I have a question re: target heart rate (TRM) .. My husband bought me a HRM (heart rate monitor) yesterday and it has the ability to set the low and high end of your TRM -

My "stats"

I'm 33, 243 bs (I fluctuate and figure the 'higher' number is probably more accurate) and have been excercising for exactly 1 month .. I've gradually 'worked up' and now I am able to do 45 minutes on the treadmill @ 3.0 (2.5 miles) - So I consider myself "out of shape"

I'm trying to maximize the "fat burning" ability of my cardio (which is why he got me the HRM) but I wonder if I'm working TOO hard or not enough .. and with so many conflicting results from THR calculators .. I have no idea.

According to THIS site my THR should be 75-94 but that's my "resting" HR -

According to the discovery health website :
Link to Discovery Health

I walked for 30 minutes this morning (I'm going to start splitting my workout 30 mins in the AM and 45 in the PM because I don't have a full hour / hour & a half to excercise) and my heartrate was 148-153 the entire time .. am I working hard enough ? I can carry on a converstation .. and maybe even sing a line or two, but I'm huffing and puffing all the same

Congrats on the heart rate monitor - I love mine!

Figuring out your maximum and target heart rates is pretty simple.

Maximum heart rate is usually figured by subtracting your age from 220, so your MHR would be 220 - 33 = 187. From your MHR, you can then figure out how hard you're working.

As for target heart rate, you want to be working somewhere between 65% and 90% of your max heart rate when you're doing cardio exercise. Between 65 and 75% is considered low intensity, 75 - 85% is moderate intensity, and 85 - 90% is high intensity.

For you, since you're 33 and your max heart rate is 187, low intensity exercise would be between 122 and 140, moderate would be between 141 and 158, and high intensity would be between 159 and 168. So you were working at a moderate intensity, which - in my opinion - is exactly where you should be.

I disagree with the Discovery Health quote about not benefitting from working above 80% of your max heart rate. In my opinion, a good cardio program mixes in periods of moderate intensity exercise with spikes of high intensity cardio. That kind of interval training has been shown to burn the most calories overall. As you get more advanced in your exercise, you may want to mix some intervals into your cardio workouts.

Don't worry about working in the so-called 'fat-burning zone.' It's a myth. You may burner a higher percentage of calories from fat at a lower intensity, but you will burn more total fat calories working at a higher intensity. Weight loss is all about calories in versus calories out, so total calories is what matters.

The less fit your cardiorespiratory system is, the harder it has to work to get oxygen to your tissues when you exercise. That's why people tend to have very high heart rates when they first start exercising. As your heart becomes conditioned, you'll probably find your heart rate dropping - both your resting pulse and your heart rate while exercising.

It's sound like you are off to a great start!!

Hmm... this helps. I've started suspecting I needed to bump up my cardio, as the loss has been slow the last few weeks. Last time I went (Saturday - Wah! I was sick on Mon. & Tues.) I used the elliptical at a target of 140. I think I averaged a little higher, but I finally saw my all-familiar red face. Unfortunately, it left me too exhausted to get a good weight-set in. But, I think I need to cut back the weights slightly and just hang tight for a while while I up the cardio.

--Janis

Janis - Most trainers recommend that you do weights first, then cardio. The reason is that if you do cardio first, you're too tired to get a good weight set in after cardio - just what it sounds like happened to you. Maybe try switching?

Another option is to split up your cardio and weights into different times of the day, if your schedule permits.

Please don't cut back on your weights too much! Both weights and cardio are equally important for fat loss. Cardio is your main calorie burner but weights will maintain and build muscle, which will keep your metabolism high and reshape your body. People who only do cardio while they're losing weight tend to end up as smaller but flabbier versions of themselves.

Just my two cents! I truly believe that weightlifting is a woman's best friend.

Meg I need your opinion also, I'm 43 and weigh 190 pounds. I usually get my heart rate into the middle to upper 160's when I do my cardio. Is that too high? I was just thinking the more I pushed myself the better it would be, but I am having trouble taking the pounds off so I wonder if maybe I'm pushing too hard.

Yeah, I think you might be pushing a little too hard. Using the max heart rate formula of 220 - age, your max is 177. If you're working in the middle to upper 160s, then you're up above 90% of your max for your whole workout. Your heart isn't going to blow up or anything bad like that, but you definitely might do better with a little less intensity.

Last fall I went to a lecture given by Dr. Len Kravitz (not that Lenny Kravitz!) of the University of New Mexico ( here's his web site - he's a really knowledgeable guy) and he talked about what his research shows the perfect cardio workout is for fat loss. He says it should be 80% moderate intensity, 10% high intensity, and 10% intervals. I think that paper may be up on his web site - he called it Lactate Threshold Training, I believe. Interesting stuff - it's all about growing more and larger mitochondria, which are the furnaces that burn calories in our cells.

Maybe try dropping back into your moderate intensity range, which would be around 133 - 151, and see if anything changes? How much cardio are you doing now - what's your typical session run?

I usually start with a 10 minute warm-up on the elliptical to get my heart rate up then I do about 45 min to an hour of weight training then go back to either the elliptical or treadmill for another 30-40 minutes. During the warm-up, I'll get my heart rate up mid 150's to 160 then while doing weights I'm sure my heart rate is probably low to moderate except on leg days (it feels like it's going to jump out of my chest), then when I go back to cardio I get it up pretty quickly and it stays mid to high 160's. I work out four days a week.

This is great information! The elliptical at the gym tells me I should be shooting for 156 for cardio work, but I felt that wasn’t necessarily the most I should/could be doing. That’s right smack in the middle of my moderate range, but I spend a good part of my workout in the upper moderate range and a few minutes in the high range.

Meg for that 80%/10%/10% breakdown, what is the 10% intervals exactly referring to?

This is where I am: at 60, my max heart rate according to the formula is 160. I regularly exercise at 145+, and during high intensity portions of my workout, hit ove 150. Now my real question is, is this a correct heartrate - given that I'm using the elliptical readout? I'm thinking I should get or at least borrow a heartrate monitor to see if my heartrate is up as high as it appears. The other question is - if it is that high, should I aim for the moderate range, which in my case is 120-136 which is where I do my warmup! Or maybe the formula is not accurate for those of us who are older? I certainly haven't seen any ill effects.

I wouldn't say I'm slacking off when I mean "back off the weights" - I mean, I've been pushing and pushing and increasing the weights for about 3 weeks now, and I think I've hit my limit (for a while). It's time to just sit back and do them where they are a bit, instead of trying to do more. I have a feeling I'm going to take a step back (in terms of how much weight I'm lifting) next week anyway, because this week has been so bad.

(I was sick on Monday & Tues., so skipped working out, worked out on Wednesday, donated blood today, so I can't do too much, and Sunday I'm marching in a parade, so I don't feel inclined to go to the gym tomorrow...) I think I'll probably go to the gym tomorrow anyway, but I feel torn between "I need to take a week and regroup" and "You slacker! Get your *** to the gym!"

I feel like I've hit a wall though. I'm at that point where the honeymoon period has worn off, and I haven't seen any weight loss of more than 1 lb in the last 3 weeks.

--Janis *frazzled and frustrated*

Thanks for that! I was just wondering how to easily figure that out!

Thanks to all of you !!
I've now set my HRM to the correct parameters so it doesn't beep out of control the ENTIRE TIME I'm on the treadmill !!