high heart rate

pauric1

my wife has been training for tri since last year and constantly has a very high heart rate. her max on a 5k run could be up around 210bpm for about 30mins and the average is usually about 185ish. she's only 34 and isnt overweight.

we did a duathlon yesterday and she now wants to start some speed work but for a tempo run should we still be calculating the 85% of max hr from this figure of 210. the "220 minus your age" obviously wont work here.

thanks guys
P

village runner

pauric1 wrote: »

my wife has been training for tri since last year and constantly has a very high heart rate. her max on a 5k run could be up around 210bpm for about 30mins and the average is usually about 185ish. she's only 34 and isnt overweight.

we did a duathlon yesterday and she now wants to start some speed work but for a tempo run should we still be calculating the 85% of max hr from this figure of 210. the "220 minus your age" obviously wont work here.

thanks guys
P

I read in a book heart rate only works for 50% of people.

Ceepo

village runner wrote: »

I read in a book heart rate only works for 50% of people.

Didn't hear this before or read that book but the more you read the more confusing things get

Didn't ever come across any one with heart hate that high maybe check that the strap is wet before see put's in on as this can sometimes give a false reading,
Also some of the cheaper ones (Aldi, Lidl) are not that accurate (my experience before someone shoots me)
This seems very high and maybe get checked out by GP just in case, even 185 is closer to her max, also take her resting pulse and see if this is high also, normal
would be around 60 to 75 , fitter people would be under this with some people down to resting pulse of 40.
220 - age is only a guide and would depend on other factors, fitness, diet, work, sleep etc etc

Dont know if this will help but hope it does !!

bart simpson

pauric1 wrote: »

my wife has been training for tri since last year and constantly has a very high heart rate. her max on a 5k run could be up around 210bpm for about 30mins and the average is usually about 185ish. she's only 34 and isnt overweight.

we did a duathlon yesterday and she now wants to start some speed work but for a tempo run should we still be calculating the 85% of max hr from this figure of 210. the "220 minus your age" obviously wont work here.

thanks guys
P

yeah i have a high heart rate, not that high but a zone above all the same, at an easy enough pace i would be 160 bpm, i looked around the web and village runner is right loads of people do not fit into heart rate brackets, it doesnt mean you are unhealthy or more heathy... i read somewhere that lance armstrong trained at 200 bpm!!!

i think the main thing is to ask your wife how she feels when she is running hard...train by feel. if she doesnt feel well definatlely go to the doctor

DULLAHAN2

Is There a test you can get done to see what your max heart rate is? I mean instead of the general one 220-age,a more scientific one

bart simpson

DULLAHAN2 wrote: »

Is There a test you can get done to see what your max heart rate is? I mean instead of the general one 220-age,a more scientific one

http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm

hunnymonster

for a start it's 226 - age for a woman but as for the men, it's only an average and doesn't work for most people. Also sports bras interfere with the readings something serious (you've all watched the shock absorber bounce-o-meter video)

the cheap and cheerful way to estimate your max HR is to find a pretty challenging hill, run up it, walk down, repeat until you puke (yes!) and the highest HR reached (not instantaneous) is a pretty good guess.

For a more scientific approach, contact your nearest university sports physiology department. They will be able to do a test. Costs can vary from nothing (if they're inthe middle os a study that you fit the criteria for) to about €200 for a bells and whistles Vo2, blood tests, flexibility, .....

Wally Runs

For what it is worth I am a 38 (a week away from 39) male with a Max HR of 203. I have had it checked by various means, cheap HR straps, expensive ones, physical tests etc. all give the same data within 4 or 5 beats.

Just why has never been explained beyond 'that just what it is'. I have no underlying health issues.

I reality, how one feels in the various zones is as good a measure as any (if you are honest with yourself).

pauric1

thanks for the replies folks, looks like she'll have to use how she feels from now on then. she used to be a competitive cyclist in her late teens and even then her hr was always very high.

cheers
P

Sniipe

I've a high heart rate while running(29, male, normal weight). Yesterday I ran 10K and my heart rate was never below 179.

with the garmin 305 watch I've looked back over all my activities and can say that 202 was the highest its ever reached... I'd say that is my max heart rate?

the target heart rate during a run should be between 65 - 85% of your max heart rate. I've a good bit of work to do to get it down to lower than 171. I guess one should slow down their run.

hunnymonster

Sniipe wrote: »

with the garmin 305 watch I've looked back over all my activities and can say that 202 was the highest its ever reached... I'd say that is my max heart rate?

Depends, did it spike up to this value or gradually rise to it?

Sniipe wrote: »

the target heart rate during a run should be between 65 - 85% of your max heart rate. I've a good bit of work to do to get it down to lower than 171. I guess one should slow down their run.

depends on what the purpose of the run is. Some runs are done at 60% some at 90%.

Pherekydes

Sniipe wrote: »

I've a high heart rate while running(29, male, normal weight). Yesterday I ran 10K and my heart rate was never below 179.

with the garmin 305 watch I've looked back over all my activities and can say that 202 was the highest its ever reached... I'd say that is my max heart rate?

the target heart rate during a run should be between 65 - 85% of your max heart rate. I've a good bit of work to do to get it down to lower than 171. I guess one should slow down their run.

The target HR depends on the purpose of the run, e.g. recovery run, aerobic capacity, aerobic strength, anaerobic strength, etc.

The target HR also depends on the resting heart rate. A lot of people seem to omit this when making their calculations.

In your post above you seem to think 202*85% = 171, but the correct calculation is

(Max HR - resting HR) * 85% + resting HR

Here's a good article to read about heart rate training.

littlebug

Well I think I can officially join this club having hit a max HR of 204 on the finish line of a 10 mile race. The fact that I apparently turned pure white and was linked by one of the stewards for a few steps being asked was I ok probably confirms that I hit my limit!

I had previously thought that my max was 191 but I obviously wasn't trying hard enough that day :pac: Honestly it makes much more sense to me now as according to previous calculations most of my runs were in the anaerobic zone though it didn't feel like it.

Pherekydes wrote: »

the correct calculation is

(Max HR - resting HR) * 85% + resting HR

That system makes much more sense and fits with my perceived effort. I will re-check my RHR which on the last check was 60-ish but could be lower. Tomorrow probably isn't the best time to check!

jcunniffe

There a useful history of the '220-age formula' here: http://faculty.css.edu/tboone2/asep/Robergs2.pdf

For actual calculation of useful HR zones, I've always preferred Friel's tests around lactate threshold using the average HR in a 1hour race. For most runners/triathletes, this is a far more realistic measure than any attempt to estimate MaxHR.

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/03/heart-rate-and-training.html

John