I've heard that intervals are the way to go when doing cardio. Anyone else heard this? My water aerobics instructor uses them. I've been using them on the treadmill, kind of like the couch potato runner's program. Today I walked at 4.0 for 3 minutes, then ran at 5.3 for 2 min. I checked the heartrate monitor after I was done with the running interval, and once my heartrate was 163. My target heartrate is 135 at the maximum end. On the chart, I noticed that my heartrate at 163 was about 85% of what a 25 year old should have--I'm 52.

I'm just curious if it's "bad" to work at that high of a heartrate? I know the purpose of intervals is to push your heartrate up for short periods of time, but I'm wondering exactly how high? I feel okay, by the way, and have no heart problems that I know of. I passed my stress test a couple of years ago with flying colors. If I keep doing this, will my heartrate eventually go down when I do the intervals so that I can run for longer periods of time?

I have noticed that my resting heartrate has gone from 66 to 60. In fact, when I went to the doctor's office a while ago, the nurse said, oh, you have a runner's heartrate. Huh??? Since I don't really run, and I've still got 19-27 lbs. to lose (depending on where I set my final goal), I was rather startled.

Heart rate formulas don't really work for everyone. You might have a higher than normal max heart rate for a 52 year old woman (174 or 180 depending on which formula you use). It's probably ok at least for short periods. If you're concerned you could try running at a slower speed at first.

163 isn't that high for me even over the course of a medium length run if I'm pushing myself a bit, but I'm 32 and max heart rate declines with age.

My resting heart rate, after sitting for a couple of minutes, tends to be in the 50s and will go down into the low 40s (once even down to 39) if I'm lying on the couch or in bed watching tv at night.

Sheila, in some circles there is a lot of discussion about the whole heartrate and exercise thing. If you're interested, there's a book called Ultimate Fitness: the quest for truth about exercise and health by Gina Kolata. She has a lot of information (I think she's a journalist) and whether you agree with her or not, it's very interesting. She's also a hard-core spinner so knows about intense exercising.

My argument for doing intervals is that it shortens the length of time I need to do cardio! In running, as the C25K program, I think it's the best way to work up to running. I used it in 2000, and it really worked.

Like you my heartrate at times is waaay over what the charts say is where I should be exercising. I'm 61 and if I took the chart as gospel, I wouldn't even break a sweat! It may be true for starting out, but not for those of us who've been at it for awhile.

Sheila,
I recently bought a heart rate monitor to use in spin classes. I've been running, cycling, etc for years without one. I'm 51. I was a little alarmed to see that my heart rate was at 193 at the peak of the toughest intervals, and sustained there for about a minute. I felt fine. OK, I was seriously panting, but I was supposed to be at that point! So were the 30-somethings in the class and the instructor.

Like Pat, if I go by my target heart rate for fat burning based on my age (111, lol HR, not age) I don't even break a sweat.

We are in great condition! What this means is that your cardiovascular system is functioning much more efficiently than the average 53 yr old's. That's wonderful, and the whole point of doing all this

As long as you have no heart condition, it's fine to work at the top of your target heart rate for a minute or two to do intervals. There's research that shows that it's NOT the most efficient way to burn fat, but it is the best way to improve your "anaerobic threshhold".


This is from a Performance Training Cycling class.

Mel