How does one determine Hearth rate for exercise

(Anna) #1

It use to be 220 minus age for maximum heart rate.

My understanding is it is now 180 minus age.
Then multiply by 70% for Zone 1, which is exercising in a fat zone and not a sugar zone.

Is this correct?

(Cocker) #2

I never bothered so much with the formula myself…though I hadn’t heard it had been reduced to 180…

There’re a couple of problems -

…everyone is different to begin with…
…you can, probably will, be different on different days…
…you adapt very quickly…
…at a higher intensity, you use proportionally less fat…but for a greater number of calories over the same time…

A good rule of thumb is the highest rate that you could maintain a conversation without getting out of breath…

To be honest though, I don’t even do that…I get on the cross trainer each morning and do what feels right, typically a low level or even the lowest, for 60 minutes exactly…no more, no less, for 7 days a week…I find that the routine and consistency trumps everything else…for the first few weeks I did the lowest level regardless, just to see how it would be…now I have a range, but some days I’m just not feeling it so don’t push.

…obviously, the above is just my personal process though…if doing it another way gets you doing it more then that’s the important thing…I do mine on a flat setting and use the hour to warm up and wake up, so I could certainly see how it would bore someone else.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #3

The confusion over this is why I bought a Fitbit. It just tracks that stuff for me. Before I used a heart rate monitor chest band with bluetooth to track on my iPhone. The Fitbit also gives me notifications etc. to move, and I just like it so much better than the chest strap. Other companies make similar devices, they have a wide price range, so you might shop around and find one that works for you.

I had not heard about the 220 being dropped to 180. At my age that would put me at a very low number. Not sure it would work for older active adults.

(Wendy Peterson) #4

I recommend Mark Sissons book Primal Endurance. He was a marathon runner who had a heart attack and wanted to know why if he was in such good “shape” by running, why did this happen? He recommends 180 minus your age, minus 5 per any injuries/Illnuses for 8 weeks to build a base cardio. Then add in HIIT etc. Talks about Paléo eating and keto eating while training.

(Anna) #5

Please check out the link.

#6

The 180-age is for LISS cardio, so like long jogs and stuff. This is to avoid excessive thickening of the walls of the heart muscle. You can go higher for interval and short duration stuff.

(James storie) #7

Yep, the 180 - your age - 5 if your not very active will put you into what’s called zone 2 training. It’s the best for building cardiovascular endurance and burning fat. Any higher and you will blow through your glycogen stores and crave sugar to compensate. 220 - your age is your max heart rate. Training this way will just burn you out and thicken the walls of your heart. The above link from Vinnie Tortorich is very helpful

(Michael Wallace Ellwood) #8

That podcast doesn’t play for me. His later podcasts play for me ok. Maybe older ones “expire”?

(James storie) #9

Yeah, all of the older stuff cost money to get access. He has talked about it recently. Also, the ketogenic athlete podcast just did a podcast a couple weeks ago about this same subject