target heart rate training

The Myth of "Maximum Heart Rate = 220-age"

You've probably heard the words "220-your age" for estimating maximum heart rate. Unfortunately, this formula is not very useful because it can easily be off by more than 20 shots in the high or low. For me, at age 54 this formula says my maximum heart rate should be 166, but I know from more accurate tests that is at least 25 beats more than that.

In the books, exercise machines, and the walls of gyms, you'll often see charts of suggested exercise intensity based on 220-your age. It is also calculators across the web. Just sweat me if exercised at those levels. But more importantly, for some people is just the opposite and your maximum heart rate can be than 20 beats lower than the formula predicts. If they were to perform at the levels of letters, their intensity may be too high, especially for someone with a condition care.

This formula is often quoted without any warning that the potential inaccuracy, and apart from the inaccuracy, it has little scientific basis [Kolata, 2003]. Some people are aware that 220-age was never the intent of the original authors to be a universal formula (it was intended to reach a level safe exercise for patients in cardiac rehabilitation and was based on a broad sample of items). But the problem is also in the basic assumption Max's heart can be predicted on the basis of their age. If you think about it, it seems senseless, regardless of family background, fitness level, if are tall or short, underweight or overweight, etc, all have exactly the same heart rate at a certain age, and maximum heart rate declines with age in all of us at exactly the same rate?

Recent studies have tried to revisit this concept in a broader sample population. For example, in a study, based on thousands of subjects, men and women, aged between 18 to 81, the authors came up with the equation of a "best adjustment "in:
The maximum heart rate = 208-0.7xAge.

However, if you look at the data it is based on, it looks like a cloud, with only a vague tendency towards lower heart rate with age, there are a lot of dispersion. The new formula is a bit more precise than previous but can still underpredict or overpredict max HR of 20 beats or so [Tanaka, 2001].

A recent review of many attempts to find a formula for predict the maximum heart rate concluded that there are not enough accurate formula to predict the maximum heart rate for age alone [Robergs, 2002]. In my opinion, none is possible because of the large amount of scatter in the data. Exercise physiologist Dr. Fritz Hagerman, who has studied the world-class rowers For three decades, has said that the idea of a formula to predict the maximum heart rate of an individual is absurd: he has seen Olympic rowers in their years 20 with the maximum heart rate of 220, and others in the same team and with the same capacity, with maximum rates of just 160 [Kolata, 2001].

Many books have charts with elaborate training schedules based on the various zones of intensity, all based on the maximum heart rate. This all may seem very scientific, but not too useful if based on an incorrect number.

Another mistake I found is that the problem with the formula 220-age is by using the "heart rate reserve" or Karvonen formula. In this formula, exercise intensity, expressed as a percentage of capacity of their "reserve" between your rest heart rate (RHR) and maximum heart rate (MHR):

Target heart rate = X% of (MHR-RHR) + RHR

Where X% is the desired percentage. This formula is useful because the intensity of it is related to a percentage of the frequency maximum heart rate for your VO2 Max oxygen update, which many exercise physiologists are fond of using. However, the Karvonen formula still need an accurate estimate of your maximum heart rate. If you hit a wrong number based on age-related prediction-age as 220, the result still be inaccurate.

The training heart rate can be a useful tool, if based on a good estimate of what a level of intensity apply to you. Maximum heart rate can be measured accurately in a laboratory, but for most of us it is kind of an expensive option. You can calculate other useful parameters like heart rate at lactate thresshold self-administered tests (see, for example, [Carmichael, 2003]) and this can be used for training based on heart rate. But for those of us who are interested mostly in the gym, I question the need. I a "level of perceived exertion" kind of guy. The easy cardio days my pace is comfortable. In the days of hard, feels hard and doing intervals, is very difficult. This leads to good progress and steady.

References
Carmichael, Chris, and Jim Rutberg, The Ultimate Ride: Get Fit, Get Fast, and begin to win three World Cycling Coach, Grosset & Dunlap, 2003.

-Kolata, G, "Theory of maximum heart rate is challenged," The New York Times Health Page, April 24 2001.

-Robergs, R, and Landwehr, R, "the amazing story of the" HRmax = 220-age "equation", Journal of Exercise Physiology Online, 5 (2), 2002.

, Tanaka H, Monahan, K, Seals, D, "Age-Predicted Maximal Heart Rate Revisited," Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 37 (1), 153, 2001.

About the Author

I'm Richard King, 54 and a mechanical engineer with a Ph.D. from Stanford. Biking and fitness are my main hobby, and I am well versed in biomechanics and exercise physiology through many years of reading and research.My website is
www.bikeandfit.com.

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