Heart rate while excercising

[LaGazzaLadra]

Hey all its now more than 12 weeks since my Quad BP age 51, recovery has been good in all and once past the Injuries has come on leaps and bounds. My question is related to my Heart rate during excercise, normally a heart rate threshold etc would be set by age. Post BP however Im sure there must be a different approach, basically at the moment My resting is circa 75 and my walking HR around 110 (brisk walking to try and get a bit breathless) but now Im able im back on the excercise bike and rowing machine. However my HR quickly gets up to 140-150 when under exertion and I back off as im unsure whether I should be pushing that hard. I discussed with the Cardio nurse (no real Rehab because of covid) and all she could offer was the conversation test - Ie only at the level you can hold a conversation with...muttering to myself in the gym doesnt appeal :).

Was going to ask the Doc but I really dont want to keep bothering them when theres so much happening in the world they need to focus on. Any advice or guidance appreciated. Is there a test you can pay for to get a proper view of whats right?

[Chappychap]

I have no medical qualifications so treat my advice accordingly.

When I attended the (pre Covid) cardio rehab course the nurse gave me a personal heart rate target for exercise and also a maximum heart rate not to be exceeded. Later on I discovered these were exactly the same as the "standard" targets, ie subtract your age from 220 for the maximum and exercise at up to 70% of this maximum number.

[Hidden]

I created my own HR/RPE table so I knew what my HR was (approx.) for each of the RPE levels.

RPE Levels of Perceived Exertion

Level 1: I'm watching TV and eating bonbons

Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long

Level 3: I'm still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder

Level 4: I'm sweating a little, but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly

Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more and can still talk easily

Level 6: I can still talk, but am slightly breathless

Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to. I'm sweating like a pig

Level 8: I can grunt in response to your questions and can only keep this pace for a short time period

Level 9: I am probably going to die

Level 10: I am dead

I also used the 'Miller' formula to calc targets, there are various calcs, I liked this as it takes into account age & some level of prior fitness

217-(0.85*age)+4

As said, 70% is the target initially, as you increase your fitness then speak to cardiologist and on there advice increase the Target.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Based on your age - 51 again using the Miller calc

[Hidden]

Whilst I agree, I think the Formulas are more useful early on in the recovery process as they very much err on the side of caution, especially used in conjunction with RPE.

Once you get further down the road of recovery, it then is as you say "how far you hope to push your fitness".

[LaGazzaLadra]

Thanks all, sensible contexts above, also tallies with what I could glean from Dr Google. I'm currently seeing a physio for a long standing shoulder problem, Ill have the chat with them also and then check in with the Doc when next I have another reason to talk with them.

I think if I look at my performance and HR over the last few cycles then sticking to a "less than 140" approach would seem to be sensible, at least until I can get Vo2 Max test done at some point towards the end of the year.

The key thing is for me listening to my body, I dont feel bad during/following this and it doesnt seem to have any detrimental impact on my measurements. If anything coincides with my general improvement in health.

thanks a lot all, its good to test these things to get the shared view. all a voyage of discovery!

[Mart25]

It's a great question that I have also asked my cardio nurses (I had bypass op in October last year). They are much more experienced at this type of thing than the average GP. My cardio nurses had a calculator that used age and resting heart rate, and which (importantly) took account of the betablocker dose that I was taking. I was told I should not expect to achieve the same BPM as I did before I started taking the betablocker. My resting heart rate is 60-65 and quite a bit older than you (67)...and the nurses advised 110 - 120 BPM was a good target rate for me. I have a static exercise bike and I find I fail the talk test if I go much above 120 BPM, and 30 mins of this gives me a really good work-out too. I know the talk test sounds a bit amateurish but there are several scientific papers that show that it correlates very well with exercise intesity measured by gas exchange etc (eg Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 29(5): 1248–1254, 2015). However, I accept that talking to yourself in the gym may not be a great idea! Overall, you are younger than me and have a higher resting heart rate so your "less than 140" plan sounds about right to me.