Heart Rate Myths pt 1 [HRM]
So, there are several myths out there reguarding heart rate, and how it applies to training. First we’ll bring up some of these myths, and why they’re wrong, then we’ll talk about how to accurately test, and gauge your heart rates.
The first Myth… Formulas
One of the most widespred ones is 220 - Age, but there are others, 208.754 - .0734 * age, and 205.8 - 0.685 * age. Formulas are good for guessing, and good for measuring large groups of people, but may be off as many as 10 - 15 bpm, which is a large margin. There are no good ways to estimate your maximum heart rate, and the best way to find this number, is to exercise at your maximum while wearing a HRM. This is not desireable, as unless you are quite determined to max out, the test is invalid, and may be highly variable based on age, gender, time of day, and the presence of solar flares.
There are other, less stressful ways of testing and calculating your heart rate zones. We’ll get to those soon.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.