How to find your maximum heart rate for exercise

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When you exercise, your heart and your breathing rate increase, which frees larger amounts of oxygen from the lungs to the blood and then to the muscles.

Determining an optimal heart rate for exercise depends on your goal, your age, and your current fitness level.

The heart rate and the intensity of exercise share a direct and linear relationship: the more intense the exercise, the higher the heart rate.

When you train at the highest intensity possible, your heart will reach its maximum heart rate (HR max), the fastest frequency that it can beat.

However, exercise at a maximum heart rate (HR max) for each exercise session will not produce effective fitness results. These high intensities can rarely be maintained, thus nullifying the potential benefits of exercise.

Exercise makes your heart more efficient

The typical resting heart rate can vary considerably between individuals and even within the same individual. About 60-80 beats per minute (BPM) for adults is common.

Heart rate can be easily measured with devices such as FitBits and Apple Watches, although they have their limitations. Andres Urena / Unsplash

Improving your aerobic capacity reduces your resting heart rate because the heart becomes more efficient with each beat. The resting heart rate of an athlete, for example, is usually around 40 BPM.

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In fact, evidence suggests that long-term exercises increase the size of the heart, especially the left ventricle, a phenomenon known as the "heart of the athlete". A larger heart means that it is possible to pump more blood with each beat and that it takes fewer beats per minute to maintain blood flow throughout the body. It is a beneficial physiological adaptation that allows athletes to train longer at higher intensities.

How to calculate your maximum heart rate

There is a substantial variation in HRmax. The only real way to determine HRmax is to perform a maximum exercise test. But HRmax can be estimated with the help of age-based formulas.

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The authors of a 2001 study proposed the following revised equation to estimate maximum heart rate:

HRMax = 208 – (0.7x Age)

This means that a 45-year-old man would have a predicted HRmax of 177 BPM.

Indeed, our genetics can influence the actual maximum heart rates from their predicted value. However, HRmax is not a major determinant of exercise or athletic performance. Our physiological efficiency is much greater.

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When assessing heart rate, it is also important to take into account the effects of emotions such as arousal or fear, stimulants such as caffeine and circulating hormones such as lightheadedness. adrenaline, which can all increase heart rate.

Is exercise at the maximum heart rate dangerous?

In short, the answer is no. For most adults, the risk of not doing enough exercise is much greater than that of doing excessive exercise of stamina.

The health benefits of regular exercise are well established, although new evidence suggests that excessive exercise does not provide additional benefits for cardiovascular health.

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Likewise, there is more risk that a sedentary person is exposed to an acute cardiac event, such as a heart attack, during physical exercise, when it is not accustomed to doing high intensity exercise or that she is suffering from pre-existing heart disease. The maximum risk is 0.3 to 2.7 events per 10,000 person-hours.

With one-third of Australians failing to follow the WHO guidelines recommending accumulating 150 minutes of exercise per week, encouraging regular physical activity remains an omnipresent message of public health.

In terms of risk assessment, a pre-exercise assessment with an ESSA qualified training specialist will be able to assess and mitigate the risks associated with participating in an exercise.

Intensity of the exercise: what happens when we go "do everything"?

Muscle cells need two key ingredients to work: fuel (glucose) and oxygen.

Muscles rely heavily on blood vessels to provide the necessary nutrients and oxygen in the body, as well as to eliminate by – products such as carbon dioxide.

The more muscles used in exercise, the more blood is delivered to the active tissues.

When the intensity of the exercise is particularly high, the muscles begin to produce another byproduct called lactate.

Cells can also use lactate as a fuel, but if the rate of production exceeds metabolism, lactate begins to accumulate and can impair cell function.

The point at which this by-product begins to accumulate is called the "lactate threshold".

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Any intensity of exercise that can be comfortably maintained is usually below this threshold and will be accompanied by a heart rate. Since it is much easier to measure the heart rate than lactate production, heart rate can be used as a proxy measure of the intensity of exercise.

What is the best exercise for heart rate?

Although interval training is a popular choice for people who are short of time, the intermittent nature of exercise means that the heart rate fluctuates and does not bring much more benefits. than traditional exercise in the state of balance.

From a scientific point of view, athletes generally use heart rate ranges to train at specific intensities during aerobic exercises, such as cycling or cross-country running.

Exercising at certain intensities is known to elicit adaptive responses from the body, for example, to exercise at or below the lactate threshold.

These intensities are called training zones and are expressed relative to HRmax. For example, a light aerobic workout would be prescribed at less than 75% HRmax, while a threshold workout (approximately 95% HRmax) would induce a physiological change.

Overall, it is better to exercise than not to do for your cardiovascular health. Cumulating 150 minutes of exercise per week is the minimum required to enjoy good health. Exercising at your maximum heart rate is not necessary to obtain these benefits. Athletes can use the training zones, compared to HRmax, to achieve optimal fit and improve endurance performance.

Angela Spence is a senior lecturer in exercise physiology at Curtin University. Carly Brade, Lecturer at the Faculty of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science at Curtin University, contributed to the writing of this report.

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