Heart rate and exercise?

I think I understand now, looks like I was doing this the opposite way, I re-read the posts here and I see where you said that the recovery interval is more important than the work interval. Well this narrows it down for me so I will try what you say tomorow, use 1 minute work intervals by bumping the speed to 7 again and this time trying a faster speed.

Gooch mentioned about the Heart Rate numbers, I am confused about this and would really like to get a very clear handle on this HR and exercise issue, can either you, Gooch or anyone else please explain what I need to know to make sure I am getting the most out of my exercise please?
 
Searched and searched the net and this is the best I could find regarding HR numbers



Anyone care to take a look and comment on the article, like if it's absolutely correct or if there's anything misleading in it? I have printed it out and will go through it a few times and post back any questions here, thanks.
 
OK, I've read through that article 2 times so far and have found out that my target range is between 123 and 160, I will do this again over the next couple of days to make sure that figure is accurate.

Where "Perceived Exertion" is concerned

Level 1: I'm watching TV and eating bon bons
Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long
Level 3: I'm still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder
Level 4: I'm sweating a little, but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly
Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more and can still talk easily
Level 6: I can still talk, but am slightly breathless
Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to. I'm sweating like a pig
Level 8: I can grunt in response to your questions and can only keep this pace for a short time period
Level 9: I am probably going to die
Level 10: I am dead

I guess in my last workout bumping the incline to 7.0 for a few minutes took me to level 7 or 8.

What does this all tell me? That I should warm up at a level which must have my HR over or at least 123 and that my normal or Recovery Interval should have my HR at somewhere around 135? Then my work interval should be no more than 160 so then it would be ok for me to go up to 160 for 1 minute? Do I have this all correct now please?
 
theGOOCH said:
144 is ass kicking.

220-age (40)=180 (max heart rate)

most stay between 60-70% (108-126 for you) some even like closer to 50%

I like about 75% (135 for you).....144 is 80% -usually that range is for hardcore endurance athletes
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Re-reading all posts here and the article for the 3rd time, I think I got a better handle on this. If my MHR is 176 then I too would like to max out at 75% so I will bump my 1 minute work interval to where my HR reads around 132, this should do it I think, hopefully I've got this all down now.
 
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mikehende said:
Re-reading all posts here and the article for the 3rd time, I think I got a better handle on this. If my MHR is 176 then I too would like to max out at 75% so I will bump my 1 minute work interval to where my HR reads around 132, this should do it I think, hopefully I've got this all down now.
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Just my 2 cents.

For what it's worth, I've done interval training for years ( track, treadmills rowers, bikes, eliptical trainers etc ).....and I've never focused on actual ' heart rate ' numbers at all - ever. Rather the focus for me was on the intensity of the interval ( as it pertained to how hard I was breathing and being out of breath ) and the duration of the interval. The focus was on subjective preceived exertion ( how hard I was breathing ) rather than actual objective HR numbers. For example , taking those ' levels ' you supplied. When I did HIIT, I'd just make sure my work interval was a level 9 for 1 minute and my recovery was a level 6/7 for my 2 minute recovery interval - I couldn't tell what my HR was or either - nor did I care. My breathing told me everythinhg I needed to know.

Look at the simple ' wind sprint ' interval protocol that we're talking about in your case. I suggested this ' wind sprint ' interval protocol as a means of speeding up your improvements in cardio fitness. By 'speed up', I meant as compared to doing slower and steady cardio at the same speed and incline for an extended period of time where you are breathing deeply but never get out of breath. It doesn't really matter what your heart rate is IMO, as my suggestion is simply to gauge your intervals based on combination of time and how hard you were breathing. I'd just want you be out of breath during your work interval - which HR it takes to get you there isn't all that important IMO.

So, you want to be out of breath during your work interval and you want to be able to recover your breath ( though not completely ) during your recovery interval. So, for the work interval, this could means you are at a HR or 110, 120 ,132, 138, 145 etc. etc. . The point is , the heart rate during your work interval is a a bit of moot point so long as you feel out of breath. The idea is simplyto get out of breath - not hit some pre-determined heart rate. So I would ignore HR during your work interval completely for now, and instead, simlpy rely on your breathing - making sure you get out of breath - for now. Now the extent to which you get out of breath is a function of intensity and entirely up to you. Because in it's simplest form of making HR irrelevent, you could always do a work interval flat out , as hard as you humanly stand, so hard you go till you are about drop , literally hanging on for dear life that you feel like you're ' going to die ' for 1 minute - and that's called HIIT - no HR required :)
 
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Being in my mid-40s now, I guess I panic a little whenvever I read anything concerning the heart and when it comes to exercise I don't want to push it to where it can do more harm than good which is why I started looking into the HR and numbers game but when you break this all down there is one common aspect of Cardio exercise I've noticed between your posts and the articles I've read, that breathing is the most important element that one should pay attention to.

I am willing to bet though that I will be reporting after my next 2 workouts that both intervals will fall in the target HR zone, meaning, I will do as you say this evening, to get the breathing aspect right between intervals without looking at HR numbers only paying attention to the numbers on the machine [speed and incline], then next workout day I will do the same workout but monitor my HR numbers at all levels just to compare, will report back here and thanks for sticking with me!!:)
 
mikehende said:
Being in my mid-40s now, I guess I panic a little whenvever I read anything concerning the heart and when it comes to exercise I don't want to push it to where it can do more harm than good which is why I started looking into the HR and numbers game but when you break this all down there is one common aspect of Cardio exercise I've noticed between your posts and the articles I've read, that breathing is the most important element that one should pay attention to.

I am willing to bet though that I will be reporting after my next 2 workouts that both intervals will fall in the target HR zone, meaning, I will do as you say this evening, to get the breathing aspect right between intervals without looking at HR numbers only paying attention to the numbers on the machine [speed and incline], then next workout day I will do the same workout but monitor my HR numbers at all levels just to compare, will report back here and thanks for sticking with me!!:)
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I'm in my late 40's - with 4 teens - I PANIC all the time. :)

Like I said before, this whole interval thing is a process of ' trial & error ' - take your time and set aside 5 or 6 cardio / inerval sessions till you get a feel of what is good como of work / recovery intervals ( there's no rush here - you have the rest of your life to get in shape, so, take your time and do it properly / safely ) That's the simplicity of HIIT in some ways - you simply go as hard as you can for as long as you can , the recovery is just a case of going till you can almost recover 100% - then do it again.

That aside, if you do HIIT properly, it is VERY STRENUOUS and you need a good aerobic base to do it safely IMO. Even more so wth guys like us who are up there in years. So, you should leave things like HIIT ONLY until you are in very good aerobic shape IMO.

Again, if you want to look at HR while doing intervals, that's your choice - there's nothing wrong with doing that. I simply think feedback based on breathing and feeling of exertion are simpler and more meaningful - but that's just me. In the context of the goals of improved cardio fitness by way of intervals, HR readings on a machine don't tell me very much more than what my body ( i.e breathing ...near-death experience :) ) is already telling me.
 
BTW, what's your take on following any of the preset routines which comes with the trreadmills? The Gym instructors have her following one of these routines which do the interval training but I am wondering how will the machine know about your breathing status?
 
I've been trying to learn a bit more about HR and how it relates to my exercise routines as well. I was browsing for HR monitors to buy online and came across that I think explains in really simple terms such things as resting HR and why heart rate recovery is important for measuring fitness (just ignore the sales pitch for the MIO HR monitors.)

I am starting to do more cycling races so for me recovery time is important.
 
I am making progress and now know how to manipulate the work/recovery intervals to get a good workout, I am getting the sweat I like and I am now up to 1minute jogging for work interval and 2 minutes recovery, at the end of my workout, I can now jog for 5 minutes before the knee starts hurting, looks like my knee is getting stronger? Or is is becuase I started taking the "move free" since last Saturday?
 
Yesterday I felt like jogging so I thought I'd give it a try so I jogged for 15 minutes on the treadmill after a 5 minute walking warmup, the knee was ok, I still felt it but no pain, I was simply out of breath, I would like to ask, which is better, if I jog 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes or if I do the 1:2 work/recovery routine? Which is the better workout for the heart?
 
personally when i do my intervals i do them 1:1 whether its 1min or 2min i do not let myself completely recover so at the begining of each interval my heart rate is a few beats higher than the previous one and the max HR during the interval is higher that the previous this is pretty intense and can be done on any piece of equipment-the important thing is to monitor your heart rate because when you are out of breath you might be pushing too hard if you do this interval method by the last interval you should be out of breath
 
and intervals are better for conditioning your heart they better your recovery time and mimic real life more effectively but steady cardio has its place as a recovery workout

if you push yourself everytime with no recovery days -and i don't mean a day off i mean active rest- you will eventually overtrain

so do intervals one workout(high intensity) and steady cardio the next workout(low intensity) remember the reason to workout is longevity and fitness this is a life time not a quick fix
also mix it up rower, bike, x-trainer, swim...this prevents repetitive overuse syndrome which leads to injury
you don't want to aggravate any condition especially in your knees it will only get worst
have you tried glucosamine,msm,chondroitin,collagen supplements-talk to your doctor about them - the best thing for a bad knee is the bike helps spread synovial fluid throughout the joint without impact to irritate condition
 
akyoda32 said:
have you tried glucosamine,msm,chondroitin,collagen supplements-talk to your doctor about them - the best thing for a bad knee is the bike helps spread synovial fluid throughout the joint without impact to irritate condition
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Yes, at Gooch's advice, I am presently taking "Move Free" and it's working great, my right elbow don't hurt at all anymore, my right knee is a lot better and my left elbow only has minimal pain when I work out. Yes, I do 15 minutes as my last workout on the bike 3x per week, with my legs fully extended, this makes my knee feel great as opposed to just sitting in a regular position on the bike.
 
Forgot to add, when i did the 15 minutes jogging, my HR was in the 160's which is very high for me, when I do the 1:2 work/recovery my HR at max is in the 140's where it should be, does this mean, I am pushing too hard by doing the jogging?
 
mikehende said:
Yesterday I felt like jogging so I thought I'd give it a try so I jogged for 15 minutes on the treadmill after a 5 minute walking warmup, the knee was ok, I still felt it but no pain, I was simply out of breath,

I would like to ask, which is better, if I jog 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes or if I do the 1:2 work/recovery routine? Which is the better workout for the heart?
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Compared to an easy 30 minute jog, an interval session will more then likely cause your heart to work under more duress. And as a consequence, your heart muscle will adapt to this overload to become more " fit " quicker than if you just did easy jogs.

What you'll find though, is that as you continue to do intervals, you'll be able to do 30 minute runs at a much higher intensity ( heart rate ) without getting as winded. Your aerobic fitness improves.

If your knees hold up, I'd try and find room for both some steady state cardio ( i.e 30 minutes ) and interval cardio if you can...but that's just me.:)
 
I like your words Wrangell [an easy 30 minute jog lol :)]. So basically you are saying what Akyoda32 is sayting that I should mix it up? Maybe do interval one day and a 30 minute jog the next and so on?
 
mikehende said:
Forgot to add, when i did the 15 minutes jogging, my HR was in the 160's which is very high for me, when I do the 1:2 work/recovery my HR at max is in the 140's where it should be, does this mean, I am pushing too hard by doing the jogging?
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Just my 2 cents.

Rather than focusing on HR numbers during your jogs - at least for now - I'd opt to focus on your breathing instead. Use the "talk test" as your guide for breathing. That's that's the level you ideally want to exercise at for cardio as a beginner IMO - even more so if you are mixing it up with some other interval work sessions. By ' talk test ' I mean you should be breathing deeply during your jogs - not gasping - such that you should be able to ' talk briefly ' while doing jogging without huffing, puffing and groaning. If you are huffing, puffing and groaning it means you're not getting an aerobic workout - you're not getting enough oxygen and - IMO - you're probably working too hard.

What is your breathing like when your " HR was in the 160's " ? Are you gasping for air or can you do the ' talk test ' ?

Using the Target Heart Rate ( THR ) by subtracting your age ( 44 ) from 220 to calculate your Maximum Heart Rate ( MHR ), your MHR is 176. These are not the most accurate of formulas and they vary person to person. Keep in mind, for some people, the MHR at your age may be higher or lower than 176.

You sometime will see this MHR used in conjunction with things called ' training zones '. Aerobic training zones usually fall somewhere between 60 % - 85% of MHR. Which means you can run at these %MHR's ' aerobically " without getting out of breath. Depending on your fitness level (and conceding that these calcs may be inaccurate in the first place ) some people might get winded at different %MHR's

So, when you say " when i did the 15 minutes jogging, my HR was in the 160's " I'd be less concerned it it was 140, 150 or 160 and simply ask if your were out of breath at 160. If so, you are going to hard IMO. Then simply ease up till you can exercise within the ' talk test ' guideline....whether the ' talk test ' guideline kicks in at 110, 125, 142, or 158 etc. etc.

As for " 1:2 work/recovery my HR at max is in the 140's " - as I told your before in my earlier post - ( in most cases ) there is simply no need to monitor or focus on HR as a guideline for doing intervals.
 
mikehende said:
I like your words Wrangell [an easy 30 minute jog lol :)]. So basically you are saying what Akyoda32 is sayting that I should mix it up? Maybe do interval one day and a 30 minute jog the next and so on?
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Something like that.

Obviously, you have to listen to your body and only do what doesn't hurt your knees. Ideally, you always want some variety in any exercise regimen. So do an 15 -30 minute run/ or jog one day and a interval session another day. Depending on how your knees hold up ( and how fast you want to get in cardio shape ) you could do 15-30 minute jogs 3X a week and intervals 2 X a week OR do intervals 1X a week and jogs 2X a week etc. etc. ...it really depends on how keen you are and how much pain you're in.

But in the end, the BEST cardio for you to do is the cardio you enjoy the most and will do the most !:)
 
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