Just wanted to double-check trainers heart rate recs with yo

Captain_Tightpants
Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
edited November 8 in Fitness and Exercise
Had my orientation with the personal trainer at the Y today. She recommended that for my age (m, 37) I should get my heart rate to between 110 and 156 and keep it there for 20-30 minutes. I just wanted to check with you advanced exercise folks if this sounded about right?

Replies

  • lohitverma
    lohitverma Posts: 161 Member
    Is this during the cardio workout or throughout ?
    Based on my 1 week usage of hrm, my cardio range is 130-160 ( i am 35 yrs, m) and during strength training it is usually 90-110 range
  • pam_williams
    pam_williams Posts: 10 Member
    I had the same question. The trainer that I talked to told me to keep my heart rate between 110 and 125. (I am F amd 40.) He said this was the most effective range for me for weight loss.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    @Lohitverma, I think it's just for the cardio machines (treadmills, ellipticals etc.). We didn't cover any strength training yet.

    I guess I was a little surprised that the equation she used didn't take into account my weight. I would have thought finding a target heart rate zone would require more than just age.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
    Bump
  • lohitverma
    lohitverma Posts: 161 Member
    I guess, since she mentioned a range of heart rate, most folks would be covered, even the machines that i see give heart rate guidelines based on age rather than weight
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Had my orientation with the personal trainer at the Y today. She recommended that for my age (m, 37) I should get my heart rate to between 110 and 156 and keep it there for 20-30 minutes. I just wanted to check with you advanced exercise folks if this sounded about right?

    That's a pretty wide range. It's kind of like asking how much you should eat and having a dietitian tell you "oh, between 1000 and 2500 calories per day".

    Gee, thanks.

    She is giving you standard percentages of age-predicted HRmax. HR calculations are iffy at best, but that is the least accurate method.

    Unless you have specific reasons for keeping HR below a certain limit, I would just try some different intensities--easy, medium, hard -- and see what your heart rate is under those conditions. If your true HRmax is substantially different than age-predicted HRmax, that will affect your target zones.

    I suspect your lower intensity "zone" is going to be more like 125 than 110.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    If you are already trim and fit and training for an endurance event, sounds like she was giving you a mighty wide range for "fat-burning" zone, where a higher percentage of calories comes from fat, but you burn less calories overall. But allows you to go a long time.

    If this was a misunderstanding on their part, and you want to lose fat, they are really behind the times.

    Because you will burn about as many calories of fat, and more calories overall, doing the cardio for the limited time you have, at as high a level as you can comfortably do it. But since you are burning more calories, the percentage from fat is less, even if the quantity is about the same.

    One of the spin bike instructors spouts this off too still.
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