Max Heart Rate

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Jennisin1
Jennisin1 Posts: 574 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
From everything I have seen.... Max Heart Rate should be 220-Age (so in my case that would be 187). I have a HRM and I NEVER get even close. I have never broken 160 even running flat out till I couldn't catch a breath... busting my ovaries doing Insanity. As a result, it seems like I never burn as many calories as you would expect (and not even close to what MFP says)

am I deficient... and does that mean I am really not burning a lot of calories?

and no, I am not an athlete
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Replies

  • LReneeWalker
    LReneeWalker Posts: 213 Member
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    Mine is that high just watching tv!
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    Why do you feel the need to increase your heart rate to this extent?
  • Jennisin1
    Jennisin1 Posts: 574 Member
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    I don't feel the "need" to increase it to that level.. it is just something that I noticed and wondered if that was the reason for my disappointing calorie burns. It seems I can walk jsut a few minutes more and burn nearly the same calories as running for a slightly shorter period.

    Makes me wonder if my HR being abnormally low "tells" the HRM I am not putting "maximum" effort into my physical activites which in turn is leading to lower caloric burns.
  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
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    bumping so I can follow :)
  • akgrl1020
    akgrl1020 Posts: 179
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    What kind of HRM are you using?
  • Gutter19
    Gutter19 Posts: 141
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    I think it is supposed to be (220-Age) * .9 actually...so that will get you a little closer :)
  • Jennisin1
    Jennisin1 Posts: 574 Member
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    Polar FT7
  • Destinie589
    Destinie589 Posts: 211
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    As I have lost weight and become more fit I don't burn as many nor does my heart rate get as high as it used to. So maybe you are in excellent shape. But I understand your frustration. I love lowering my weight in my HRM watch but I hate it at the same time because I know I won't burn as many as I did at the previous weights.
  • misssarahd
    misssarahd Posts: 9 Member
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    Can you not change your max heart rate on your HRM so it knows when your going all out & alters your calories burnt accordingly?
  • Jennisin1
    Jennisin1 Posts: 574 Member
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    sooo not in excellent shape... I have been on this journey for 45 days after laying out birthing two babies the last couple of years.... I could maybe understand if I was an athlete.. but yeah.. not so much
  • minnesota_deere
    minnesota_deere Posts: 232 Member
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    From everything I have seen.... Max Heart Rate should be 220-Age (so in my case that would be 187). I have a HRM and I NEVER get even close. I have never broken 160 even running flat out till I couldn't catch a breath... busting my ovaries doing Insanity. As a result, it seems like I never burn as many calories as you would expect (and not even close to what MFP says)

    am I deficient... and does that mean I am really not burning a lot of calories?

    and no, I am not an athlete

    do more research, when your settings are input correctly on your HRM you should have a max and a minimum HR auto set for who you are, i can assure you its about 155 max hr for female before the bells go off on the HRM. your best fat calorie burn is typically around 115HR however i find this to be very unproductive. so i average my HR at about 145-150, my wife is the same HR. however the calorie burn is about 30% less for women compared to man. at least this is what we have concluded on our own experiment, if we both carry the same HR at 145 she burns 9 calories per minute and i burn 16 cals.
  • janeinspain
    janeinspain Posts: 173 Member
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    You just need some time to get your body used to the exercise. A couple of times, during a circuit, I went over 200 beets (when my max is 193, as my Polar FP7 says) and I felt my heart ache a little afterwards. So it's not good to take in more than you can handle.

    Just keep training and your body will ask for more when it's ready.
  • jrdennis13
    jrdennis13 Posts: 13
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    It may just mean your in shape. And not overweight. Bodyweight plays a factor. Ideally, you rarely would ever need to train beyond your maximum HR. To improve endurance, you would only need to be in the 90% range of you MHR. Training at max or beyond would only be "necessary" in HIIT exercises. and even then it would only be very extremely short periods of time. Typically (45 seconds to a 1 minute). Not reaching your MHR just means you could last a long time during cardio before having to stop. 4 months ago, I could easily hit 175-180 (my MHR is 185), but I was extremely out of shape and overweight (264 pound, male). I"ve lost 36 pounds since then and now my THR for cardio is in the 138-148 range during a typical 6-8 mile run. And usually won't exceed 150 until roughly the last mile. Even when I pick up the pace, say at a steady 8:30 min mile pace, I won't break 160 until well into the last mile.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    I don't feel the "need" to increase it to that level.. it is just something that I noticed and wondered if that was the reason for my disappointing calorie burns. It seems I can walk jsut a few minutes more and burn nearly the same calories as running for a slightly shorter period.

    Makes me wonder if my HR being abnormally low "tells" the HRM I am not putting "maximum" effort into my physical activites which in turn is leading to lower caloric burns.

    I see. I think its best to view excersize as a route to fitness, and diet the flab off.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
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    Depends on your resting HR. "Normal" resting HR, by hospital standards, is 60 - 100 bpm. If you are consistently lower than 60 bpm, you MAY have a lower max HR. But just because you're not hitting the absolute max, doesn't mean you are deficient in any way. As long as your HR is elevated through physical exertion, your body will be burning calories faster.

    Also, usually those who are at a level of fitness to produce an exorbitant amount of calorie burns are generally those that don't need to burn that much in the first place, for weight loss anyway, namely, performance athletes.
  • Toddrific
    Toddrific Posts: 1,114 Member
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    Supposedly my maximum heart rate is like 174-186...
    If I go over 155 I feel like I'm going to pass out =P

    Isn't training supposed to be at like 70-80% of maximum?
  • jrdennis13
    jrdennis13 Posts: 13
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    As I have lost weight and become more fit I don't burn as many nor does my heart rate get as high as it used to. So maybe you are in excellent shape. But I understand your frustration. I love lowering my weight in my HRM watch but I hate it at the same time because I know I won't burn as many as I did at the previous weights.

    Should mention this too. If you're losing weight, you'll burn less calories during exercise. At 264 for one hour of cardio I would typically burn 1100-1200 calories. at 228 in one hour, I'll only get to about 900-1000.
  • Chipmaniac
    Chipmaniac Posts: 642 Member
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    Max heart rate is quite variable among individuals and can be different for different activities. For instance, your max heart rate while swimming will be about 10 beats lower then say running or walking. This is due to the fact that the water pressure actually increases the efficiency of your heart by pushing on your circulatory system and preventing blood from pooling in extremities.

    The 220-age method has been know to be error-prone. In may be way off in your case. The only way to know for sure is to have a stress test conducted by a doctor.

    I would approach the calories burned stated by your Polar with skepticism anyway. There are many variables that affect heart rate that the receiver cannot know about and thus does not factor into its calculations. For instance, now that I'm relatively fit, I have trouble getting my heart rate up with simple walking at a fast pace, even if I set the incline on a treadmill very high. The amount of work (calories) I'm doing hasn't changed but my heart rate monitor is thinking I'm doing less, simply because my heart and lungs are more efficient.
  • chelsifina
    chelsifina Posts: 346 Member
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    I have an abnormally fast HR and have NO issue getting to 187. In fact, I struggle to keep mine lower than 200, and I'm 36 with a healthy BMI. My cardiologist says that people are just different, and I happen to be on this end of the spectrum. These things (220-age) is a guideline of what you should try not to exceed, for fear you might pass out, so there's no real special incentive to reach it other than to flirt with unconsciousness. The lower your heart rate, the fewer calories you burn per minute, but the greater the percentage of caloriesfromf fat rather than carbs. Work out to whatever level of exertion you enjoy, burn your calories, and don't worry about it. :) Happy exercising!
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
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    Supposedly my maximum heart rate is like 174-186...
    If I go over 155 I feel like I'm going to pass out =P

    Isn't training supposed to be at like 70-80% of maximum?

    It depends on what you're training for.

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