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Peak heartbeat

Jflowwers
Jflowwers Posts: 137 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
This is an example of what my workouts usually look like. This was from today. 30 minutes with my trainer, 30 minutes on high intervals and sprints on the elliptical. Should I be concered with that much time spent in ‘peak heartbeat’??

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,538 Member
    How did you feel?

    Do you know your maximum heart rate through testing, or are you letting your device use its default assumptions?

    If not breathing ultra-hard during, and feeling quite fatigued after, and haven't tested for max heart rate, a much likelier explanation is that you're relying on a too-low estimate of maximum heart rate.

    Devices, by default, usually use a simplistic estimating formula like 220 minus age, and those are notorious for being accurate for a fair fraction of people. (It's so far off for me that I frequently hit my age-estimated max during routine workouts. If I believed the age-estimated max, and set my HR ranges based on that, I'd severely undertrain.)

    Beyond that, if your heart rate ranges are accurate (based on true, tested max), and you feel no ill effects, it's probably fine (though you should really ask your doctor before doing lots of intense exercise, and you should certainly build base fitness at lower intensity before doing a lot of volume at high intensity).

    High intensity is like the sauce in one's fitness menu: It isn't the main dish, so shouldn't be the main thing you do most of the time. It's not so much that it will hurt you; it just isn't the most efficient way to build fitness.
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