Greetings, I am new here so I hope this is the best forum for this post. As the urban environment in the foreign country I find myself in prevents running outdoors, I have been using a stair stepping type machine for cardio. I have a consistent fitness history probably starting from running track in grade school, then high school sports, then moved into martial arts and in recent years do cardio and weights to keep in shape. I’m not an all star; just a normal guy who likes to keep in shape. I have always been indoctrinated in no pain no gain, push harder, and continual improvement competitive environments and I keep pushing hard now at 38 years of age. Over time I pushed on the stair machine harder and harder, extending the machine to its highest setting as I got better, then time extending it, and don’t use my arms to brace to maximize the degree of difficulty. Because they have this nifty chart on the wall telling ideal heart rates I started monitoring mine for the first time. That’s when I learned I was WAY off the scale and my heart shouldn’t even be able to go that high so at first laughed it off that the chart is probably for wimps or something. At the toughest parts of the program my heart rate usually approaches 200 and goes right on past 200 if I am not feeling 100%. At the easiest resting parts of the program (which is not real easy) it goes down in the 170’s (it's kind of a sine wave exercise pattern). It seemed so unbelievable that I started counting pulses at different lengths like 6, 10, 15, and 30 second intervals and they all correlated and indicated to me I was acquiring accurate numbers. It’s a very tough program and I gasp for air at the tough parts, may get side aches, and finish drenched with sweat. My resting heart rate tested at the clinic I have been told is normal for my age (something like 117 over 70 if I recall). Then I was watching the Tour De France and was astonished to see those tremendous athletes max only in the 180’s in the sprint.
So that go me thinking and that is why I am here. What are the pros and cons of pushing your heart so hard it is off the charts? Is it just totally stupid, dangerous, and counter productive and all my years of training to push as hard as possible are wrong? Or are you going to tell me my numbers must be unequivocally wrong? Or am I some kind of a statistical anomaly who just needs to go higher than a one size fits all chart? If I back off to what is normal for my age will I lose anything? I’ll certainly feel like a pansy to tell you the truth slowing the machine that slow. I just kind of like working out giving my all because it gives me confidence day to day I can put the lead out if I ever find myself in a situation that I need it. I’ve searched numerous archives on the net and not found any good answers so any advice is greatly appreciated.
So that go me thinking and that is why I am here. What are the pros and cons of pushing your heart so hard it is off the charts? Is it just totally stupid, dangerous, and counter productive and all my years of training to push as hard as possible are wrong? Or are you going to tell me my numbers must be unequivocally wrong? Or am I some kind of a statistical anomaly who just needs to go higher than a one size fits all chart? If I back off to what is normal for my age will I lose anything? I’ll certainly feel like a pansy to tell you the truth slowing the machine that slow. I just kind of like working out giving my all because it gives me confidence day to day I can put the lead out if I ever find myself in a situation that I need it. I’ve searched numerous archives on the net and not found any good answers so any advice is greatly appreciated.
