W1R1 - Heart rate reached 185bpm

[Gurumurthy1607]

Hey Guys, I started with my W1R1.. while entire session went well, I am worried about my maximum heart rate during the session.. it went upto 185bpm.. Is this ok? Should I continue or take caution?

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Depends on your age. Some people have a high maximum rate. Can’t tell from just a number. Mine is only about 179. My friend is over 200. We’re the same age - 45. Our friend is much younger and hers only goes up to 150.

[packersruns Graduate]

Mine on my first one went up to about 190bpm - like everyone else has said it completely depends on your age, I don't know what my max is now but my average is about 158bpm now and I'm ending week 5 tomorrow, but from what I can see on my Apple Watch results I think it can get in the 170bpm area whilst running if I'm tired. Just see how you go, and slow down

[Gurumurthy1607]

Thanks for the replies.. I am 36 male.. i will continue and also I believe its an opportunity to understand how my body responds.. I will slow down in my next run.

[Gurumurthy1607]

Yeah.. may be my heart was excited that I finally hit that running button 😀 The place where I ran had some elevation as well.. this could be one of the reasons. Anyway I will experiment with the speed and check in my next run. Thank you for your answers.😊

[John_W Graduate Ambassador]

What device are you using to measure it?

It's very easy to take what they say as gospel, but trust me, some of them give you very dodgy numbers. I always looks the whole graph rather than just a single value like the average. The graph can tell you a lot more about how reliable the average is.

[Gurumurthy1607 in reply to John_W]

I use apple watch. Average rate says 160.

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to Gurumurthy1607]

OK, so you're doing W1R1 - which should be nice an easy and assuming you're actually *jogging* the 'running' bits, the it should feel ok, yes?

How was your perceived effort? Were you knackered? Breathless?

[Gurumurthy1607 in reply to John_W]

Nope I didn’t feel breathlessness. I could feel the heart was pounding a bit and the walk interval was perfect to slow it down.

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to Gurumurthy1607]

Good. If you;re 36, then as a very rough guide, your maximum HR is 184. This is the value you'd expect when you were working flat out - a sprint if you like - proper blowing your gasket, eyes out effort. Therefore, if you werent breathless, then the reading of 185 is probably a false one, so I wouldnt worry.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done on getting started.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

and includes advice on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

Note what your heart rate is when you run at the recommended easy conversational pace and use that as a guide for future runs, then you can watch it come down as you get fitter.

Enjoy your journey.

[Gurumurthy1607 in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Yes I will follow the instructions. I am hoping the heart rate comes down as my fitness level increases. Thank you..

[SueAppleRun Graduate]

Hi, listen to your body, the watch heart rates are often a bit different to the real ones, on my first run mine was 184 and i was worried it would just stop being 63 at the time

I listened to my body and decided i was fine even though i was bent double gasping for breath lol, nowadays a year later it’s generally much lower at around 150 for a run of half hour or more, unless of course i push myself to my limit then it is higher until i slow down again

Enjoy your running journey

[ScottJB Graduate]

As others have said, listen to what your body is telling you. By the book my max rate is 182, but has hit as high as 190 on a few runs. Most 5km runs I average around 164 with highs of mid 170’s and that’s at a conversational pace for me.