Hey yall. I was reading in the book Walking In Divine Health where it talked about training too hard. It talked about how training too hard is very much like flouring the engine of a car, and how when you train at your hardest you release free radicals which are harmful to your heart. Then it goes on to say that you should exercise about three time a week for thirty minutes, or four times a week for twenty minutes. If this is so, then people running marathons are going way over the limit. Is there something that I am missing here? It also shows a formula for your targeted heart rate. My targeted heart rat was in between 133 and 168 heart beats a minute. I am sure I have gone over that atleast a couple of times. The formula is you take 220, subtract it from your age, then multiply that by .65(65%). Multiply it again by .8(80%). These two numbers are your targeted heart rate, if you wanted to know. What do yall think? Am I worrying about something stupid? Thanks.
Training too hard?
- Thread starter Muscle Man
- Start date
You can find literature that advises everything from 3 a day 2 hour workouts to 15 minutes every 6 weeks, and everything in between. Which is correct? That depends on what you are trying to achieve and what works best for you. Are you are trying to achieve the best long term health benefits or the maximum improvement in the shortest time? Are you young or old, fit or out of shape, thin or fat, a mesomorph or ectomorph, a busy executive or a student, have a job that keeps you active all day or sit in front of a computer all day, etc. And all physical factors aside what psycologically works best for you? What will you keep doing long enough to gain real benefit from it?
Some would agure that running a marathon is not a natural thing for a human to do and therefor is not healthy. But some people go way beyond the 26 mile marathon to ultra marathons of 50 and 100 miles, or tri-atheletes sandwich a 26 mile marathon between a swim and a bike ride, so obviously a 26 mile run can be done and then some.
If you run 26 miles every day of the week that is probably too much for most individuals, especially for any extended period of time. That is why many recommend 1 long run per week and a couple of short ones as well as some alternate training, even for distance runners.
I tried the heart rate by age thing and found it very misleading. Since I am 48 years old my target heart rate is 112-138. I find that until I get to about 145, it seems like I am not even exercising. Although this may be a good rule of thumb for the "average" person, I think depending on your resting heart rate and/or your fitness level these may be quite off for many individuals.
Some would agure that running a marathon is not a natural thing for a human to do and therefor is not healthy. But some people go way beyond the 26 mile marathon to ultra marathons of 50 and 100 miles, or tri-atheletes sandwich a 26 mile marathon between a swim and a bike ride, so obviously a 26 mile run can be done and then some.
If you run 26 miles every day of the week that is probably too much for most individuals, especially for any extended period of time. That is why many recommend 1 long run per week and a couple of short ones as well as some alternate training, even for distance runners.
I tried the heart rate by age thing and found it very misleading. Since I am 48 years old my target heart rate is 112-138. I find that until I get to about 145, it seems like I am not even exercising. Although this may be a good rule of thumb for the "average" person, I think depending on your resting heart rate and/or your fitness level these may be quite off for many individuals.
I know that two years ago(8th grade) I trained harder than I ever have before. For a month my chest hurt. I was affraid that I damaged my heart. You never hear an 8th grader worrying about that do ya. Ever scince then I have been more cautious of what I do. About the marathons? A person on tv said that the body is only designed to go 20 miles. After that, it is very unsertain what will happen. I don't think it would be good for me to run 20+ miles a day because of my diet. I am young, but that is'nt any reason for me to throw out the fact of me having a heat stroke, or heart failure, or anything like that. As for the heart rate. I thought getting in the 180's was pretty normal. This book has really tought me alot of things.
The Karvonen formula is a little more precise in calculating your target heart rate because it takes into consideration your resting heart rate:
Max HR = 220- age
RHR = resting HR
{(MHR - RHR) X 0.6} + RHR = YOUR 60% TARGET
{(MHR -RHR) X 0.8} + RHR = YOUR 80% TARGET
But yes, it would be difficult to maintain a HR of 180 for a prolonged period of time. However, if you are interval training, there are often times where your HR will go beyond the 80% mark for those high intensity intervals (which are usually very short). I doubt that you would maintain 180 BPM for a half hour though
General guidelines indicate to maintain a HR between 60%-80%...however, these ARE guidelines, and so do not necessarily apply to elite athletes and their specific training.
Max HR = 220- age
RHR = resting HR
{(MHR - RHR) X 0.6} + RHR = YOUR 60% TARGET
{(MHR -RHR) X 0.8} + RHR = YOUR 80% TARGET
But yes, it would be difficult to maintain a HR of 180 for a prolonged period of time. However, if you are interval training, there are often times where your HR will go beyond the 80% mark for those high intensity intervals (which are usually very short). I doubt that you would maintain 180 BPM for a half hour though
General guidelines indicate to maintain a HR between 60%-80%...however, these ARE guidelines, and so do not necessarily apply to elite athletes and their specific training.Thanks.