Heart Rates: Am I doing myself harm?

[Daisho]

Hi all,

I've been doing a bit of a fitness thing on various machines
that measures my heart rate at my Gym.

I'm 37 years old, so:

220-37= 183, which gives a 90% heartrate of 165.

I'm exercising regularly at rates higher than 165, and I feel
fine. I tend to 'exercise as I feel I need to' and don't worry
what the machines are telling me. I have no pain in my chest,
no 'warning signs' telling me to slow down.

I find that I have higher heart rates while running or
stepping and lower rates while rowing or pedaling.

I'd put my realistic fitness at about middle of the road,
meaning that I've got a lot of room for improvement, but I'm
no slouch.

I'm 172cm tall and 80kg (meaning I'm 10kg over my ideal
weight).

Any advise appreciated, and questions will be answered as soon
as I can get to them.

Thanks muchly.

Ian

[Petzl]

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:26:30 +1000, "daisho"
<i_nicoll@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I've been doing a bit of a fitness thing on various machines
>that measures my heart rate at my Gym.
>
>I'm 37 years old, so:
>
>220-37= 183, which gives a 90% heartrate of 165.
>
>I'm exercising regularly at rates higher than 165, and I feel
>fine. I tend to 'exercise as I feel I need to' and don't
>worry what the machines are telling me. I have no pain in my
>chest, no 'warning signs' telling me to slow down.
>
>I find that I have higher heart rates while running or
>stepping and lower rates while rowing or pedaling.
>
>I'd put my realistic fitness at about middle of the road,
>meaning that I've got a lot of room for improvement, but I'm
>no slouch.
>
>I'm 172cm tall and 80kg (meaning I'm 10kg over my ideal
>weight).
>
>Any advise appreciated, and questions will be answered as
>soon as I can get to them.
>
>Thanks muchly.
>
>Ian
>

The heart rate (HRmax) "factor" is only a guide for "Norm
Average". The fitter you also affects your Heart Rate
measurement. You need to know what *your* HRmax is before you
can be serious about it

The best way is to get your Heart Rate Max done with a
Doctors Supervision this way other info, such as your
corresponding MET values for given Heart Rates can be given
to you (this is helpfull in working out intensity values of
other exercises). As well as a crash cart to take you away if
something goes wrong

Testing Your Maximum Heart Rate In order to calculate your
heart rate exercise zones you need a measure of HRmax. The
age-adjusted formulae above are one method to identify HRmax,
but if you want a truly effective exercise program then an
accurate measure of your HRmax is preferred. The following are
some options for measuring your HRmax.

Supervised Stress Test The safest method of determining your
HRmax is to have your doctor or cardiologist give you a
maximal stress test that they will normally administer on a
treadmill or bicycle ergometer. The test will accurately and
safely provide you with your HRmax as well as giving you your
doctor's approval to commence an exercise program.

Recommendation: This method is recommended for those people
who are over 35 years of age and intend to commence a moderate
to rigorous exercise program. This method is also recommended
for those people who are under 35 years of age, intend to
commence a moderate to rigorous exercise program and who have
evidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) or a significant
combination of risk factors (e.g., heredity, overweight,
smoker etc)

Self Conducted Field Tests If you are under 35 years of age
and have no evidence of CHD or any of its associated risk
factors, you may wish to undertake any of the following field
tests. Irrespective of which one you choose you should include
the following procedures:

Where possible, try and standardize conditions such as time of
day (morning,afternoon or evening) and weather conditions
(indoors, outdoors; cool, warm or hot). Record these each time
you conduct the test.

Plan the time of your meals before you take the test. Wait at
least 2-3 hours after a medium to large meal before you
conduct the test.

A true HRmax can only be established when you are fully
rested. At least one recovery or easy exercise day before the
test is necessary. If you have exercised or trained hard 1-2
days beforehand, you have very little chance of reaching your
true HRmax.

Warm-up thoroughly! This should take the form of stretching
and 20-30 minutes of moderate activity (approximately 70-80%
predicted HRmax or 70-80% previous tested HRmax). Remember,
knowing your HRmax wont' be of any value if you can't exercise
because of a calf strain! Cool-down thoroughly! This should
take the form of stretching and 5-10 minutes of easy activity
(approximately 55-65% predicted HRmax or 55-65% previous
tested HRmax).

If you are inexperienced in conducting the HRmax test, you may
wish to repeat it a few days later in order to verify the
reading. With some HRMs you can recall the maximum heart rate
after the exercise session.

Test 1: Continuous Progressive Test This test requires a
series of steps which progressively increase the intensity of
exercise over a period of approximately 8-10 minutes leading
to exhaustion.

Start at a very low and comfortable intensity and hold this
intensity for 1 minute. At the end of the minute increase your
intensity so that your heart rate increases by no more than
5-7 bpm. Hold this intensity for a minute.

Repeat this process until you are unable to hold your final
intensity for the full minute. As soon as you reach this
point read your heart rate from your heart rate monitor.
This heart rate can be considered as your HRmax for the
particular activity.

Recommendation This test can be used by anyone involved with
exercise, as it is self-regulating and progressive. The
protocol can also be applied to any form of exercise activity
such as walking, running, stepping, swimming, cycling and so
on. After completing a continuous progressive test, you may
wish to try field tests such as "Test Conconi" and the "Beep
or Shuttle Run". These may be of additional value to the
athlete as they can provide additional information on
anaerobic threshold and maximal oxygen consumption
respectively.

Test 2: The All-Out Test This test involves an all-out effort
for 5 minutes. In books and magazines you have read of it
being called the "5 minute test" or "Vmax" test.

After a thorough warm-up you aim to cover as much distance or
work as hard as you can for 5 minutes. At the end of the
5-minute work period check the read out of your heart rate
monitor. This heart rate can be considered your HRmax for that
particular activity.

As this method requires a good pacing technique you may be
wise to have some "practice" sessions before undertaking the
actual test.

Remember that this test requires a maximal effort for 5
minutes. You cannot "ease or progress" into it and you are
going to feel some pain.

Recommendation This test is only recommended for the athlete.
While it requires a great deal of motivation it's nature of an
"all out" effort is specific to many competitive sporting
situations. The average speed (that is while you are running,
swimming and so on) during the 5 minute can also be used to
prescribe training intensities in conjunction with your heart
rate, and predict your endurance performance.

Petzl

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[Peter Webb]

"daisho" <i_nicoll@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Kk7Oa.3683$oN.164738@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...
> Hi all,
>
> I've been doing a bit of a fitness thing on various machines
> that measures my heart rate at my Gym.
>
> I'm 37 years old, so:
>
> 220-37= 183, which gives a 90% heartrate of 165.
>
> I'm exercising regularly at rates higher than 165, and I
> feel fine. I
tend
> to 'exercise as I feel I need to' and don't worry what the
> machines are telling me. I have no pain in my chest, no
> 'warning signs' telling me to slow down.

No, don't worry about it. This 220 - your age thing is just
a rough rule of thumb. Some people have way higher pulse
rates. I am 47, and my MHR is 190, and I keep it above 170
for extended periods of time. There's a guy in my gym who is
74 and I have watched him reach 165. (He tells me that he
considers anything below 150 to be not exercising and a
waste of time).

You are doing exactly the right thing - pushing hard but
listening to your body.

>
> I find that I have higher heart rates while running or
> stepping and lower rates while rowing or pedaling.
>

That is normal. For me, 170 running "feels like" 160 walking
up hill which "feels like" 150 on the bike.

> I'd put my realistic fitness at about middle of the road,
> meaning that
I've
> got a lot of room for improvement, but I'm no slouch.
>

Your MHR has got almost nothing to do with your fitness level.
It is age and genetics.

> I'm 172cm tall and 80kg (meaning I'm 10kg over my ideal
> weight).
>
> Any advise appreciated, and questions will be answered as
> soon as I can
get
> to them.
>
> Thanks muchly.
>
> Ian

[Goran Toma]

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:26:30 +1000, "daisho"
<i_nicoll@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I've been doing a bit of a fitness thing on various machines
>that measures my heart rate at my Gym.
>
>I'm 37 years old, so:
>
>220-37= 183, which gives a 90% heartrate of 165.

220-age but +/- 12 is what everywhere should be written.

Moreover, even that is just an orientation point. Formula is
derived from the average. Not very accurate.

>I find that I have higher heart rates while running or
>stepping and lower rates while rowing or pedaling.

MHR is sport specific.

>Any advise appreciated, and questions will be answered as
>soon as I can get to them.

If you don't feel you're overtraining keep it up. The best
way is to listen to your body. But keep listening, don't
go deaf ;-)

Regards, Goran Tomas Pozdrav, Goran

Listen now! -->
http://free-zg.hinet.hr/GTomas/PuzzlingRadio.html

[Daisho]

Damn - I was hoping all of you would tell me I'm working out
and doing harm, thus I should stop exercising and watch Jerry
Springer....

Oh well, back to the treadmill :)

Thanks for the feedback

Ian

"Goran Tomas" <goran.tomas@post.hinet.hr> wrote in message
news:7qmjgvkpvmg61he7rq7a701ia6duob0a2r@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:26:30 +1000, "daisho"
> <i_nicoll@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >I've been doing a bit of a fitness thing on various
> >machines that
measures
> >my heart rate at my Gym.
> >
> >I'm 37 years old, so:
> >
> >220-37= 183, which gives a 90% heartrate of 165.
>
> 220-age but +/- 12 is what everywhere should be written.
>
> Moreover, even that is just an orientation point. Formula is
> derived from the average. Not very accurate.
>
> >I find that I have higher heart rates while running or
> >stepping and lower rates while rowing or pedaling.
>
> MHR is sport specific.
>
> >Any advise appreciated, and questions will be answered as
> >soon as I can
get
> >to them.
>
> If you don't feel you're overtraining keep it up. The best
> way is to listen to your body. But keep listening, don't go
> deaf ;-)
>
>
> Regards, Goran Tomas Pozdrav, Goran
>
> Listen now! -->
> http://free-zg.hinet.hr/GTomas/PuzzlingRadio.html