High Heart Rate During Exercise

A healthy heart beats slowly because it supplies blood to all parts of the body with minimum efforts. The rate at which your heart beats in a minute when you are at rest, is called normal or resting heart rate (RHR).

A fast beating heart indicates that it has to work harder to supply blood to the entire body. During an exercise, the heart has to work faster and harder as there is a considerable rise in the demand for oxygenated blood; however, a high heart rate to a certain extent is considered normal.

The healthy RHR for children above 10 years of age and adults lies between 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). Athletes and sports personalities, who undergo endurance training, show an amazingly low RHR. The range of their normal heart rate is 40-60 bpm.

Regular exercise offers innumerable health benefits. If you workout with very low intensity, it won't yield maximum health benefits. So, you have to increase the intensity of your workout.

However, if you start exercising with excessively high intensity, it might increase the rate of heart beats to such an extent that can cause 'fibrillation of heart'. The person may experience a cardiac arrest or fatal heart attack. Therefore, it is important to find out your maximum heart rate.

You can find out your maximum heart rate (MHR) by attempting a stress test on a treadmill, in the presence of a medical expert. There are several formulas that help calculate MHR. The easiest one is the age adjusted formula. Healthy adults may use this formula to calculate MHR.

Those diagnosed with diseases or those on medications should consult their physician for calculating the MHR. According to the age adjusted formula:

• MHR for women = 226 - age
• MHR for men = 220 - age

Beginners may start working with 50% of MHR. This would be the target heart rate for people who do not exercise regularly, and who have a sedentary lifestyle. These people may try to work with increased heart rate, such as 55%, 60%, 65%, etc., of MHR, gradually.

Athletes may work at more than 90% of MHR for a short while since it is a part of their training. Those who are used to exercising should determine the target heart rate zone according to the goal.

Those who want to maintain their weight may work in a healthy heart rate zone of 50-60% of MHR. By working in fitness zone, that is, working with 60-70% of MHR, you can lose weight. If weight loss is your goal, then you should calculate the target heart rate for weight loss.

Athletes are able to work with 70-80% of MHR. While exercising with 80-90% of MHR, your heart may start pounding or racing. You won't be able to speak a word and you may have breathing difficulty. This is referred to as 'anaerobic zone'.

Athletes workout at this heart rate as a part of their circuit training; however, a common person should never try this. For common people, working with 50-80% of MHR is considered safe. It is not advisable to work with 90-100% of MHR, which is the 'red line zone'.

The target heart rate may also vary according to the type of exercise. Hence, take the guidance of your physical trainer to select the workout routines that are appropriate for you. You can reap maximum health benefits by working in the safe heart rate zone, and thus can lead a healthy life.

Disclaimer: This story is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for expert medical advice.