Cardio for fit people

supersoph91
supersoph91 Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I find that I (now) have to work really, really hard (daily walking, weekly swimming and dancing) to get my heart rate up and wondered if that means I’m just physically fit or I’m doing something wrong.
Can someone confirm whether that’s what being fit means?

Replies

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    Umm...not sure? I don't consider walking, dancing and swimming (I mean unless you're an athlete/training) to be rigorous exercise that would get my heart rate up unless I worked very hard at it as well

  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    What HR zones are you training in?

    Do you know what your "true" max heart rate is?

    please explain further.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    I am going to leave dancing to the side because I just don't know enough, but what sort of swimming are we talking about? From what I understand it is already fairly difficult to get one's HR up while swimming (in comparison to the same amount of perceived effort while biking and running). That said if you're kind of puttering around the pool then don't expect much in terms of elevated HR.

    Walking? Unless you're race walking I wouldn't consider walking a way of get one's HR up to any particularly high level. Looking at HR data from earlier this week, during my ~1.5 mile walk my max HR was 126 - this while carrying a rather heavy backpack with the last third being up hill. Compare that to my interval workout on the bike this afternoon where my average HR was 145 and the max was 161.

    Note that Garmin says that today my resting HR is 66, though 60 would likely be more accurate. My estimated max HR in general is 182 but that's likely a bit low and was based off of a ramp test.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,094 Member
    supersoph91 wrote: »
    I find that I (now) have to work really, really hard (daily walking, weekly swimming and dancing) to get my heart rate up and wondered if that means I’m just physically fit or I’m doing something wrong.
    Can someone confirm whether that’s what being fit means?

    It just means you have adapted to your choice of cardio.

    The body works that way with cardio, lifting, sun tanning, etc...it's adapts to whatever stress induced and only more stress will give you more results.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,487 Member
    supersoph91 wrote: »
    I find that I (now) have to work really, really hard (daily walking, weekly swimming and dancing) to get my heart rate up and wondered if that means I’m just physically fit or I’m doing something wrong.
    Can someone confirm whether that’s what being fit means?

    You have become efficient in the ability to perform your exercise. You are doing nothing wrong. If you want to expand your fitness level, get stronger etc you need to amp up volume/intensity, etc.
  • jlklem
    jlklem Posts: 259 Member
    I am pretty fit...I have no issues getting my HR up, unless I am tired from to much working out. I hit 95% of max at least twice per week.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,340 Member
    Go for a run and see what happens with your heart rate.
  • jamesakrobinson
    jamesakrobinson Posts: 2,149 Member
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    What HR zones are you training in?

    Do you know what your "true" max heart rate is?

    please explain further.

    I would like to know more about how one determines this "true" max heart rate.

    I only do fairly intense cardio once a week and the highest I have hit was around 190ish. I was already near the end of my session and "cranked it up to 11" for the last 3 minutes. I probably won't could still have driven it up higher than that if I had begun testing my limit a bit earlier but as it was it took me quite a while to catch my breath afterwards! I usually do intervals keeping my HR between 140 and 155 for a half hour and my resting heart rate is usually lower sixties (high fifties in the morning).
    I'm 51 (for about another month lol) and most of my exercise is lifting weights the other 6 days a week, with 25 minutes of lower intensity steady state cardio after lifting.
    Finding my maximum lifts is fairly simple, keep adding weight until failure, but my heart isn't a muscle I care to take to failure!
    I would really like to learn a little more about the actual measures of cardio fitness, and incorporate any improvements into my regime. Bodybuilding and power lifting are probably going to remain my focus but improved conditioning can only help those too.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,808 Member
    @jamesakrobinson

    There's some self test max HR protocols around (treadmill and Concept2 rower for example) but I did my test in a sports science lab as part of a VO2 max test.
    Basically a ramp test on an indoor training bike while hitched up to a gas analyser.
    You just maintain a constant pedalling cadence and every 2.5 minutes the resistance is cranked up. Eventually you hit the point of complete exhaustion and have to stop.

    It's normally best to use the equipment that is your primary exercise.
    Your numbers show how vague age related estimates are, my brother was still hitting 200bpm into his sixties.

    Disclaimer!
    It's really unpleasant, takes quite a while to recover from and shouldn't be attempted by people who aren't heart healthy or unconditioned to exercise. It's also more of interest than being useful unless someone intends serious HR zone training for performance.
  • jamesakrobinson
    jamesakrobinson Posts: 2,149 Member
    Thanks @sijomial I have actually contemplated getting a VO2Max test. Now I'm convinced.
    I already get a Dexa a couple times a year so I'll try to get one very close to the same time so I can have a good snapshot of my overall fitness as a baseline to work with.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    If you're happy with your fitness and exercise level, there is nothing wrong with keeping your current intensity. If you wish to progress more, however, you need to tax your system in some way. Progress from walking to running, or if you don't want to run, progress to walking hills, walking faster, and/or walking longer. Same for swimming and dancing, if what you're currently doing no longer challenges you, introduce new moves, higher intensity, and/or longer duration.

    It really depends on what you are looking for from exercise, but yes, as your fitness level increases you no longer exert the same effort to perform the same amount of work.
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