High Heart Rate During Exercise

The rate at which your heart beats helps evaluate heart health. The heart pumps blood to all body parts. A healthy heart can perform its function with minimum efforts. So, a healthy heart beats slowly. The rate at which your heart beats in a minute when you are at rest is called normal or resting heart rate. Fast beating heart indicates that the heart has to work harder to supply blood to the body. The heart has to work faster and harder during an exercise; because the demand for blood and oxygen increases during exercise. But the capacity of your heart is limited. High heart rate to a certain extent is considered as normal during exercise.

Increased Heart Rate During Exercise

The healthy resting heart rate for children above 10 and adults lies in between 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). Athletes and sports personalities who undergo endurance training show an amazingly low resting heart rate. The range of their normal heart rate is 40 - 60 bpm because they have a well conditioned heart and toned body.

The goal of exercise may vary from person to person. Everyone knows that regular exercise offers innumerable health benefits. But if you work with very low intensity, it won't be beneficial at all. So, to reap the health benefits, you have to work with higher intensity. Increased intensity can offer you more benefits to a certain limit only. If you start exercising with excessive intensity, the exercise won't offer you any extra health benefits and it will also prove to be harmful for your heart and health. Excessively high heart rate can cause 'fibrillation of heart'. The person who is exercising with very high heart rate may suffer from cardiac arrest or from a fatal heart attack. So what should be your heart rate, if you want to reap the benefits of exercise? First, find out the possible maximum heart rate during exercise and then you may determine the target heart rate zone with the help of the formula given below.

Maximum Possible Heart Rate for Exercise

You can find out your possible maximum heart rate (MHR) during exercise by attempting a stress test on a treadmill, in the presence of a medical officer. 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 medicines should consult their physician for calculating the MHR during exercise. According to the age adjusted formula,

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

The beginners may start working with 50% of MHR. That would be the target heart rate for those who are not used to exercise and for those who lead a sedentary lifestyle. These people may try to work with increased heart rate, such as 55, 60, 65% of MHR, gradually.

Athletes may work at MHR or with more than 90% of MHR for a short while. It is a part of their training. Those who are used to exercise should determine the target heart rate zone according to the goal. Those who want to maintain their weight may work in healthy heart rate zone, 50-60% of MHR. This is referred to as the safe or healthy heart rate zone. By working in fitness zone, that is working with 60 to 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 high heart rate, 70 to 80% of MHR. This helps increase the capacity of their heart and lungs. While exercising with 80-90% of the MHR, your heart may start pounding or racing. You won't be able to speak a word and you may have breathing difficulty. Athletes do work at this heart rate as a part of circuit training. A common person should never try to exercise with such a high heart rate. This is referred to as 'anaerobic zone'. For common people, working with 50-80% of MHR is considered as safe. Working with 90-100% MHR is considered as working in 'red line zone'. The name itself suggests that it is dangerous to work with such a high heart rate. The target heart rate may vary according to the type of exercise as well. You may consult your physical trainer before choosing the type of exercise.

Thus, high heart rate during exercise is beneficial if you work with 50-80% of your maximum possible heart rate. You can reap maximum health benefits by working in the safe heart rate zone and thus can lead a healthy life.