Heart Rate

S

sparrow

Guest
This isn't a weight loss issue but I know more people look in this section than any other.

I feel I am in pretty good shape. I can run for long periods of time, I can swim long intense workouts, I keep up with 3 little children all day :) and I eat very healthfully. I have lived the active life for most of my life. I am aware that a good measure of a workout is what your heart is doing. Actually probably the best measure. I never much cared what my heart was doing until recently I decided to base workout intensity upon my heart rate.

I have been doing this for about 2 weeks now. In the pool my heart rate is around 130 if I swim for a while without stopping and varrying my speed. On the tread if I do a long tempo run at a comfortable pace it is 120. If I do HIIT-and I'm talking right after my 3 minute interval of all out sprint (and I do HIIT for an HOUR of 3 min spring, 3 min jog). Its a measly 135-140. I once sprinted for 5 minutes outside on a track in the heat and got it up to 150. I counted that as a successful day.

My resting heartrate is about 47. Sometimes it dips lower but mostly its 47-48. After reaching these "all time highs" I've mentioned within a minute my heart rate is back under 100, 2 minutes its at 80 and 3 minutes its around 65. I don't know much about what all this means. I only know that for my age my heart rate is supposed to be like 190 or something crazy. I've never even come CLOSE. Is there something more I should do or is it all OK?
 
Perhaps you are so conditioned to runnning that your body does it very efficiently and it would be very difficult to really tax yourself and get your heart rate up by running. I know if I run at a good pace on the treadmill for 30 minutes and my heart rate seldom goes above 140, but I can do 12reps of SL deadlift with 315 pounds and have my heart rate go to 170 in only 60 seconds.

Have you tried shorter, harder sprints? 100 yards (or 70 yards up hill). I think to sprint for 3 minutes you have to hold some back. I know when I do 100 yard 100% sprints (<15 seconds) followed by walking (~2 minutes), I feel a pump in almost every muscle in my body after a few cycles, and my heart rate gets up there after 6th cycle. Feels about the same as when it is up to 170, but I never measured it after sprinting.
 
hmm thats super interesting. I'll have to see what happens when I'm weight lifting since that is still fairly new. You're right , you cannot REALLY all out sprint for 3 minutes but its at a speed I swear I couldn't increase!
Hills are a great idea. thanks for that good post
 
whoa, 30 thats crazy. so should I look for some challenging cross training? Does it even matter?
 
From what I understand your resting heart rate, and your recovery rate indicate that you're in good cardiovascular condition. My suggestion would be (if you don't already have one) to get a heart rate monitor so you can easily track what your heart is doing at any given time. I have the Polar F11 and I like it alot. It might be useful to you as it has a feature where you can set your own training zone, based on how well you do in the fitness test it conducts. I suggest this because your heart rate is probably lower than the general population's due to all the training you do. This way you know that when you're at 80%, you're at 80% of YOUR individualized heart rate. Another suggestion, if you belong to a gym try different cardio equipment and see if that doesn't cause a change in your heart rate - that is, get on a rower or stepper and see what that crosstraining does for you. Just a thought.
 
Speaking of cross training that reminds me of the exercise scheme where you mix running and weightlifting (I think there is a name for it, but I must have killed those brain cells with last night's beer, a mind is a terrible thing to waste!). For example, you run 100 yards, do 20 pushups, run 100 yards, do a set of curls, run 100 yards, do a set of military presses..., of course you need to have your weights outside for that (when I was in the Marines they had courses all set up like that with crude barbells (pipes with buckets of cement cast on each end) at each station). You might be able to do it in the gym with the treadmill if it is not very busy, but the other people would probably get in your way of jumping on and off the treadmill, or you could try just doing some weight exercise that gets your heartrate up and immediately getting on the treadmill and trying to keep that heart rate...
 
That sounds like a good day out at the track. I used to do that a while ago where there were 4 stations at each side of the track: Jump rope, dumbells, pushups, situps and in between you either sprinted or did lunges. it was hard! I had forgotten about that until now, actually sounds fun!
 
I have the opposite problem you have - I can't keep my heart rate below what it's suppose to be. I bought a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and ithe alarm is continually going off because I am over. I am reading a book by Oprah's personal trainer and it said in there that as you get into better shape, you will see that it takes a lot more effort to get your heart rate numbers up - this is a way that you know that your body is adapting to the exercise and that you're getting into better shape. I can't wait for the day that I have a hard time getting my HR up. Lucky you.;)
 
goal2befit said:
I have the opposite problem you have - I can't keep my heart rate below what it's suppose to be. I bought a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and ithe alarm is continually going off because I am over. I am reading a book by Oprah's personal trainer and it said in there that as you get into better shape, you will see that it takes a lot more effort to get your heart rate numbers up - this is a way that you know that your body is adapting to the exercise and that you're getting into better shape. I can't wait for the day that I have a hard time getting my HR up. Lucky you.;)
Click to expand...

I can personally attest to the truth of that - before I started exercising, my resting heart rate was 100 beats per minute, now it's closer to 49. In spinning class I've been discovering it's harder and harder to keep my heart rate up to training levels, so yes it does indeed work.
 
Individual Differences

Just want to add a word of caution about becoming too focused on heart rate. There are very wide individual differences in resting and active heart rates. Some people have what I like to call thumpers for hearts--they beat slow and hard. Others have churners--they naturally beat faster and a little shallower. These are natural individual differences based on a variety of factors, most notably genetics.

Side note: one interesting thing I've noticed anecdotally is that thumpers--those with slower, heavy beats--tend to fall asleep easily and sleep more deeply. Churners tend to be more restless people and sleep more lightly.

But the main point is that any charts or target heart rate graphs are simply averages and have little application for many individuals. See
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top