Quote Originally Posted by Grog
There has been quite a few discussions of heart rate on this forum. From what I have gained discussing this with various doctors (off their shift and informally, though), there is a HUGE variation between individuals as far as max heart rate goes. I am the same age as you (27) and the max I have held for a minute is more around 220, way beyond the predicted 193. This used to scare me (I'd stop counting my pulsations in aerobics classes and lie about my heart rate when the instructor would ask!) but I have learned that it's just me and that I should live with that. On the other hand, it would be ridiculous for me to train at 145, I don't even feel anything at that point.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one!!! My max is at least 208, but probably higher, and I'm 25. When I first got my heart rate monitor, I used 226 minus my age, programmed in my "aerobic" zone with the alarms turned on, and went off on a ride. The alarm was going off at the upper end after about 10 minutes. Even though cycling has dropped my resting heart rate about 10 beats per minute, my heart rate while exercising is still substantially higher than predicted by the stupid formula. I've always been this way, even in Jr. High when we did interval workouts for cross country. Everyone else was around 140 and I was 170. After a few times, I just started to lie.