Finding you actual own HR rather than 220 - age - Bridge to 10K

Bridge to 10K

16,516 members26,546 posts

Finding you actual own HR rather than 220 - age

Grannyhugs profile image
GrannyhugsGraduate10
13 Replies

Just found this article to help find your own max HR. polar.com/blog/calculate-ma... makes sense for all of us that have been running at 110% which of course is not achievable. Doing the reverse maths then, just because I love numbers, I have the heart of a 33 year old ha ha. Not bad at 57.

Written by
Grannyhugs profile image
Grannyhugs
Graduate10
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
13 Replies
UnfitNoMore profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate10

Great results... that’s a substantial difference from the generic estimate.

Grannyhugs profile image
GrannyhugsGraduate10 in reply toUnfitNoMore

I'm so happy to know that I'll be a very young granny in a few months👍😉

UnfitNoMore profile image
UnfitNoMoreGraduate10 in reply toGrannyhugs

There’s a few round here that are about your heart age, but that’s another story 🤣

iain-strachan profile image
iain-strachanGraduate10

Using 220-age I have the heart of a 20 year old. The slightly better 211-0.64*age gives me the heart of a 33 year old!

Grannyhugs profile image
GrannyhugsGraduate10 in reply toiain-strachan

Aren't we good - going to stop stressing about what I eat now, guilt feeling every time I have something I think I shouldn't, obviously it's done me no harm so far. What distance do you run?

iain-strachan profile image
iain-strachanGraduate10 in reply toGrannyhugs

Only recently graduated from C25K. I have done about 5 Parkruns since then. Now I've just embarked on JuJu's magic running plan. It's the second week only, so tonight I'm planning to run 6k. My local Parkrun is a bit of a quagmire with all the rain, so I've done the 5k run from the plan on a treadmill, and for the short run I use the SPEED podcast, because the intervals are fun and finish up with a longer interval at a higher cadence rate.

I did 5.5k last week (slowly) and really enjoyed it, and felt I could easily have gone on to 6. So, fingers crossed for this evening!

Grannyhugs profile image
GrannyhugsGraduate10 in reply toiain-strachan

Good luck enjoy

Jazzyrunner profile image
JazzyrunnerGraduate10 in reply toiain-strachan

Just tried that other formula, and it gives me the exact number I’d plumped for, guessing from how I felt on my last run! I’m going use that 👍🏻 I’d never even heard that formula, so thank you again!

Jazzyrunner profile image
JazzyrunnerGraduate10

Aha, very interesting! Think I’m going to save that until I’m stronger and not worrying about injuring myself if I go too fast! 😆

martinhermanus profile image
martinhermanus

80 percent of training should be below 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Long slow easy runs are best to condition the heart over the long term. I used to run as hard as possible all the time and one starts hating running quickly if one does that.

Grannyhugs profile image
GrannyhugsGraduate10 in reply tomartinhermanus

Thank you. Before I found my max HR it looked like I was doing most activities in zone 5 which I knew not to be true. Now I have correct figures all is good. Looks like I may have to occasionally up the anti ha ha it will be interesting in ski season to see my stats as this is the activity I give 100% to but as I've done it since 1971 may be I'm so finely tuned I'm in snooze zone. Happy running

linda9389 profile image
linda9389Graduate10

I changed my max too as I was always in zone 5. I haven't put it as high as some of the max heart rate readings I've had from my garmin though as often there seems to be one huge spike st up, then st back down to a more consistent level. I'm assuming those spikes are spurious data from a confused garmin! Even ignoring the spikes, my new settings are considerably higher than the 220- 58! And consequently the zones are much more useful too 🙂

Grannyhugs profile image
GrannyhugsGraduate10 in reply tolinda9389

Thank you. I hadn’t fully understood max hr but it all makes perfect sense now. That formula should be dropped and come with a health warning 😉 happy running

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Running hot (rather than running hottie?)

It was run day today, so what to do considering the announcement that today would be the hottest...
CBDB profile image
Graduate10

10k training plan - distance rather than time?

Hello! I have my first 10k booked in for the 29th May and am looking forward to it, but have been...

Feel like a Running Hottie (rather than a hot runner)

I got up this morning, even earlier than Sunday! I was out there by 6 am. And I’m really proud of...
CBDB profile image
Graduate10

Distance rather than speed today . . .

Well this past week I've made two attempts to get my 5k time down to under 30 mins. Unfortunately...
orangeguy profile image
Graduate10

Running on fat rather than carbs…. and goats!

Well my planned 6k was cut short as halfway to the turn-back point there were 2 goats with horns...
CBDB profile image
Graduate10

Moderation team

See all
MissUnderstanding profile image
MissUnderstandingAdministrator
Annieapple profile image
AnnieappleAdministrator
Yesletsgo profile image
YesletsgoAdministrator

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.