I’ve done little to no exercise for the past few months, but getting back on the elliptical trainer today I noticed my pulse rate seems pretty high - consistently between 160-170 bpm during a 15-minute session. I’m 31 and about 20kg overweight (down from 30kg overweight last year). Should I be concerned, and perhaps build up with lower-intensity training for a few weeks?
I hit 215 when doing hill running, but then I’m 5 years old 
so that probably explains it… according to the silly guidelines on the internet I should be hitting a max of 185 or so, which is simply rubbish.
For you, just go for some long (3-5 hour) cruisy hikes for fun with friends to build a base. Regularly, plus swimming during the week, then you’ll be stronger after 3-4 months.
Age : 30-34 years
Safe Max Pulse Rate Zone : 136-164
Your Danger Zone : > 170
Other source:
Age: 31
132 - 161 beats per minute
[quote=“Belgian Pie”]Age : 30-34 years
Safe Max Pulse Rate Zone : 136-164
Your Danger Zone : > 170
Other source:
Age: 31
132 - 161 beats per minute[/quote]
in all seriousness, for someone fit, that’s very innacurate-like I said above, I can go above 215 for hill sprints done repeatedly over an hour, and can run/hike for 4+ hours at a hard speed, with resting HB <50, and I’m just a normal athlete.
Don’t focus on HB, Taffy, focus on having fun doing regular sustained exercise with friends (or alone) to build up fitness (swimming twice a week, hiking once for 3 + hours). Etc. Your heartbeat will come down, it’s just natural. Don’t be afraid of breathing hard, push your limits…give it time-a year, and you’ll be feeling great, then you can start fussing about ideal HB range for your interval training and recovery sessions etc.
EDIT: No worries, he can do as he wants, BP, however my advice of regular hiking and swimming over the summer is pretty spot on. Sure, it’s simple enough to google recommended HB ratios, but in reality they’re often inaccurate-as my experience shows. Anyway, fussing about HB ratios is pointless at this stage of his workouts. Here’s something runners/exercisers don’t generally do enough: rest. Know your body, if you don’t feel strong, rest another day or two.
Up to you, he asked for advise … I looked it up (too lazy to calculate myself) and here it is … I’ve always been told to keep my exercise HB rate at 80% of my max HB for my age … there is a reason for this, fat burning …
In my good periods I have a resting HB of 30-35 …
Aerobic exercise significantly increases the heartbeat rate. In order to find the normal range for your heart rate during exercise, perform the following equations:
Maximum rate during exercise = 220 - your age.
Therefore, if you are 35 years old, your maximum heart rate during exercise would be 185 beats per minute. To find your ideal normal range during activity, you must multiply this figure by 65 percent and 85 percent.
185 x .65 = 120.25; 185 x .85 = 157.25
Therefore your normal heartbeat rate during exercise (for an adult) would be between 120 and 157 beats per minute.
Here’s another one:
220 - 23 (age) = 197
197 - 65 (resting heart rate) = 132
132 * 65% (low end of heart rate) OR 85% (high end) = 85.8 OR 112.2
85.8 + 65 (resting heart rate) = 150 112.2 + 65 (rhr) = 177
The target heart rate zone for this person would be 150 to 177
[quote=“Kea”]
in all seriousness, for someone fit, that’s very innacurate-like I said above, I can go above 215 for hill sprints done repeatedly over an hour, and can run/hike for 4+ hours at a hard speed, with resting HB <50, and I’m just a normal athlete.
Don’t focus on HB, Taffy, focus on having fun doing regular sustained exercise with friends (or alone) to build up fitness (swimming twice a week, hiking once for 3 + hours). Etc. Your heartbeat will come down, it’s just natural. Don’t be afraid of breathing hard, push your limits…give it time-a year, and you’ll be feeling great, then you can start fussing about ideal HB range for your interval training and recovery sessions etc.[/quote]
He asks for ‘safe’ HBR …
I think it’s bad advise and is person specific … and HBR is there to control your body, sure you can stretch it a little but too much is not good …
[quote]3) Prevent Over-Training: For many competitive runners, every week’s workout regimen is essentially a seven-day dance along the fine line between optimal training and over-training. Using a heart monitor to avoid stressing your body too much means that you will maximize the efficiency of your training, while minimizing the opportunity for injury. Injuries are much less likely to occur when you are not over-taxing your body, and avoiding injuries is tantamount to avoiding setbacks in your training. While opinions differ on how much running is too much (we will discuss this more later), once you determine the desired intensity of your weekly workouts, you can use the monitor as a gauge. Are your recovery days really allowing your body to recover? The surprising answer, in many cases, is that runners’ easy days are simply not easy enough. Use your monitor to stay below a certain ceiling, and you will avoid depleting your body’s glycogen stores, ensuring that you will have the energy to perform your intense workouts with vigor and that you will not have to take unexpected days off from fatigue.
- Prevent Under-Training: Though perhaps less common than over-training, some runners simply do not run hard enough, often enough. In this case, the monitor can function as a sort of coach, telling you when your body can handle more, and consequently, when you should pick up the pace. Set a minimum heart-rate goal for your run, and the monitor will sound an alarm when you have dropped below your target, telling you to work harder. [/quote]
Thanks guys, it’s precisely because of the online stuff I read about safe limits that I was a little concerned. Kea - I appreciate the options you’ve laid out there, but the most practical place for me to exercise is my home, as I work long, unpredictable hours. Hikes once a week are doable, but I just want to use the elliptical trainer at home safely without overstressing now I’m slowly getting back into the exercise.
I’m in my 56th year, and my chest-band monitor regularly hits 195 bpm during spin classes. The online info freaked me out, too, since it indicated I should have died long before 195 was reached.
I was worried enough to ask about it during my annual physical. My doctor said she wouldn’t recommend it for most people my age, but since I am in good shape and my pulse quickly returns to normal after exercise, it’s ok. Just a bit younger than I, she admitted her own heart rate exceeds 190 while rowing on the Elizabeth River.
I’d see a doctor if you’re concerned.
I’ve wondered what a doctor in Taiwan would actually say about this: is “conventional wisdom” about aerobic exercise (breathing a little hard but not panting, 40 minutes to an hour each time, 3-4 times a week) recommended here the same way it is in North America? I see very little intense aerobic exercise in this country. In the pool, everyone’s doing breast stroke; on the running track, most are jogging very casually or walking; most cyclists are also quite casual.
When you noticed your pulse rate was high, did it feel high, or was it more that you looked at the number and thought to yourself “Hm, that may not be good”? If the latter, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, not at age 31.
I haven’t been in Taiwan since 2004, but in the handful of times I visited Ren’ai hospital in Taipei I always encountered doctors who were trained in the US (fwiw). If that still holds and you have reasonable access to Ren’ai, then I’d bet you could be treated by doctors who are very knowledgeable regarding Western-style aerobic training.
If you don’t have such access, then assuming you’re healthy the key is probably recovery time. If your heart rate refuses to subside following exercise, then don’t push things. For me 195 is not sustainable. It’s extremely uncomfortable and I feel sure I can only keep it that high for 30 seconds or so.
How were you measuring it? If you were using the handgrip sensors, these are extremely unreliable (some machines worse than others), especially at high heart rates.
Remember maximum heartrate prediction formulae (such as ‘220-age’) are only very approximate. There are slightly better regression fits to the data, but essentially everyone is different, and the easiest way to find out your maximum heartrate is just to increase the mechanical effort until your heartrate tops out. However this is dangerous unless you KNOW FOR A FACT you have no underlying heart conditions. If you’re 31 and otherwise healthy it’s likely you’re fine, but to cover my own ass I do not recommend you try a max heartrate test until you’ve verified you’re OK to do so.
As someone else mentioned, the most reliable indicator is how hard the exercise feels. Exercise that feels “very hard” and can’t be sustained for more than a few minutes corresponds very closely to OBLA (onset of blood lactate accumulation), which is what you’re really interested in, and typically corresponds to 85% of your maximum heartrate.
If you start to feel dizzy, you’re working too hard.
Yep, handgrip sensors. I didn’t feel that there was anything wrong, it was just the readout that concerned me a bit. No dizzyness, no pain. Sounds like it’s nothing to worry about.
[quote=“Belgian Pie”]Up to you, he asked for advise … I looked it up (too lazy to calculate myself) and here it is … I’ve always been told to keep my exercise HB rate at 80% of my max HB for my age … there is a reason for this, fat burning …
In my good periods I have a resting HB of 30-35 …[/quote]
30-35 beats per minute??? Are you a professional cross country skier??
[quote=“Hightop”][quote=“Belgian Pie”]Up to you, he asked for advise … I looked it up (too lazy to calculate myself) and here it is … I’ve always been told to keep my exercise HB rate at 80% of my max HB for my age … there is a reason for this, fat burning …
In my good periods I have a resting HB of 30-35 …[/quote]
30-35 beats per minute??? Are you a professional cross country skier??[/quote]
Right now I have resting HBR of over 50 … but I didn’t really exercise (just speed walking the dogs for a few km a day) for a while and I’m stressed out …
I also have a heart condition in that I have a HBR of way below 30 during sleep … but only for a few minutes at a time … doctors say it’s not really dangerous, only when it gets worse and below 20 or something … 
One advice … hydrate, drink … short time (less than 1 hour) exercise, water will do … you don’t need mineral supplements, but eat enough and healthy
Dehydration will influence your HBR.
MOD … don’t move this
Definitely use a real Heart Rate Monitor with a chest strap.
If you have an iPhone consider one that is compatible with Digifit. This will make graphing and analyzing easier.
Note the more fit your heart, the lower your heart rate will be for some level of blood circulation. Meaning an exercise at a given effort will net a lower heart rate.
I finished Insanity lately and would try to get to low 180s in the intervals. Insanity is a pretty good High Intensity Interval Training program. I set a warning alarm at 185. Average rate during the exercise was usually in the 160s not including the warmup & cooldownand 150s including the warmup and cool down. My rest rate is about 50 and moves up or down depending on caffiene intake.
As for OPs question:
IMO, hell no. You are pretty young and unless you feel like you’re dying on there at those bpms’ it’s fine. Doing lower intensity is also a recipe to get bored with working out. Setting the bar to a point you have to push to hit, then monitoring your progress religiously along the way turns working out into a video game. More fun, easier to win.
Yep, handgrip sensors. I didn’t feel that there was anything wrong, it was just the readout that concerned me a bit. No dizzyness, no pain. Sounds like it’s nothing to worry about.[/quote]
I’ve been exercising 6 days a week for 2-3 years now and dropped a lot of the weight I had been carrying, and I’ve still been over 180 at times while jogging or on the elliptical machine with the tension set pretty high. While the number does freak me out a bit, while doing it I don’t feel uncomfortable, winded, dizzy, etc. I think you’d know if something was not good, or dangerous. Your body will tell you. My 
anyway.
Once you get dizzy or can’t see or hear properly then that’s your max. 180 is not too high for someone of your age, Taffy: unless you consider yourself totally unfit and obese. if you don’t feel too uncomfortable, then you’re OK at that rate (if you are confident that there’s no incipient heart damage, and you have never had chest pains or arrhythmia).
I still hit 190-200 often enough during hard pushes, and I’m 45. Fitter than you, but that’s not really relevant. Being fitter means that your heart beats lower at the same power output, or that you can put out more power for longer at the same heart rate.