Heart rate - what's too much?

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.

I think you're fine, as long as you feel okay. My HR gets pretty high as well(180-200). when you exercise more, your heart becomes more efficient and during the same routines it will continually get lower as the exercises are easier to perform

over 9000!

My resting HR is about 62 - 68 and I have lung disease. Just for fun earlier this week I decided to push myself while running the vacuum and I topped out at 200. I did this only for a few minutes and had to use my rescue inhaler before and during. My heart did not pump out of my chest and it actually felt good. My doctors (cardiologist and pulmonologist) have both said it's okay for a few minutes but not an all the time HR during exercise. Because of my lung disease, I tend to get into a higher heart rate very quickly when I exercise and could not possibly keep within a "fat burning zone". At least I don't think I could. I like to exercise now that I'm addicted to MFP!

So, yes, ask your doctor. You may be able to get this question answered with a phone call to the advice nurse in the doc's office but I like to say that "if you're insured, a co-pay is WELL worth the peace of mind to get your questions answered".

Sorry took a while to get back. 220 minus your age is what I was told when I was a college athlete (soccer). I was in superb physical condition at the time. (Boy I miss those days). Now I am a pretty fit guy wearing a fat guy suit (no joke) and I do a number of things that raise my heart rate, but primarily it is playing hockey. For the 5-6 years I've worn a Polar heart rate monitor to nearly all my games. (The watch broke a few months ago, so I haven't done this recently) Hockey is played in short shifts of all out performance, followed by periods of rest. I play defense with four of us rotating through two positions most nights, so its around 1 to 1 perform to activity ratio (slightly less actually, because the other guys tire faster, and I go out extra for PK, PP and end of game shifts when the score is close), some nights its just 3 of us, so the ratio is 2:1 work to rest.

I've hit 100% peak on a lot of my shifts (90 seconds or so per shift) and I KNOW when I hit that because I get to the "i need to get off the ice because my body is failing" phase real quickly after that. So I don't know how some of y'all are performing at/above 100% "effortlessly" or "regularly", but its not within the norms for the population.

Risk is exactly that, it does not mean a guarantee to drop dead, but your risk of that happening climb drastically.

If you are concerned this is definitely the kind of stuff to talk to a doctor (preferably cardiologist) about.

To get your true heart rate zones you would need a heart stress test and an ECG (EchoCardioGram). All of the formulas used are only theoretical/recommended zones. The 220 - Age method provides you with a recommended max HR (Heart Rate) zone for exercise. Using the Karvonen formula your heart zone would be 142 (Low End) - 164 (High End). You will not fall over and die if you exceed the maximum HR. If you try to max out your HR you simply will stop or pass out because your body is not getting enough oxygen to continue to function. You can only function at true maximum HR for a few seconds because of the amount of work your heart has to do and the amount of oxygen being supplied.

When we talk about recommended heart zones we are merely speaking of healthy zones that we can continue to exercise in. I am sure it is easier for you to exercise at 160 BPM than 185 BPM. In addition, you also lose some of the benefits of working outside of the zones. I am not suggesting to be strict and stay within the exact numbers, a few BPM is okay. However, if you continue to exercise at 185 BPM your body will not the endurance to sustain the workout.

Your goals should dictate HR zone. You should also vary your routines to ensure you get the maximum benefit.

Also, I don't agree with the information you received about working out to burn fat calories. It is true that you can more calories doing an intense cardio than a cardio routine that keeps your HR at the low end of your recommended zones.

For example, if you take two runners, one long distance and one sprinter, they will have different physiques. Why? Because the calories used for energy come from two different sources. A sprinter has enough engery/oxygenated blood to run as fast and hard as he can before she/he has to reduce the effort. Imagine what the BPM must be after running a 100-yard dash! Those calories expended are coming from protein (muscle) because of the immediate and most readily fuel source is used.

Now, look at a marathon runner. They will not be as cut or muscular as the sprinter, however, they have trained to run 26 miles at a 5-6 minute mile pace. They have conditioned their HR to continue to perform at sustained level at medium - low high HR zone. If they tried to sprint the entire distance they would only last a mile or two.

So what does this mean? Well, if you vary your cardio programs you can maximize your efforts. For instance, if you exercise at a lower heart rate, you are sure to use stored fat and carbohydrates for energy which means you burn what you want to lose the most - fat. Once you begin to exercise in the max HR zone you use more protein, less carbs, and even less fat. It is not a terrible thing to work in this zone because it is definitely going to improve your cardiovascular system.

The argument some will pose, is that you will burn more calories by performing in the higher end which is true. However, you still need calories to build muscle, for BMR, and any other activity.

By varying your workouts you can target fat and increase cardio. How fatigued would be if you ran sprints everday? You could also over-train and end up losing muscle which would be terrible because one pound of burns 50 calories per hour.

If possible, exercise 2-3 times a week near your low end HR and try to keep your HR steady. On the other days, go as hard as you can to give your cardio system a really good workout. That way you can use the less intense days as "recovery" days.

Sorry for the long post. BTW - I used your age (40) and a resting HR of 70 to get your HR zones.

I hope you continue to exercise and achieve your goals.