Heart rate - what's too much?

I don't see it being a problem. Given your family history, pushing your heart like that is probably a great way to stay healthy. Let your body tell you what you are capable of doing.

Also, maybe ask a doc about it. Everyone on here is knowledgable in their own way, but some stuff you shouldn't trust to anyone but a professional.

Take a look at this website to figure out where you should be working out at:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrm1.htm

I am 53 with a resting HR of 49 and I usually work out in the 150 - 165 range although I try to stay in the 150 - 160 range when I can... depending on the workout. Some days I have an anemic routine which averages out to be in the mid to upper 130’s. I generally look at my average for an hour of working out which is usually around 145 to 148 with a high of 166.

Hope this helps.

I'm 36 and can easily get my HR up into the 180s during cardio without feeling uncomfortable. My resting rate is 58.

My resting heart rate is around 48 - 50, but when I am doing cardio, I try to keep myself in or around 180-185. I actually try and never let it go below 160s while I am working out.

I haven't felt like I am going to have a heart attack :P

But I like pushing the envelope as far as I can.

It's GOOD to push! When I run hard there are times my heart rate gets to 181! Granted I can't sustain that but it's GOOD to push to that at times.

My resting is 66-68

I am anywhere between 140-150 during most of my Elliptical

I start my Elliptical (first 10-15 minutes) at about 119-128 (hard for me to keep in this range, I feel like it's more work to keep it low, I LOVE pushing it high)

My trainer is impressed because mine can get so high but then recover SUPER fast. Not sure WHY he's impressed as I don't completely understand any of it but if he's happy that makes me happy

I am 43 and do not feel anything at all when my heart rate is 113, I do not even break a sweat. I did not start seeing a major change to my body until I started running and got my heart rate up between 168 and 178, and like you, those endorphins I get are what pushes me through the next couple of miles.

I think, due to your family history, you really should consult a doctor about what is right for you, maybe even do a stress test if you have insurance. Seriously, owning a gym does not make anyone an authority on anything, nor does having a little piece of paper stating that some one is a personal trainer.

Kudos to you in what you are doing, exercise rocks.

I'm 38 and when I'm running, I'm routinely in the high 160s to low 170s. I will hit this high on maximal effort with weight lifting as well. I find that once I hit about 172 I can't sustain that amount of effort for more than a few minutes without a break, my cardio-respiratory system is screaming. I've been pushing myself to this limit for 5 months now, and although it takes more effort to get there now than it did when I started, I'm not dead yet.

220-your age. Going above it you risk death.

Risk death?! Elaborate please. Before I got into better condition I could get my HR over 190 without much effort. I'm still here. By your numbers I shouldn't top 184, which I do nearly every time I take my bike out and do sprints.

Trust me, if your heart rate got up to 220, you would feel like it was beating out of your chest.

I had a concern about this, too, when I joined a gym and my heart felt like it was bursting out of my chest, plus a family history of heart issues. I went to my regular doctor and he referred me to a cardiologist who did a complete work-up, including a treadmill stress test (getting my HR up to 180) and everything has come back just fine and I'll tell you, it's given me a huge weigh off my shoulders. Maybe just get a cardiologist to check you out at some point to assure your husband and yourself.

I'll ask my doc the next time I go, but until then won't worry too much about it.

I'd ask, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

For unrelated reasons, I had an EKG and it was normal.

But my daughter had a really good pediatrician who heard something odd about her heart and we discovered that she has a bicuspid valve (which a lot of people have, and a lot of people can easily live with, but can cause problems later in life if you push your heart to its limits because the valve is more prone to leakage and failure). She's 9 now and we've been told to encourage her to exercise a lot and get her cardiovascular system efficient, but later in life she'll probably have to be more careful about it.

Pushing it is healthy and beneficial for cardio, from what I understand. If you go from "not so fit" immediately to "pushing heart rate to 100%", there can be issues in rare cases if there's an underlying issue.

220-your age. Going above it you risk death.

This is like a general rule of thumb for someone that is not in shape. When you are in shape you work up your MHR either by running it up to max and then calculating your zones or by basing it off of your RHR. For me specific my MHR is 172 as my RHR is 49. If I were to go off the 220 - age it would be 167 which may not sound like much but to me it does makes a difference in my workouts.

I would check with your doctor if you are concerned. I don't think it's an issue. When I run, mine will spike up into the high 160's- usually I stay around 150-160 during my runs (run w/ some walking periods) but if I push harder or go up a large hill, it spikes. I personally think it is good for your over all cardio conditioning. Pushing your heart rate will increase your strength and stamina overall. Now, all that said, there is the obvious note that if you have any pain when it spikes, back off and get checked out.

220-your age. Going above it you risk death.

By this estimate, I should have been dead a few hundred times a year. I get into mid-190s every other day. Its not long sustained heart rate and it would be impossible for me to maintain that for more than 20 seconds, but it happens all the time.

What do I do to get that high heart rate? Insanity, or just running with my dog (Husky).

This word, "risk", I do not think it means what I think you think it means.

"risk" does not mean "certainty", it means "risk". Going over your heart rate will not, in a healthy person with no underlying conditions, strike you dead. Even for someone who has such a condition, it won't kill you each and every time it happens. If it did, we'd ALL be dead by the time we were about 10 years old, and everyone with a medical condition of any type would die at birth.

"risk" in this case means, for people with an undiagnosed underlying medical condition, that pushing their heart to its limits, and especially after a long sedentary period where there's lots of plaque left to burn out and other things that can go wrong, it might trigger one of those conditions and if that happens there's a possibility it might kill you.

If you've been pushing your heart, you've self-diagnosed yourself out of any possible condition - and you're probably fine to continue doing so. As you get closer to your ideal weight, if you've been working out and keeping your body fat percentage OK, you've mitigated most of the risks.

If you've been sedentary or have a heart risk factor such as, say, obesity (and I'd venture to guess the majority of people reading this and wondering about it have that condition), it's worth having a doctor do some bloodwork to check to make sure you don't have a lot of arterial plaque just waiting to bust loose and get up into your brain and if your family medical history supports it perhaps an EKG or ultrasound of your heart to make sure the ol' ticker is up to it. EKG's are not expensive nor are they invasive.

If you've been keeping up with your annual physicals and your doctor has mentioned no concerns about cholesterol, arterial blockage, etc, and you have no family medical history of heart issues, go for it. Your risks are VERY, VERY low.

If, like many of us when we started our weight loss journeys, you've avoided the doctor because you're sick of hearing about weight loss, you know your bloodwork numbers are ugly, or you have a medical history of heart issues, then I'd check in with a doctor first.

I didn't, and I survived, and there were no problems. So even if you ignore this advice you'll probably be fine. But why take a chance? Get up to date on your annual physical and ask your doctor about it during the physical.

That doesn't sound bad at all, so long as you don't have a medical condition. Im 29, 5ft, 208 & workout 4-6 days a week. I love to run & i hit as high as 192 when I'm in a long distance run. You are nowhere close to that, so I'm assuming its safe. As always, your doctor will know best if you have major concerns.