Heart Rates: Am I doing myself harm?

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

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:26:30 +1000, "daisho"
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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On Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:26:30 +1000, "daisho"
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