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.
Hi Donna,
I am sure you have calculated your maximum heart rate by the well-known formula of 220 – age. There is also another one called Karvonnen formula which throws in your resting heart rate and may give you slightly different number.
All those ways of calculating maximum heart rate are approximations; your actual maximum heart rate may be higher from that.
Training in intervals by intermittently pushing your heart rate towards the maximum rate is a well-used way to improve performance, and as long as there are no problems, is it a perfectly valid way to train.
Just make sure that you are not ending up over-training yourself.
Wish you health and fitness.
Karin Singleton
www.meltnc.com
Hi Donna,
I like to use the Karvonnen method as mentioned above along with interval training. I have three clients that are in good health that have experienced great results in there endurance and stamina. They all wear a heart rate monitor at every training session so that we can be very precise. I have built a spread sheet for the Karvonnen method that can be used on any smartphone or PC. If you would like it, shoot me an email. Have a healthy day!
Hello Donna,
Yes, it is fine; but, take the advice you already received here.
I like to do intervals to prevent injury and improve cardiovascular endurance. You do not want to sustain 95% nor would you be able to. Ask your doctor if you are clear for this type of training, to be safe. 95% training once a week in intervals is enough for now. Your age is also a factor, with so many other personal statistics your doctor should have on file.
Try interval training with very strenuous effort once the first session for 10 seconds. The second session try two 10 second very strenuous bursts. When you work up to it, don’t do more than four minutes worth of intervals with the very strenuous efforts in there; four very strenuous 10 second bursts is enough.
Mixing up your cardio workouts is a good idea; so, do sustained work in between the interval session workouts. Interval training will last 20 minutes with the sustained cardio being 30 minutes long.
Take care and be careful.