What is maximum heart rate and why should beginner runners know it?

Why calculate your maximum heart rate?

Based on your heart rate, you can choose the right running intensity to achieve your training goals. In other words, training smarter is better than constantly working yourself up into a sweat.

The intensity of your workout is divided into five heart rate zones, from very light to maximum intensity. Heart rate zones are calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.

For example, within heart rate zone 4, you will train at 81-90% of your maximum heart rate and improve your maximum performance.

To determine your individual heart rate zones, you first need to know or calculate your maximum heart rate.

How to calculate your maximum heart rate

Your maximum heart rate can be calculated using the generally accepted formula: 220 minus age. While this may be a good starting point, research has shown that this formula is not entirely accurate or universal, especially for older people or those who have been keeping fit for years.

WHY DO YOU NEED TO CALCULATE YOUR MAXIMUM PULSE RATE?

Heart rate-based training allows you to run at the right intensity to achieve your training goals. In other words, training smart is better than always training hard.

The intensity of the workout is divided into five heart rate zones, from very light to maximum. Heart rate zones are calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.

For example, in heart rate zone 4, you will train at 81-90% of your maximum heart rate and increase your maximum performance.

Alternatively, in heart rate zone 3 (which is typically your average running heart rate) you will train at a slightly reduced heart rate level of 71-80%, but you will still improve circulatory efficiency.

To determine your personal heart rate zones, you first need to know or estimate your maximum heart rate.

Pulse and pulse zones

Pulse is a very individual characteristic. Someone is walking and their heart rate is 130 beats per minute, while others can do jogging at this heart rate. For ease of control over training, a distinction was made by pulse zones. These are zones for performing workouts of varying intensity. For different athletes, heart rate zones will be different and will depend on the maximum heart rate of a particular athlete (MHR).

What are the pulse zones?

A generally accepted system of intensity zones has emerged:

1. Zone 1: 50-60% of MHR. Very easy comfortable running area. Typically used for warm-up and cool-down. Speeds up recovery.
2. Zone 2: 60-70% of MHR. Recovery training, the most active fat burning. It also improves recovery, develops the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
3. Zone 3: 70-80% of MHR. The main aerobic training zone for endurance training, long training. Develops a fine capillary network in the muscles, increases the size and strength of the heart.
4. Zone 4: 80-90% of MHR. Anaerobic zone. Speed ​​qualities are most effectively developed in this zone. Speed ​​training is performed in this zone.
5. Zone 5: 90-100% of MHR. Maximum zone. Most often, only professional athletes in a state of very good physical readiness enter this zone. Amateur athletes should not go into the maximum zone.

Based on these five intensity zones, you can set training goals: in which intensity zone and how long you need to work.

WHAT IS MY MAXIMUM PULSE RATE?

So now you're ready to start calculating your maximum heart rate, where do you start?

If you've ever tried to calculate your resting heart rate, it's obviously the other way around. Instead of calming your heart, you are going to push it to the limit.

To calculate your maximum heart rate, you must be willing to sweat and have the right equipment to measure it. If you're just curious about what my maximum heart rate is, you can always start by using the tools below to estimate it.

What can affect your maximum heart rate? Factors such as age, fitness level, stress, and medications such as beta blockers affect your heart rate.

Does your gender affect your maximum heart rate? To calculate the maximum heart rate for men and women, it is the same. However, you may be interested to know that smaller people tend to have a higher maximum heart rate, which is why women often have a higher heart rate than men.

Static loads

Load is not necessarily movement. Staying in one position for a long time can also be a strain on the muscles. If your health does not allow you to practice dynamic loads, you can resort to static ones. They do not require active movement; on the contrary, during the process you must maintain a certain position or change it very slowly (as, for example, in yoga or Pilates). Such loads are indicated even for diseases of the cardiovascular system or musculoskeletal system, which do not allow dynamic activity.

HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR MAXIMUM PULSE RATE USING THE FIELD TEST

Beyond assessments and tests, you can calculate your maximum heart rate by putting on your running shoes, turning on your heart rate monitor, and heading out into the real world.

For field testing, you won't need fancy lab equipment, but you'll still get an accurate and personal estimate of your maximum heart rate. The premise is simple: you warm up properly and then perform an exercise that gets you closer to max effort.

Note that for the best effort field test, it's best to call a friend and ask them to join you, just in case. Also, make sure you have done some hard training in the last few weeks.

MAXIMUM PULSE RATE FIELD TEST EXAMPLE

Take this field test with a learning partner. Use a heart rate monitor and note your highest possible heart rate. This is your maximum heart rate.

Polar H10

When it comes to accuracy and connectivity, the Polar H10 chest heart rate sensor is your best choice.

1. Warm up for 15 minutes on a flat surface. Build up to your normal training pace.
2. Choose a hill that takes more than 2 minutes to climb. Run up the hill once (for at least 2 minutes) at a pace that you estimate you can maintain for 20 minutes. (You don't need to keep running for 20 minutes, you just need to pick up a pace that you can maintain for at least 20 minutes.) Return to the bottom of the hill.
3. Run up the hill again at a faster pace. Get your heart pumping as fast as possible by picking up a pace that you estimate you can maintain for 3 kilometers. Observe your highest heart rate on the display: your maximum heart rate is approximately 10 beats higher than the marked value.
4. Run back down the hill, allowing your heart rate to drop 30 to 40 beats per minute.
5. Run up the hill again at a pace that you can only hold for 1 minute. Try running half a hill. Observe your highest heart rate. This brings you closer to your maximum heart rate. You can use this value as your maximum heart rate to set your heart rate zones.

Doing a maximum heart rate field test while unprepared is a surefire way to put yourself under maximum stress. If you are unsure, consult your doctor before taking the test.

Measuring points

Pulsation is determined where the artery passes close to the surface of the body over the bone tissue. Most often, the pulse is measured on the arm. But this is not the only place of measurement.

• on the wrist;
• in the bend of the elbow;
• in the temple area;
• on the neck;
• in the groin;
• under the knee;
• on the legs, or rather, on the ankles on the inside;
• in the pubic region (inguinal arteries);
• in the area of ​​the carotid artery;
• at the junction of the big toe and foot from below.

How to measure pulse on your hand

The easiest place to find the pulse is in the wrist area. To count the pulse on your hand, no special skills or equipment are required. Anyone can measure their heart rate.

The procedure for measuring heart contractions is very simple:

• It is necessary to remove everything from the hand that may interfere with the movement of blood through the vascular system;
• wash your hands and dry them;
• lie down or sit down;
• prepare a watch with a second hand or a stopwatch;
• press the radial artery with three fingers;
• count the number of beats:
• It’s better to do this in a minute, but you can count the beats for 30 seconds, then multiply the result by 2 (If the pulse is calculated in 15 seconds, the result is multiplied by four);
• record the results.

This method of measuring heart rate does not require special skills.

How to determine the pulse on the carotid artery

To perform the procedure for measuring heartbeats in a place close to the carotid artery, two or three fingers are used. They are located on the side of the lower jaw or the sternocleidomastoid muscle near the thyroid cartilage. In this way, the number and force of blows on a person are counted, and some conclusions are made about the character.

Attention! The measurement must be taken carefully to avoid squeezing the artery, which could cause the risk of a sudden slowdown in heart rate. This can lead to loss of consciousness.

Benefits of a heart rate monitor

Tonometers and pulse oximeters are medical devices and are convenient to use at home. But many convenient gadgets have been created for people who prefer an active lifestyle. There is even a special device for measuring pulse, which is called a pulsometer.

Basically, devices of this type look like a wristwatch and are used to assess the effectiveness of physical activity by measuring heart rate. In addition to counting your pulse, heart rate monitors perform many useful functions:

• Calculate the average heart rate;
• Determine the maximum values;
• Allows you to set up an individual training zone and notifies you when you go beyond it with an audible signal;
• Equipped with a countdown timer;
• Show date, time, day of the week;
• Works as a stopwatch and alarm clock;
• They are synchronized with special software to transfer data to a phone or computer, where the dynamics can be analyzed.

Many devices provide additional functions, for example, determining the height or number of laps while running, calculating energy consumption, recording the acceleration of the legs, and others. Some models are equipped with a chest belt. The main advantage of heart rate monitors is the most accurate pulse determination, comparable to ECG data.

Limitations of scoring formulas

Maximum heart rate values ​​vary significantly among different people. Even within a single elite sports team, such as Olympic rowers at age 20, maximum heart rate values ​​are reported to vary from 160 to 220. This variation would be equal to the difference between ages 60 and 90 in linear equations and would appear to indicate to extreme fluctuations in these averages.

The numbers are generally considered averages and largely depend on individual physiology and fitness. For example, a runner's endurance performance will typically be lower due to the increased heart size required to perform exercise, while a sprinter's performance will be higher due to improved response time and shorter duration. Although each of them can be calculated to have a MP of 180 (= 220 - age), so the actual MP for these two athletes may differ by 20 beats/min. (for example, 170-190).

In addition, it should be noted that people of the same age, with the same training, playing the same sport on the same team can have an actual MP of 160-220: The range is extremely wide, so as an indicator, MP is probably the least important variable when comparison of athletes.

Video What Should Your Heart Rate Be During Training?

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Formula Tanaka, Monahan and Seals

Presented in the following form:

MP = 208 - (0.7 × age)

The authors' analysis is based on 351 previous studies involving 492 groups with a total of 18,712 patients). Laboratory studies were also conducted on 514 clinically healthy subjects. As a result, they concluded that using this equation, MP was very highly correlated with age (r = -0.90). The regression equation obtained in the laboratory study (age 209 - 0.7 x) is almost identical to the equation in the meta-study.

The results showed that MP was independent of gender and was not affected by wide differences in habitual physical activity levels. Also in this study, the standard deviation was determined to be approximately 10 bpm. at any age, which indicates the accuracy of MP calculation using the given formula ± 20 beats/min.

In 2007, researchers from the University of Auckland analyzed the maximum heart rate of 132 people over 25 years old, and came up with a linear equation very similar to Tanaka's formula, where MP = 206.9 - (0.67 × age) and a non-linear equation MP = 191.5 — (0.007 × age2). The linear equation had a confidence interval of ±5–8 bpm, and the nonlinear equation had a narrower range of ±2–5 bpm. A third nonlinear equation was also obtained: MP = 163 + (1.16 × age) - (0.018 × age2).

Heart rate table by age

Haskell and Fox formula

MP estimation using the Haskell and Fox formula is most often carried out. Despite the studies of Tanaka, Monahan and Seals, the most widely cited formula for determining MP (which does not include reference to any standard deviation) is the following:

MP = 220 - age

The formula was developed in 1970 by Dr. William Haskell and Dr. Samuel Fox [3 - Kolata, Gina (2001-04-24). 'Maximum' Heart Rate Theory Is Challenged. New York Times]. Examination of the history of this formula reveals that it was not developed from original research, but was derived from observations based on data from approximately 11 references consisting of published studies or unpublished scientific collections. It has become widespread thanks to the use of heart rate monitors by Polar Electro.

Although the formula is the most common (easy to remember and easy to calculate MP), it is not considered authoritative among health and fitness specialists, so it may not be a good predictor of MP. Despite the widespread use of this formula, studies spanning two decades indicate errors associated with it, approximately 7-11 bpm. Therefore, an estimate calculated from MP = 220 - age has neither accuracy nor scientific merit for use in exercise physiology and related medical fields.