how high is too high
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AdmireDeVoll
Posts: 46 Member
I have a resting heart rate between 95-100. Obviously I'm out of shape. I've only been working out for 3 weeks and my favorite cardio is HIIT on the elliptical. My heart gets up to 168-178 and the machine starts freaking out saying that its too high, so what the heck am I supposed to do, ignore it?
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Have u been cleared by your GP to exercise? And for true HIIT I would say you need to be pretty fit already so maybe start a bit more slowly than HIIT. I think only a Dr could say whether it's too high so I'd recommend you make an appt to be sure. Good luck x0
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Yeah, just ignore it. At your age, anything below 200-ish is OK from a health standpoint. The high 170's are starting to creep into your anaerobic range (ye olde "gasping for breath") but that's pretty typical of the high intensity phase of a HIIT workout.
This is all assuming you don't have some sort of medical condition that precludes high intensity exercise...0 -
Maximum heart rate drops with age. 168-178 is far from your maximum whereas for me 178 is near my maximum.
You should ignore it.
You might want to mix some regular endurance training into your workout schedule. You don't have to train at super elevated heart rates to get a lot of benefit. Training at 148 - 158 BPM ought to leave you able to talk out loud without gasping, or soon will, and you can make those sessions longer and that will help build endurance.
Over the coming weeks / few months you'll no doubt see your resting heart rate drop appreciably.0 -
AdmireDeVoll wrote: »I have a resting heart rate between 95-100. Obviously I'm out of shape. I've only been working out for 3 weeks and my favorite cardio is HIIT on the elliptical. My heart gets up to 168-178 and the machine starts freaking out saying that its too high, so what the heck am I supposed to do, ignore it?
If you are out of shape, why are you focusing on HIIT and not on endurance right now?0 -
Barring a medical issue, I wouldn't worry about it.0
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AdmireDeVoll wrote: »I have a resting heart rate between 95-100. Obviously I'm out of shape. I've only been working out for 3 weeks and my favorite cardio is HIIT on the elliptical. My heart gets up to 168-178 and the machine starts freaking out saying that its too high, so what the heck am I supposed to do, ignore it?
So you'll make more progress with lowering your RHR if you concentrate on steady state at a lower intensity. You can sustain that for longer, so you'll get greater calorie expenditure, and it'll help you build an aerobic base.
Whilst HIIT isn't entirely a waste of time, you're not getting the real benefits unless you've already got that aerobic base.
Notwithstanding that, unless you have an underlying medical issue I wouldn't worry about it. I'll spend an hour at 180bpm in a race.0 -
AdmireDeVoll wrote: »I have a resting heart rate between 95-100. Obviously I'm out of shape. I've only been working out for 3 weeks and my favorite cardio is HIIT on the elliptical. My heart gets up to 168-178 and the machine starts freaking out saying that its too high, so what the heck am I supposed to do, ignore it?
If you are out of shape, why are you focusing on HIIT and not on endurance right now?
I don't just focus on HIIT, I can go for an hour at a moderate intensity, but It doesn't feel challenging and I like to mix it up. Plus I never know when my kids are going to start freaking out in the child watch at YMCA so I I don't have very much time. I like to get the most bang for my buck. And everyone has a different opinion on how to do that.
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But thanks for the answers to my actual question, I figured since I didn't feel like I was about to have a heart attack then it was probably fine and just high because my heart rate is high to begin with. Frankly I just don't have the time for long low intensity workouts.
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Are you using a HRM or leting the machne calculate for you. Machines can be very inaccurate.
If you are using a hrm then your max heart rate will be in the region of 190-200 depending on which formula is used. The point is even the machine at its max is putting you at 93% and as you didnt feel any particularly bad then youll be fine. Individuals heart rates can also vary with some people having naturally higher or lower resting heart rates. presumably you have cleared it with your Dr and have no history of hear problems. If you are worried see your Dr.
I do a mix of steady state and hoot. For calorie burns then I think steady state is superior as you cna go longer and recover faster.0 -
I have a naturally high heat rate and have checked out with a cardiologist that there is nothing wrong. I am regularly resting heart rate in excess of 100 and when working out at high intensity have freaked out many a gym instructor with my heart rate above 200!
Assuming you are happy you don't have an underlying medical issue then just ignore the hrm and get on with your workout.0 -
AdmireDeVoll wrote: »And everyone has a different opinion on how to do that.
Lots of opinions, but at the level you're talking about the sports science is pretty straightforward.
If you enjoy it, then do it. Just don't imagine that it's actually most bang for your buck.
Your resting HR is really high. When I was at my least fit I was between 75 and 80, now it's about 50.
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If you're using the machine as your HRM, I'd invest in a personal one. Before I bought mine, the machine would jump all over the place, including giving me a reading of "0." Pretty sure I wasn't dead.0
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »AdmireDeVoll wrote: »And everyone has a different opinion on how to do that.
Lots of opinions, but at the level you're talking about the sports science is pretty straightforward.
If you enjoy it, then do it. Just don't imagine that it's actually most bang for your buck.
Your resting HR is really high. When I was at my least fit I was between 75 and 80, now it's about 50.
How do you suggest I get the most out of a 45 min workout0 -
AdmireDeVoll wrote: »How do you suggest I get the most out of a 45 min workout
Interval training has been shown to give the largest CV benefits in the shortest time.
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I'mCipherZero wrote: »AdmireDeVoll wrote: »How do you suggest I get the most out of a 45 min workout
Interval training has been shown to give the largest CV benefits in the shortest time.
I'm confused I thought that is what I was doing?
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AdmireDeVoll wrote: »How do you suggest I get the most out of a 45 min workout
Your theoretical maximum heart rate is 198 bpm.
If you're doing HIIT then you should be aiming to get your work intervals up to 190bpm. So if you want to use 45 minutes for HIIT then you'd warm up for about 12 minutes at about 130bpm, then 15-20 minutes of intervals (work intervals at 190bpm, rest intervals about 130bpm), followed by a cool down of 12 minutes again at 130bpm. As you're wanting to do HIIT then you need the warm up to really be able to put the effort in. The benefit of this kind of work is that it'll help your maximal oxygen uptake (VO2Max)
If you're doing aerobic base work then I'd just go for 45 minutes at arounf 145-150bpm. What that'll do is train your heart to push more blood with each beat. That's why it'll help your resting heart rate, as more blood volume is moved around with each beat you're able to move the same amount of oxygen around your system.
Where you're working at the moment is in the lactate threshold range. So you're doing more work than you need to to get the aerobic improvements, and not enough to get the VO2Max improvements. LT work is beneficial if you're racing, as it improves your ability to work at that threshold for longer. If you don't race, then it's not really getting you any significant benefit.
That said, I appreciate that the elliptical is particularly tedious to train on, so doing interval work can help you maintain interest.
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »AdmireDeVoll wrote: »How do you suggest I get the most out of a 45 min workout
Your theoretical maximum heart rate is 198 bpm.
If you're doing HIIT then you should be aiming to get your work intervals up to 190bpm. So if you want to use 45 minutes for HIIT then you'd warm up for about 12 minutes at about 130bpm, then 15-20 minutes of intervals (work intervals at 190bpm, rest intervals about 130bpm), followed by a cool down of 12 minutes again at 130bpm. As you're wanting to do HIIT then you need the warm up to really be able to put the effort in. The benefit of this kind of work is that it'll help your maximal oxygen uptake (VO2Max)
If you're doing aerobic base work then I'd just go for 45 minutes at arounf 145-150bpm. What that'll do is train your heart to push more blood with each beat. That's why it'll help your resting heart rate, as more blood volume is moved around with each beat you're able to move the same amount of oxygen around your system.
Where you're working at the moment is in the lactate threshold range. So you're doing more work than you need to to get the aerobic improvements, and not enough to get the VO2Max improvements. LT work is beneficial if you're racing, as it improves your ability to work at that threshold for longer. If you don't race, then it's not really getting you any significant benefit.
That said, I appreciate that the elliptical is particularly tedious to train on, so doing interval work can help you maintain interest.
Thanks, that was helpful!0
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