Max Heart Rate

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  • 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 calories from fat rather than carbs. Work out to whatever level of exertion you enjoy, burn your calories, and don't worry about it. :) Happy exercising!
  • joec63
    joec63 Posts: 56 Member
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    If you can get your heart rate at about 70% of your max you will get a good burn however it needs to be an extended amount of time. From my arm and shoulders workout this afternoon I wore my HR monitor and 58 mins total which included warm up and cool down I expended 736 cal. Averrage rate was 130 with a max of 160. At 48 my max is around 172. Burned another 462 cal this morning doing HIIT.
  • _Dan_
    _Dan_ Posts: 55 Member
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    You don't want to run over 80% max for normal training... so, you need to take that number and multiply by .8 to get the actual top number. I think the actual range you want to be in is 60% - 80% of max, 60 on the "fat burning" side, 80 on the "cardio" side, which I've never understood... if I'm doing cardio, aren't I burning fat? O.o
  • Chipmaniac
    Chipmaniac Posts: 642 Member
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    Ideally, you rarely would ever need to train beyond your maximum HR.
    Actually, you should never be able to go beyond your maximum heart rate. If you can, then it's not your maximum.

    Determining your maximum is important not for going beyond it, but for accurately calculating the various heart rate zones which are all percentages of the maximum.
  • jennmoore3
    jennmoore3 Posts: 1,015 Member
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    O.K. I did some math. 1st I use a Polar FT4. My resting is around 85-95. Walking I am in the 145 range, then running I jog and go till my HR is 177 MAX, and I want to die! I can't breathe. According to this calculation you all say, my MAX should be 168.3. I blow right by that real fast. I can only jog for 3 minutes max till my HR is 177! Maybe after I get fitter, it will go down? N ot sure.

    Back to the OP. I have not a clue why you are not getting up that high.
  • _Dan_
    _Dan_ Posts: 55 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

    187 * 0.8 = 150 That's where you want to be, especially if you're not an athlete.
  • BootcampJunkie
    BootcampJunkie Posts: 69 Member
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    The formula for women is (226-age) and for men it's (220-age)
    As long as your heart rate is getting between 50-85% of the max rate you are doing fine. Its almost imposible to get to your max heart rate and maintain it through out your entire workout. Quickest way to get your heart pumping is do exercises that get you from the ground to your feet repeatedly, like burpees, prisoner jumps, mountain climbers that sort of thing also running up stairs but skipping every second or third step, so your more lunging for each step will work your heart too. My heart rate stays at a steady 170bpm during my one hour bootcamp class. Good luck.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    The 220-your age has pretty much fallen into disrepute, it's useful as a ballpark but not much else.

    If your MaxHR is 187 and you were able to get up to 150 (you mentioned not hitting 160) you're into the 80% MaxHR kind of training zone - a good place to be.

    The only really accurate way to determine MaxHR is a stress test.
    You don't want to run over 80% max for normal training... so, you need to take that number and multiply by .8 to get the actual top number. I think the actual range you want to be in is 60% - 80% of max, 60 on the "fat burning" side, 80 on the "cardio" side, which I've never understood... if I'm doing cardio, aren't I burning fat? O.o

    Forget the "fat burning" zone - the theory was that at 65% of MaxHR you're burning a higher proportion of calories from fat (somewhere around 30%) but you're still burning fewer calories. At 80% MaxHR you're still burning about 25% of your calories from fat (but it's 25 of a bigger number)
  • Chipmaniac
    Chipmaniac Posts: 642 Member
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    You don't want to run over 80% max for normal training... so, you need to take that number and multiply by .8 to get the actual top number. I think the actual range you want to be in is 60% - 80% of max, 60 on the "fat burning" side, 80 on the "cardio" side, which I've never understood... if I'm doing cardio, aren't I burning fat? O.o
    Your instincts are correct. What people are referring to is the ratio of fuels in your fuel mixture while working out. At lower intensity, fat is metabolized more than glycogen in the muscles. The reverse is true at higher intensity. Based on this, "experts" used to encourage people to go slow to stay in the zone where fat made up a majority of their fuel mix. The problem is that this isn't the complete picture. At higher intensities you may be burning a higher percentage of glycogen and a lower percentage of fat, but you are burning more overall calories, so your fat burn is still higher. Additionally, you are getting the benefit of more calories burned in a shorter amount of time and the ancillary health benefits of cardio capacity.
  • Chipmaniac
    Chipmaniac Posts: 642 Member
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    O.K. I did some math. 1st I use a Polar FT4. My resting is around 85-95. Walking I am in the 145 range, then running I jog and go till my HR is 177 MAX, and I want to die! I can't breathe. According to this calculation you all say, my MAX should be 168.3. I blow right by that real fast. I can only jog for 3 minutes max till my HR is 177! Maybe after I get fitter, it will go down? N ot sure.

    Back to the OP. I have not a clue why you are not getting up that high.
    Your max heart rate should always be the maximum rate your heart can achieve at 100% effort. If you can get your heart to 177, then your max heart rate is AT LEAST 177 and maybe a little more. This number will only be affected by two things over time: 1. Age 2. Fitness. As you age, you theoretically lose a beat a minute off of your maximum heart rate for every year. Additionally, if you become extremely fit your maximum heart rate can also be altered a little bit.

    In your case, you can forget about the 220 - age formula because you've proven that it is incorrect. Use 177 as your max in all calculations.

    In my case, the 220 - age says that my max should be 180. I've achieved 175 when I've exercised at my highest intensity. So, 180 might actually be accurate for me at this point in my life.
  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
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    Hi. I did my numbers and looked at my HRM files. This is what I found. I have a heart condition so that got me thinking, I am so glad u posted this :) I am a little cautious about HR things because of my condition, but I am not normal and want to get in great shape to prevent future issues.

    I am going to run this by my cardiologist or another one at work and make sure everything is healthy though. They may think I am crazy but what the heck!

    I am 33. So 220-33= 187 and 80% of that is ~150. On my best workout day in the past 2 wks which I did week 3 of C25K x2, my max was 166. My typical day of doing a month 2 workout of Insanity is 156 so I am right on target.

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