Heart rate?

[OLD TIME BIKER]

So the years and the beers (and pasta and pizza...) have taken their toll and I'm here at the age of 55 needing to lose weight and shape up. Although it's easier said than done, I pretty much know what I need to do to shed pounds and shape up but one thing is not clear to me. How do I determine what my target heart rate should be while doing excercise. I have been cleared to excercise by my Doc but he was non commital at the question. I know I need to work up to the max rate slowly, but ultimately I want to be in the best shape possible for Super Senior off road competition. Isn't there a formula based on age?

Thanks.

[lewisb13]

Your max heart rate is 220 - your age as a general rule. Start out slow. I am a marathon runner and I train at 80% max heart rate. You should be training at about 60% for endurance.

[DrMark]

Almost agreed. I think serous people, like those of us who race motorcycles, should be training at 80% of max. 60% percent is for old folks on the recumbant.

[Plushpuppy]

So you say 80% is a good general rate to train at? how long and how often a week?

after reading about people's various advice about cardio training for a race, I wonder if this is good--I'm working toward a 1.5 hour(90+ finish the lap) GP race(OMRA), so today I did a cardio workout of 80 minutes at 75%, then 10 minutes of 80%, then 2.5 minutes of 94%(sprinting as long as I could stand it, on 5% incline). Would that be a good basic workout for the goal of the race? or bump it up to more(longer period) 80%?

thanks

[DrMark]

I will be the first to say that I am not an exercise physiologist, but an extreme athlete with a license to practice medicine and surgery. Despite the fact that I am the "expert" here, I will defer to those that know more about this than I.

I, personally, train at 80% of max for one hour per day, at least 5 or 6 times per week. Sh1t, if your are going to do it, get the most out of it.

[Plushpuppy]

ha, I like your thinking ? thanks! good enough for me ?

[OLD TIME BIKER]

So I'm clear and don't misunderstand : The max heart rate for 55 (I'll be 56 soon, does that rate decline?) is 220 and I should work up to working out at 80% (176) of that?

Ultimately, how often and for how long should I maintain a workout at the 80 % level to maintain an optimum fitness level?

I DO understand that this is not something I should jump on a treadmill and try to accomplish tomorrow, but it is a goal to be worked toward slowly.

Thanks again.

[biznet1]

So I'm clear and don't misunderstand : The max heart rate for 55 (I'll be 56 soon, does that rate decline?) is 220 and I should work up to working out at 80% (176) of that?

Ultimately, how often and for how long should I maintain a workout at the 80 % level to maintain an optimum fitness level?

I DO understand that this is not something I should jump on a treadmill and try to accomplish tomorrow, but it is a goal to be worked toward slowly.

Thanks again.

For at least 4 weeks, just push yourself to a pace that is comfortable, but uncomfortable, if that makes sense. In other words, you know your own body and what you can stand. After 4 weeks you can begin to address your max heart rate. I don't think the .80 of 220 - age formula is really a good measure but simply a guide. I also don't like to stick with the 80% of max during a workout. For a person who is simply trying to stay in shape this is good, but what you're talking about is training for an event. You will need to achieve bursts of 95 - 100 percent during your workouts to train your cardio system to deal with extreme conditions and 80% during the rest of your workout. Once you've reached a good conditioning level, you can toss the 220 - age formula out of the window. You will be able to achieve higher heart rates and sustain higher percentages for longer periods. Don't forget to train your core on the opposite days you run. Jump rope in between your core exercises to keep your heart rate high.

[RockyRoad]

So I'm clear and don't misunderstand : The max heart rate for 55 (I'll be 56 soon, does that rate decline?) is 220 and I should work up to working out at 80% (176) of that?

Ultimately, how often and for how long should I maintain a workout at the 80 % level to maintain an optimum fitness level?

I DO understand that this is not something I should jump on a treadmill and try to accomplish tomorrow, but it is a goal to be worked toward slowly.

Thanks again.

176?!!!! I almost had a heart attack just looking at that number.

Here, I'll do the math for you:

220-56=164 164*.8=131.2 that's your max. If you're in decent shape don't worry about going into the high 130s or 140s (I'm no doc but in my recent experience, at my age of forty something, my MHR is 148[i use a slightly different formula by the Harvard Med guys and it gives a higher max rate...I don't remember the formula] but I regularly go into the 150s during spin class and have been told that since I'm reasonably fit, been doing the spin class for about 6 months now, to not worry about going that high)

Your min is 164*.65=106.6 or somewhere thereabouts.

My personal advice, fwiw, would be to just take it easy for a week or two at around 110 then work your way up over several more weeks to the 130s.

[Plushpuppy]

If you work at 90%, be sure to give lots of time in between, I did a 30 min interval at 90% last week, and I'd say I felt wiped for 3 days. I still did cardio, but had to stay like around 65-70%. And there is a big difference between 90% and 94%(what I did today)--I could keep up the 94% for 2.5 minutes, then my asthma kicked in(just a little) which if you have that it's good to know what your boundaries are(and push them, at least for me). BY the way, doing upper intensity cardio REALLY helps my asthma(geez I hate spellign that word!). I have to be sure to warm up well(I have the exercise-induced kind of asthma).

[OLD TIME BIKER]

Thanks everyone...especially biznet1 and RockyRoad, you helped me understand a bit better and the numbers seem MUCH more reasonable and obtainable as you've explained them.

RR, your advice will be my starting point. I know I can handle that for starters and it will at least put me on the right path and help me establish a routine of regular exercise.

Once again, thanks to all.

OTB

[El Marko]

Forget worrying about all this. You're obviously just getting back into training, which means you're overloading on information, most of which really isn't that relevant yet.

Get your diet cleaned up and start doing SOMETHING ACTIVE for one hour, every day of the week. Do that for a month or two in order to build an aerobic base, lose some weight and strengthen your core muscles, at which point you can start to get serious about training and focus on things like heart rate.

KISS at this point.

Too many people expect some magic formula or diet to work wonders. The reality is that if you just focus on doing the basic work EVERY DAY, the rest of it starts to get easier.

Get the book "Motocross and Off Road Training Guide" for some good common sense guidance to this stuff. It's on eBay, Amazon, dealers, etc.

[DougWood]

I'm 48, and I generally keep my HR at 145-150 (about 85%max) for 60 minutes on either the treadmill, excercise bike or orbital machine. I like to mix it up. Works for me.