stationary handles rather than the moving ones, then it would mean significantly affecting the effectiveness of the workout in order to measure heart rate. I would certainly therefore recommend chest strap HRM.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    It's a sign of improved cardiovascular fitness, like wolfman I've found that my peak HR now while running is lower than what my average used to be.....keep it up!

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