Heart rate when exercising

[floataboat]

Hello, I am very new to exercising, having joined the gym because of a high blood pressure diagnosis. This might be a stupid question, but I would like to know where I might be going wrong.

I am very overweight, but I’ve lost a stone and I like to think my heart is getting stronger. I go two or three time a week to the gym, and use the treadmill and cross trainer mostly.

My heart rate use to rise to 145 ish, which my Fitbit says is good for cardio health. However, now I struggle to get up to 135, so stay in the fat burn zone. I think maybe I need to work harder, but my legs ache and I’m sweaty even at this stage. Any advice, please? I feel like I’m not improving my cardiovascular health unless I can get my heart rate up higher, but am struggling to actually work harder, if that makes sense!

Are you doing any strength training?? Building muscles will help you get faster / build endurance in cardio.

You can also do interval weight training which can really lower the heart rate up for short bursts.

Well done!

That's a good sign that your heart has got stronger.

It does mean that you need to work harder. Getting hot and sweaty is going to be part of that!

Agree with Fusion that adding in some strength training would help, but your legs will get stronger over time anyway as you work harder...

However, now I struggle to get up to 135, so stay in the fat burn zone. I think maybe I need to work harder, but my legs ache and I’m sweaty even at this stage.

Yes, you do! Legs will stop aching & sweat is good! For your aching legs, start a practice of stretching and using a roller for 15 minutes after your cardio session. Look up "runners' stretches" on YouTube for tips.

And there is a moment when you're very fit, when you can push your heart rate up - my max is around 170 in HIIT work. And my resting HR is around 60. I recover to around 120 within about 30-60 seconds of high intensity intervals.

I also agree with the suggestion that you add in some resistance work. Start with bodyweight work. Do squats. If you do them properly they will tone up your quads, glutes & abs. Do proper pushups/press ups - (none of this from the knees stuff) - work on getting them using your full body weight. There are lots of techniques to learn how to do this - again, YouTube can help.

Congratulations - you're getting FIT!!!!

If you're heart rate is going down to achieve the same work, it's becoming more efficient or fit.

It is worth mixing it up every so often to stop progress stalling.

Another sign of fitness is heart rate returning to normal sooner after exercise.

Sorry I haven't been back to this sooner. Thank you for all your helpful comments - it's so strange (but great) to think I might be getting fitter, when I've always been the most unfit person I know!

I will try adding in some resistance work, and also just generally work harder. I have been reading about interval training too - I thought this was something that only super fit athletes do, but does it mean just alternating between higher intensity and then lower? That sounds interesting!

If you learn how to jump o & off a moving treadmill safely, then you can do a variety of interval trainings on a treadmill. Set the incline at 2. Then start at an easy pace. Run 50 secs, jump off for 10 secs & put the speed up by 0.5. Run 45 secs, rest 15 secs, up the speed by 0.5.

Do this to the point where you're running for 10 secs, resting for 50. This 10 seconds should be the fastest & hardest run you can do. Or running 15 secs resting for 45. Train to failure!

Then work your way back down (it's called a pyramid exercise). So you'll have done up to 18 intervals of running. You might find that you can run faster than you think, especially when your goal is only 10 secs! (Mind you I've only ever managed about 8 seconds at 18kph on the treadmill. That feels so fast I panic. Don't be me & panic!)

The trick is to choose a starting speed that is easy for you, and you can run for longer than 45 or 50 seconds.

Look up "heart rate recovery", OP.
That your heart doesn't go so high as it used to is probably a sign that you have become fitter: a good thing.