Above "Target Heart Rate" Workouts

[Addiecakes]

I have been going to the gym and doing regular cardio workouts for about 2 weeks there, and when I use the elliptical machine I get the benefit of being able to see my heart rate. When I work out, my heart rate (on average during the course of my workout is about 168-175) is listed in the red "above cardio level" zone. Is this something which is potentially dangerous? Does it mean I'm pushing myself too hard? The trainer I spoke with has me doing intervals on the elliptical and it seems like at the end of the "rest" period my heart rate is just about down into the 160-165 (cardio range) right before I start another high interval. I realize that the phrasing of this is potentially confusing, so I may attach an image if I can get one tomorrow at the gym to show what I mean.

I had plugged in my weight and age into the machine, so I'm assuming that is how it calculated my "target" heart rate. Could it just be an indicator that I'm more out of shape than the average person my weight (wouldn't be surprising) or is it one of those things that I should just ignore because it is a case of "everyone is different" and the heart rate they recommend for me may not be the actual "target" heart rate for me?

The more I post questions here the more I realize I'm terrible at it, haha

 

[KaraCooks]

The formula for calculating target heart rate is pretty out of date. It's basically 220-your age. So for me, my max HR should be 179 (220-41=179). But when I'm doing intervals, I usually get up to the high 180s. Also conventional wisdom says my 80% max (which is considered high intensity) should be 143. But when I'm doing SS-cardio, I hold steady at about 160 and that's a good solid workout for me.

Nowadays most good trainers will recommend the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion instead. It runs like this:

6 No exertion at all
7 Extremely light
8
9 Very light - (easy walking slowly at a comfortable pace)
10
11 Light
12
13 Somewhat hard (It is quite an effort; you feel tired but can continue)
14
15 Hard (heavy)
16
17 Very hard (very strenuous, and you are very fatigued)
18
19 Extremely hard (You can not continue for long at this pace)
20 Maximal exertion

I so my SS cardio at the around 13/14 and get my HIIT intervals up to 18, then drop down to 12/13 again.

 

[Addiecakes]

Thanks, Kara. My trainer was telling me something similar to the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion when doing my intervals. She said basically to start at 20% of my maximum exertion level and then every 2 minutes do 30 seconds at about 70%. Based on your description of the Borg Scale, it probably equates to about 11/12 base, and then 30s intervals at 15/16 every two minutes.

The heart-rate formula seems strange to me, haha. I'm surprised that it doesn't take into account your weight or body size at all. Mine should be a max of 195? That seems so high. Well, at least I know that averaging about 170-175 shouldn't be worrying me too much.