Heartrate discussion

[OakLeaf]

Just improving overall fitness... may also lower your HR for a certain perceived exertion rate.

Isn't it the opposite? that the more fit you are, the higher your HR at a given PER?

[sundial]

Tuckervill, my hubby was curious about HR and maxing it out quickly on long rides. So he bought a book, Heart Zones for Cycling. Maybe this will help answer your questions.

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Zones-Cy.../dp/1931382840

I have a Polar too and my max heart rate is 184. My resting HR is 45 and my Own Zone is 128-154 to stay in the fat burning range.

[Andrea]

Just like everyone else said- there are a lot of "prediction" formulas out there, but they are just that- predictions. The most accurate way to know your max heart rate is to exercise as hard as possible. The highest heart rate you reach- even if it's only for a second or two- is your actual maximum heart rate. You can't do much to change that number. If you stay sedentary, it tends to decrease with time. However, if you keep training, you can maintain or at least slow the decrease.

As for testing for max HR, I recommend going to a lab that specializes in exercise physiology. They can perform a graded (as in progressively increasing in difficulty) exercise test in which they can measure VO2max (the most amount of oxygen your body is capable of using), max heart rate, lactate threshold, and VO2 used at different exercise intensities. By measuring the amount of O2 your body uses, you can calculate the amount of calories you are burning at different exercise intensities (which is why it's an important measurement to take in your case).
This type of testing is similar to a "stress test" performed at a doc's office, but is much more in-depth and will be of much greater benefit to you. The purpose of a stress test is not to test your capacity, but to evaluate your heart's electrical activity under "stress." They will watch your ECG (electrocardiogram) for anything that looks off. The thing is, if the ECG looks normal at, say, 85% of your age-predicted max heart rate, chances are very very slim that you'd see anything different at higher intensity levels, SO the doc will usually stop the test if everything looks normal up to that point. Therefore, you don't actually go until you reach your max heart rate, AND you don't get all that nifty data about how much oxygen (secondarily, calories) your body is using while you're exercising.

I hope this helps! Try checking your local university for a health and sport science department. They usually offer testing for a small fee (and the cost goes to help fund the lab- not line a doc's pockets!)

[VeloVT]

Isn't it the opposite? that the more fit you are, the higher your HR at a given PER?

Originally Posted by aicabsolut:
Just improving overall fitness... may also lower your HR for a certain perceived exertion rate.

Thanks for the morning brainteaser . You're both trying to say the same thing I think. It's easier to conceptualize with a concrete example: imagine a beginning runner who starts out running a 10 minute mile at an rpe of 7 and a heart rate of 175. After two months of training, she can run 8:30 miles at an rpe of 7 and a heart rate of 175. After another 6 weeks, she can run 8:30 miles with hr of 175 and rpe of 6.

I think there's a correlation (though not a perfect one) between rpe and hr; I think they may move more or less together at least at first, although after training it seems likely your rpe would go down for the same hr.

As you get fitter, BOTH your hr AND your *perceived* exertion will be lower for the same **actual** rate of exertion (for instance, if our runner were to do some easy runs at her initial 10 min pace, her hr would be much lower than it had been at that pace when she started).

(That was a long way of agreeing with Oakleaf, I guess ).

[Tuckervill]

I am SO interested in getting all that testing done, but I don't know if my hubby would go for it. It's not like I'm racing or competing in anything. I am competing with myself to get my body fit, and this would provide the most accurate data.

I'll I will check the UofArk. There's a UofA med school in Little Rock and that's probably where it would be done if they had such a thing.

Thanks!
Karen

[Tuckervill]

The fitness assessment at the UA Med Sci fitness center has this available (cheap, too!). Is there something missing? Is lactate threshold part of the VO2 testing? I will call to see if the body fat % is the dunk test or calipers. Seems like it would cost more to do a dunk test.

Fitness Assessments
The Get Healthy fitness assessment will include measuring the following:

* body mass index
* waist / hip ratio
* body circumference
* resting heart rate and blood pressure
* percentage body fat
* V02max (your total capacity to consume oxygen)
* resting metabolic rate (how many calories your body burns at rest)
* flexibility.

With your assessment you will receive a detailed explanation of the purpose for testing each area, the procedure used for the test, and recommended values for comparison.

Cost: $25 / fitness center members, $30 / UAMS employees, $35 / non-UAMS employees.

Services may be purchased separately:

Body fat %.....................................$10.00

Lipid Profile....................................$15.00

VO2................................................$10.00

BMR...............................................$15.00

Blood Pressure..............................no charge

This would be very interesting to find out all that custom data.

Karen

[sundial]

Karen, wouldn't UAF have someone in the phys ed/trainer dept that could help you with this? I would think it would cost less too.

[Andrea]

Blood lactate is usually extra- it's tested much like blood glucose, and those little strips are freakin' expensive! You typically use at least 4 or 5 in the course of testing, too. It's mainly important to athletes & those looking to push the lactate threshold upwards with training. BMR and VO2 across the intensity ranges would probably be of most use to you if you're trying to calculate calorie burn.