Maximum HR - Polar monitor

[Cynthia]

Hi.

I haven't gone to a cardiologist yet, but know that I have a bicuspid aorta. My heart races away at times of rest. I am working on taking this next step of seeing a cardiologist regularly. It's just that I watched my father go through a bovine AVR, watched it get infected 3 yrs later that kept him in ICU and rehab for 5 months, and I'm actually hoping for a miracle because this scares me to death.

Oddly though, I am trying to strengthen my heart for whenever D-Day hits. I run with a Polar monitor 2 miles or bike 8 miles, 3x/week. I take the pulse up to low-170s. How do I know if I'm pushing myself too hard? What's the magic number?

Many thanks in advance,
Cynthia

 

[Adrienne]

Your age has a lot to do with how high you should get your HR to go.

 

[mntbiker]

This is actually a very complicated question.

The quick easy answer is to go by your breathing rather then heart rate. If you are able to carry on a conversation you are not pushing too hard. If you can't carry on a conversation you are pushing too hard.

Now for the more convoluted answer.

What are you objectives? Do you want to build an aerobic base, maintain fitness, or increase your ability for sprints.

Each of these objectives have a different target zone. The 220-age works fairly well to get a rough idea of maximum heart rate but the best way to do it is go to a doctor. An alternative way to do it yourself, but since you have a heart issue isn't recommended, get warmed up push as hard as you can go, then sprint as hard as you can till you feel about ready to collapse, check your HR and that should be your max.

Why do you want to know your max HR? to determine your training zone. Many HR monitors will come with a target zone listing, each zone will provide different benefits. If you work in the 80% and up range this will increase you ability for sudden burst of power. Working in the 60 to 70% range will help build an aerobic base. Working over your active resting HR will maintain your fitness. Active resting HR is not the same as a resting HR, Resting HR is taken first thing in the morning before you get up, active resting HR is taken during the day when you have been sitting down for five minutes or more. The closer these numbers are the better your aerobic fitness. Knowing these numbers will help to determine if you are overtraining. The quick answer for that is - if the two numbers start to get further apart you are overtraining. More to it then that but it should be a good start.

Hope this helps.

 

[67walkon]

Cynthia, I don't think you can hurt the valve itself.

A frequent issue with bicuspid aortic valves is aneurisms. They were watching my bicuspid valve for about 6 years and no one mentioned the aneurism issue until my valve got down to 1 cm. Since then, I have leared that aortic aneurisms are fairly common with bicuspid aortic valves.

The aneurism can kill you. Increased pressure from working out hard could be dangerous, if you have one of these babies. I would ask your cardiologist to check that out. If you don't have one, it probably doesn't matter how hard you go.

John

 

[llewis34]

The previous posts are great information and I can attest to the aneurysm part. I was watched for 5 years before time for surgery and the echos never showed the aneurysm . I didn't know until they opened me up that I was a fraction of a cm away from a full blown aneurysm. And that is what is more concerning with over-exercise. But a monitor is the only way to go so that you can monitor yourself. There is great information on the American Heart Association's site at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4736.

Good luck and get checked!

Lisa

 

[MitralMan]

Might try Heart Rate Monitor book by Sally Edward

Might try Heart Rate Monitor book by Sally Edward

I know the reviews are mixed on Amazon, but it does review answers to your questions and it is the best of the books I've seen.

 

[jds]

Basic Information on Heart Rate and Training

Basic Information on Heart Rate and Training

Hello -

A basic writeup on heart-rate and trainingis at http://www.primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/activity/thr.htm

If you have heart issues, you should talk with your carediologist about exercise levels before starting a program. For example, I am pretty fit and was trying to still train while my mitral valve was deteriorating. My cardio, cautiosly and wisely, told me to back off because I had pretty bad pulmonary hypertension that heavy exercise could aggravate. The PHT went away as soon as my valve was replaced. So listen to your cardio.

Post surgery (5 months ago), I always use a monitor and train at about 80% of max HR. Sometimes, I will do intervals and train anaerobically going up to 90% of max.

John

 

[tommy]

I've been away for a while and just noticed this post. Based on your photo (with child) and using the 220 minus age calculation, running in the 170's is probably near the top of cardio range.

Your thought of being in top shape prior to possible surgery is a good idea based on reports in here about recovery. As mntbiker says............60%-70% is good cardio range. Whatever you do, have fun doing it!

 

[Philip B]

Heart Rate

Heart Rate

I agree with the comment regarding 220 minus your age being a fairly decent place to start; however, it's not a concrete standard and it seem to have fallen out of favor with many in the exercise community.

One of the things I've noticed as I engaged in my rehab program is that my maximum rate increased as I got myself back in shape. As a fifty-two year old my max rate using the 220 calculation would be 168. My max rate is actually up around 178.

MtBiker's description of setting goals and using heart training zones to reach your goals is a good approach. Exercising within the anaerobic and aerobic zones has different benefits. These zones are based upon different percentages of your max rate. You can find your initial max rate on your own, or opt for a safer approach by having your cardio doc run some tests to determine it.

-Philip

 

[Bad Mad]

Hi.

I haven't gone to a cardiologist yet, but know that I have a bicuspid aorta. My heart races away at times of rest. I am working on taking this next step of seeing a cardiologist regularly. It's just that I watched my father go through a bovine AVR, watched it get infected 3 yrs later that kept him in ICU and rehab for 5 months, and I'm actually hoping for a miracle because this scares me to death.

Oddly though, I am trying to strengthen my heart for whenever D-Day hits. I run with a Polar monitor 2 miles or bike 8 miles, 3x/week. I take the pulse up to low-170s. How do I know if I'm pushing myself too hard? What's the magic number?

Many thanks in advance,
Cynthia

Hi Cynthia

Beacuse you do not know the severity/stage your bi-cuspid aortic valve is at, I wouldn't be be rushing into a mad exercise regime to strengthen your heart. You must remember:

1) If your aorta is dilated (to the point of an aneurysm) then it is potentially dangerous to exercise to high intensity.

2) If your valve is leaking moderatley-severly then you will only be putting overdue stress and leaving yourself open to doing damage to the heart muscle.

Sometimes it is a catch 22. Because if you do no/little exercise, then ultimately this is no good for the heart. But equally if your heart (it may not be though) is already working overtime then an intense exercise regime will only put it under even more pressure.

That is worst case scenario. You may find however that you are the very early stages and you can exercise to your hearts content...pardon the pun

Interestingly, in the last year before my recent valve surgery, I reduced my exercise to light, recreational stuff. In my next echo the velocity across the valve had reduced significantly.
The key for you is to find out if your bic-cuspid valve is leaking/narrowing etc. etc at this stage and if so... how much? also.....
Is your aorta dilated?

Once you find these things out, you can put your mind at ease about exercising.

 

[MarkU]

While being in good shape can definitely help you through the surgery and recovery, you have to be careful.
I continued to workout strenuously as my bicuspid valve deteriorated and ended up developing left ventricular hypertrophy (enlargement of the ventricle wall), as the heart had to work harder to compensate for my deteriorating valve. At the same time my blood pressure was creeping up into the pre-hypertension range. Even though I was keeping my body fit, I was accelerating the problems with my heart. I'd suggest moderation and not push yourself too hard prior to surgery. My advice would be to consult with your cardiologist about your exercise program.

As far as the heart rate question, I've been doing heart rate training for the past four years. I had a lactic threshold test done at an exercise lab which determined my lactic threshold heart rate (LTHR) to be 159 BPM. Your LTHR is theoretically the point where you go from aerobic to anaerobic exercise. Obviously, you want to train for endurance events at or below your aerobic threshold.

While the max heart rate formulas can serve as rough starting points, they aren't very useful for serious training. Too much individual variation from genetics and other factors. I'd suggest reading Joe Friel's The Triathlete's Training Bible, which covers heart rate training zones in some detail.

Mark

 

[starrman]

I was told by my cardiologist that if you have a bicuspid aortic valve you are more prone to an aortic aneurism. You need to have this checked before embarking on any exercise program. The aneurism can cause many problems including a quick one way trip to heaven. - Jim