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?
I have found the heart rate calculations to be low for me. I cycle in the mountains on a regular basis and use steep climbs for high intensity intervals. I have worn a HRM for years and have become familiar with my heart rate at various levels of perceived exertion.
When I first started doing high intensity intervals at 52 years old the highest heart rate I could achieve was 180 BPM. Today, at 54, I can reach 193. I usually push to 100% for one interval, one ride a week. I’ll do 5 to 8 intervals to 95% on two rides a week. On my remaining rides, I’ll do one that taxes my muscles more by riding one or two gears higher than is usual for a given loop. The remainder of my weekly rides (usually longer distances) are in the 70% to 80% range on climbs.
I have found that the HIT has pushed my cardio fitness to new levels. I have lowered my resting heart rate to all time lows and my 30 second HR drop from 100% is 40 BPM or more even while pedaling the downhill after my climb.