I don't really know a lot about the heart rate stuff, but my heart rate has gone down a lot since I've gotten into shape. I have a very hard time even getting my HR to 160 now. Unless I'm some sort of freak, I'm sure your heart rate will go down as well

It will drop as you get fit. Not sure how much but you will notice a diffrence.

My ideal heart rate to exercise is 139. How long can I exercise with this heart rate? I dont want to hurt myself. I usualy do about and hour of treatmill so my heart rate is about 139 for about 45 mintues. Can I go longer?

thats way better than mine. i hit 180+ going 5.7 on the treadmill for 40 minutes. i spoke with a dr b4 (during a poker game) he said 180 is not aytpical and i shouldnt worry much

I searched the boards and couldn't find an exact answer for my question.

Basically Ive been going to the gym for 3 months, and I try to switch it up every 5-6 weeks or so and I want to get into interval training on the treadmill.

Currently I warm up for 3 mins at 2.5-3mph and then run at a moderate jog around 5.2mph for 2 minutes and alternate between those speeds and times until I hit the 20 min mark and then walk another 15 mins at 3mph until my cool down.

Now my maximum heart rate is in the 150's but I was curious as to if there was an "ideal" minimum heart rate for the periods of lower intensity? During the low intensity phases I'm hitting around 125-130. Should I slow down from 3mph during this phase? Or does it really matter?

Thanks

Well after a long search, the consensus is the low intensity portion should drop my heart rate to at least 60% of my max. In otherwords, I should slow down the low intensity portion just a bit.

Hello!

I have a recumbent bike that I try to do for at least 30 mins and will eventually go up to 60 mins. Anyway it has a heart rate monitor on the handle bars and recently I have been trying to keep my HR at 130 and higher. By doing this, I break out into a sweat much quicker and burn more calories. Last night I did 31 mins burned 133 cals and did 7mi.

My question is: is this a good idea? Your heart rate being high is a good thing right? Can someone explain how that plays into a role, into losing weight?

Thanks in advance. Sorry if this is a stupid question.

220 - your age = your max heart rate. You can safely exercise from 50% to 75% of that to maintain and strengthen your heart, any lower and you aren't exercising your heart that much and any higher puts too much stress on it (although it is fairly hard to achieve).

There are a few exceptions, including HIIT training which will spike your heart rate. If you believe you have any cardiovascular problems, consult your doctor for an adjusted heart range.

Here is a better max HR calculator: Target Zone Calculator for heart rate monitors

I don't know how old you are, but if you're over 30, the 220-age formula, particularly if you are in half way decent shape, is too conservative. My max HR is about 8 points higher than the formula.

You will find that as you get in better and better shape, what was once "taxing" is no longer so. When I first started out, 70% of max HR, which for me is about 118 bpm, was a real workout. Now I do around 82% of max HR (137 bpm) on my steady state days when I'm recovering from weight training. When I do HIIT, my average heart rate for the entire hour is over 80% of max HR, and around 15 to 20 minutes of that is at 90 to 95% of max HR.

Yes, that stress IS good for your heart, but only if you have no underlying heart problems. If you have any suspicion that you do, see your doctor first!

Ok, I jsut started working out a few days ago. At the gym the trainer said when I do cardio to do it at least 40 minutes and to keep my heart rate in the fat burning area which would be about 130-155 if I understand correctly. Well I did the elliptical today and going as slow as the machine would go my heart rate was still 164 at the lowest. Is this just because I am out of shape> What should I do about this? Is the workout helping me at all? Please help..
Thanks
Amy

I'm not too sure if the fat burning area heart rate is is 130-155.

In any case, when your heart rate is 164 when you are at the lowest setting of the machine, I guess you are out of shape.

What you can do to get to get into the heart rate of 120-155 is to find an exercise that is not too intense. Perhaps walking is an alternative.

You find that as you get fitter, your heart rate will lower for the same exercise.

Ok, so here's my question on target heart rate. I've been doing some poking around on the internet and it seems everyone is calculating Rate(max) and Rate(optimum) differently. According to one site my target heart rate should be between 79-99, according to another it's 130-160.

If I go by the "fancy pants" computer on the bike I was riding it says my target rate for "fat burning" should be around 155B/m...which is very low. I found that around 170s is when I feel like I'm actually working for it...anything below 150 seems to be a joke, for me.

Also, while doing a hill climb at one point my heart rate was into the upper 190s for about two min, at that point I decided that I was near death , so I toned it down, but come to find out that was pretty much up around Rate(max) for me.

So...heart rate...what would be the optimal heart rate to attempt to keep, is there a better way of calculating it other then age and "fitness level"?

Thanks in advance!

The beginning point of calculating your heart rate is finding a good number for your absolute maximum HR. This should be a number you don't get to, except while a doctor is looking on.

There are 3 common formulas:
1) age - 220
2) 205 - (age / 2)
3) 214 - (0.8 x age)

Formula 1 is the old standby, and if you're 30 years old or less, will give you a pretty good idea. However, this formula breaks down the older you get, and if you're an old geezer like me, it's way too conservative.

The 2nd formula will give you a higher one, but it assumes you are very fit. For me, it's a bit too aggressive.

The 3rd formula is in the middle.

You can go here, to get all 3 formulas in one place.. For example, my resting heart rate is 55, and my age is 58. That gives me the following:

1) 162
2) 176
3) 167

In practice, I've found that 170 is just about the right number for me. The thing I like about this site, is that once you have your target, you can also use it as the input, even if it doesn't conform exactly to the formula. So, when I enter 170, I get the following:
100% = 170
95% = 161.5
90% = 153.0
85% = 144.5
80% = 136.0
75% = 127.5
etc.

The other part of your question had to do with what range you should exercise in. I don't think there is a good answer for this, except that it all depends on what exercise you're doing. If you're doing HIIT, for example, your sprints should initially take you to the 90% range, but after 3 or 4 sprints, you should be in the 95% range. If you're doing heavy interval cardio, your intervals may take you all the way to 95%, and you may average around 85% for the entire workout. Steady state cardio may put you in the 80% range for the workout. A really heavy squat or deadlift, which is using a lot of large muscles, may temporarily shoot you up to the 85% or even the 90% range.

As for what the machines recommend, ignore them completely. These are set up for casual exercises who want to feel good while they're walking on a treadmill at 2 miles an hour reading a paper. And don't get me wrong, if you have a huge amount of weight to lose, and you've not been exercising at all, that is good. But as you get more fit, you have to up your standards.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info Tom!

So, that brings me to an additional query.

Taking the info from the site you listed, and inputting my resting heart rate at 54 @ 23yrs old

100 197.0
95 187.1
90 177.3
85 167.4
80 157.6

Which, to me, seems to be correct because at 198bpm I thought I was going to pass out after about a minuet or so. So that means 170bpm puts me at 86% and change.

I have read that the optimum heart rate for fat burning to occur is somewhere between 60-75% of Rate(max), and that sustaining higher heart rates in the 85%+ range actually decrease the body's ability to burn fat, however at the prescribed rate I will not be doing anything to increase my fitness level. I was under the impression that increasing ones level of fitness and burning weight were not mutually exclusive concepts.

Thanks again!

There's a thread in this section called "Words of Wisdom". Go to the section on Exercises, and check out the posts on Cardio: Steady State/HIIT. I think those 2 posts will answer most of your questions.