Alta HR - advice re: peak zone

[KumiMama]

Alta HR - what is the advice re: going into and above the 'peak' zone? Is this advisable?

[SunsetRunner]

This question should be directed to your doctor what can tell you what heart rates are appropriate for your age and physical condition. You can google for general guidelines, but your doctor should have the final word. 

[WavyDavey]

Since Peak Zone goes up to 100% of your maximum heart rate, I'm not sure how you would get past that zone.

[shipo · Accepted solution]

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@KumiMama wrote:

Alta HR - what is the advice re: going into and above the 'peak' zone? Is this advisable?

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Exercising in the so called "peak" zone is no big deal, in fact, the whole zone thing based upon the 220-Age formula is pretty much bogus.  The thing is, the formula is a HIGHLY flawed concoction based upon universal averages and is as likely to be correct as incorrect (maybe even more so) for any given individual.

I coach quite a few runners with ages ranging from their early twenties well up into their sixties; I would say fully a third of "my" runners are able to sustain their heart rates in the arbitrary "peak" zone for at least twenty minutes; some, myself included, are able to sustain a heart rate above the calculated "max" for over an hour.  Long story short, heart rate zones are irrelevant and should be ignored for many folks.

In your case, I get the distinct impression you are able to push your heart rate up into the calculated peak zone for your age; if my assumption is correct, here is my advice for you:

• If you are exercising to the point where you're breathing so hard you feel you're in imminent danger of collapse, stop exercising NOW; you're working out too hard.
• If you are exercising to the point where you're breathing very hard but are otherwise able to sustain the pace, slow down, you're working out very near your limits and doing so will limit the effectiveness of said workout (errr, unless you're partaking in a repeat speed drill of sort).
• If you are exercising to the point where you can maintain a conversation in short sentences, then you're good to go; perfect pace for a workout.

[Venkats]

Shipo,

With due respects to your thoughts, you seem to be missing an interesting point that heart rate is a reaction to the work and does not in anyway represent the extent of work. There are multiple statistical extrapolations for the heart rate maximum and for the most part they should all converge at the same value with minimal differences. This statistical extrapolation is what is actually used in cardiac stress tests. It is not correct to discount them as useless and pointless.

When you begin to transition to active lifestyle initially the heart will find it difficult to sustain activity near the age adjusted max heart rate and with consistent training it improves over a period of time, although not to infinity. Some heart rate monitors do adjust the max heart rate based on what was observed in training (example myZone). With fitbit you have to manually adjust the max heart rate.

When you approach max heart rate your body automatically responds by reducing the wattage you can sustain. Put your athletes you train through a bruce protocol test and record the observed max heart rate at the point they stop, with an EKG. Then see if they can sustain 5 beats lesser than that maximum and how long they sustain. You will comprehend the correlation between heart rate and exertion.

For the other person's original question, the goal of training is to work briefly (to the extent one can without putting their body to risk) at or above 90% of the max heart rate. If at any point the monitor shows a higher reading than the previously observed value then the max heart rate will need to be revised in the profile. Some cardio equipments do show wattage. At or near max heart rate if you continue to exert, you will notice that the wattage drops.        

[shipo]

@Venkats, nope, not missing a thing; you're just overthinking the situation as well as giving way to much credit to the folks who came up with the highly flawed 220-Age zone calculations.

Under the KISS principle, just follow your breathing, regardless of whether you're just beginning to exercise for the first time in your life or whether you're a seasoned athlete, your breathing will never steer you wrong.

[WavyDavey]

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@Venkats wrote:
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For the other person's original question, the goal of training is to work briefly (to the extent one can without putting their body to risk) at or above 90% of the max heart rate. If at any point the monitor shows a higher reading than the previously observed value then the max heart rate will need to be revised in the profile. Some cardio equipments do show wattage. At or near max heart rate if you continue to exert, you will notice that the wattage drops.        

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I've never heard this before--that the max heart rate should be adjusted upwards with increasing fitness levels. Is there a source for this?

Also, if you go into the settings in the app, you will be able to set a custom heart rate zone. It's more for your reference, and doesn't affect the other zones.

[shipo]

@WavyDavey and @Venkats, Max heart rate is a function of genetics, regardless of how good (or not) your conditioning is, your max heart rate will remain relatively static.

[shipo]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

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@Venkats wrote:
...

For the other person's original question, the goal of training is to work briefly (to the extent one can without putting their body to risk) at or above 90% of the max heart rate. If at any point the monitor shows a higher reading than the previously observed value then the max heart rate will need to be revised in the profile. Some cardio equipments do show wattage. At or near max heart rate if you continue to exert, you will notice that the wattage drops.        

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I've never heard this before--that the max heart rate should be adjusted upwards with increasing fitness levels. Is there a source for this?

Also, if you go into the settings in the app, you will be able to set a custom heart rate zone. It's more for your reference, and doesn't affect the other zones.

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There are two settings, one for a Custom zone (mine is set for 30 to 185 BPM, and one for Max Heart Rate (mine is set to 185 in spite of the fact I'm in my 60s); if you adjust the latter then it will in fact adjust all of the zones below it.

[WavyDavey]

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@shipo wrote:

@WavyDavey and @Venkats, Max heart rate is a function of genetics, regardless of how good (or not) your conditioning is, your max heart rate will remain relatively static.

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Thanks, that's what I was thinking. It wouldn't make sense to have the max continually rising.

As an aside, I sometimes use a chest strap, and find that during intense lifting, I'll get brief spikes up to 240bpm. Would you recommend using this as my max, or are readings that brief not a good indicator?

[shipo]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

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@shipo wrote:

@WavyDavey and @Venkats, Max heart rate is a function of genetics, regardless of how good (or not) your conditioning is, your max heart rate will remain relatively static.

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Thanks, that's what I was thinking. It wouldn't make sense to have the max continually rising.

As an aside, I sometimes use a chest strap, and find that during intense lifting, I'll get brief spikes up to 240bpm. Would you recommend using this as my max, or are readings that brief not a good indicator?

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No, I'm thinking 240 bpm is bogus data.  I've been looking into the whole heart rate thing for literally decades now, ever since I was diagnosed with Bradycardia while a high school middle-distance runner; don't think I've ever heard of a verified heart rate much above 220.  That said, I suppose it is technically possible, but not terribly likely.

If you ever have a chance to have a certified medical device monitoring your heart during lifting, I'd love to know what it records.