Maximum Heart Rate Chart

Heart rate is expressed in beats per minute (bpm). You can easily calculate the number of times your heart beats in a minute. This number is your normal resting heart rate. Pulse rate or heart rate helps evaluate your health. While jogging, running, climbing, heart rate increases significantly. Maximum heart rate (MHR) is the maximum number of times your heart can contract (beat) in a minute without being damaged.

Maximum Heart Rate

Beating of the heart informs us about the pumping action of the heart. With every contraction, the heart pumps blood to body organs. During exercise, the organs require more blood or oxygen and therefore the heart has to work harder or faster to supply the required quantity of blood. But the capacity of the heart is limited to certain extent. If it works beyond its capacity, it can prove to be risky. But, for conditioning and toning of the heart and lungs, you need to exercise vigorously. You won't accomplish the health benefits of exercising if you exercise with low intensity. So, how to decide whether you are exercising with correct intensity and safely? Calculating MHR is therefore essential as it helps to determine the appropriate target heart rate during exercise.

As the intensity of the exercise increases, heart rate also increases. Athletes have a toned body. Their heart works so efficiently that it doesn't have to beat as fast as ours, while supplying blood to the body. Athlete's resting heart rate is always slower than common man's resting heart rate. We cannot work with the intensity an athlete would work. The MHR varies according to age, gender, overall health, lifestyle, etc.

After finding out your MHR, you can determine what can be the target heart rate during exercise for weight loss or for physical fitness. Starting with 40-50% of your MHR, you can gradually increase your target heart rate during exercise and can enjoy the health benefits of exercise. Staying within 50-60% of your MHR is considered as 'exercising in healthy heart zone'. Exercising with 60-70% of your MHR means you are working in the 'fitness zone'.

Calculating MHR

Maximum heart rate can be calculated in several ways. You can calculate your MHR during an exercise. You can actually note down your MHR by undergoing a stress test on a treadmill. The normal resting heart rate of children above 10 and adults can be between 60-100 bpm. Since, MHR mainly depends upon age, using age-adjusted formula is the easiest way of calculating your MHR. You may use a MHR calculator available on any site on Internet. There you have to feed your age, type of exercise, etc. You get an instant answer and thus you can find out your MHR easily.

According to the study reports, MHR on a treadmill can be 5 to 6 beats higher than on a bicycle ergometer. MHR calculated while swimming can be significantly lower than that calculated during treadmill running. Highly trained athletes and moderately trained individuals have a MHR 3 or 4 beats slower than a person who leads a sedentary lifestyle. Studies also show that well trained men or women who belong to the age group '50 plus' usually have a higher MHR than the estimated average MHR for their age. Those who are suffering from health problems should consult their physician and physical trainer for calculating MHR and target heart rate for exercise. The age adjusted formulas are:

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

Maximum Heart Rate Chart for Men and Women

MHR Chart for Men Age Average MHR 20 years 200 BPM 25 years 195 BPM 30 years 190 BPM 35 years 185 BPM 40 years 180 BPM 45 years 175 BPM 50 years 170 BPM 55 years 165 BPM 60 years 160 BPM 65 years 155 BPM

MHR Chart for Women Age Average MHR 20 years 206 BPM 25 years 201 BPM 30 years 196 BPM 35 years 191 BPM 40 years 186 BPM 45 years 181 BPM 50 years 176 BPM 55 years 171 BPM 60 years 166 BPM 65 years 161 BPM

50-85% of MHR during exercise is considered safe, depending upon your health and lifestyle. If your body is used to exercise, you can work with higher heart rate. Well trained athletes can exercise with 80-85% of MHR. Regular exercise helps maintain heart health and thus, you can lead a happy, healthy and active life.