Is it ok to train at 95% of your maximum heart rate?
when I do cardio my average hear rate for 1 hour is 160bpm. My bp at doc last week was 123/71 with 60bpm heart rate. What I would like to know is – is it ok to train at say 95% of max heart rate? sometimes when i go flat our for a less than a minute etc I can get my heart rate up to 180 but can’t sustain it… am I doing damage to my heart if I train at say 95% o f heart rate 3 days week?
Donna, if you don’t have any cardiac abnormalities, or any other clinical conditions, you will be fine training at 95% of maximal heart rate. Just know that you won’t be able to sustain that level of intensity for too long. Never forget intensity will have an affect on duration.
Here’s an example, Usain Bolt likely is sprinting at 95% or more of his maximum heart rate, yet he can only sustain that intensity for the duration of the sprint. What happens after that? He slows down because he has exhausted his energy.
If you are going to train at the higher ends of your MHR you might consider doing interval training.
Hope this is of help to you.
Best.