Heart rate

[deeplybaffled]

I’m a plodding runner, and have been running on and off for about 8 years, with gaps for two pregnancies etc. never run more than 10k, never got below 1hr 6 mins odd, so in no way threatening Paula Radcliffe! I usually run once a week, sometimes twice.
But my heart rate seems ridiculously high pretty much every time.

For example, on Wednesday, I did a 4 mile run with two friends. Averaged about 12 minute miles, and was able to chat for most, although not all of it. Some small hills, but hardly Mount Everest.

And yet my heart rate averaged 168bpm and topped out at 194.

this seems to be normal for me, I have loads of similar garmin data from over the years - but reading what others say about theirs, I’m not sure it is normal for most!

and I do wonder if that is why I can’t run faster or further, simply because I have nothing more to give in terms of heart rate.

Does anyone have any helpful advice?

thank you !

If you have similar data for years it's probably ok but that would be way too high for me and I would definitely not be able to continue for long, or be able to chat, at that high a HR. My race mode HR would be a max of 170/175. I believe a better indicator is your resting HR - and your recovery rate down from that max.

Thank you - I am a little worried, I’ll be honest!

my resting heart rate is usually between 50-55bpm, and again, that’s been the same for a while.

I’m not sure about my recovery but can try to track that - what should I look for, please?

A resting HR of 50/55 is very good and considered a sign of a healthy heart. Typical adult rates are 60-100 while a very fit athlete could have below 50. Recovery would be how fast after exercise does your HR rate come back from it's max to it's usual "walking around the house" rate. Like everything though, what's normal for one person won't be normal for another so maybe think about getting it checked properly to set your mind at ease. I can't fully remember the stats but I have it in my head I was told my HR should decrease from it's max to it's normal by 7-10 minutes after reaching it's maximum.

OP

Long distance runners usually have a slow resting heart rate.

The max heart rate is 220 - your age, you should not be exercising over that.

A really simple solution may be that your Garmin isn't recording your heart properly. I have a Garmin too and although I don't run, when I'm doing cardio if I get into Zone 5 (> 162 bpm for me), I can't sustain it for more a minute or so and there's no way I could talk.

I think the garmin is probably about right, unfortunately- I’ve had similar issues on gym machines where they have heart rate monitors built into the handles like on treadmills. I set off the alarms!

You need to work on your aerobic base.

Don't use 220 - age formula, we are not machines and while it might be accurate on average, it can be out by up to 20 beats. Small females tend to have higher max rate for example.

Do a max heart rate field test (google it), and then once you've figured out your max heart rate, calculate what your zone 2 heart rate is, and stick to it.

You'll probably have to run super slowly, and do lots of walking breaks when you start. You should start seeing some improvement after a couple of months.

I'd work on a lower heartrate zone by Jeffing, alternating short bursts of running/ walking e.g. 30sR, 30sW. You might even need less running than walking to keep it down at first.

It might feel like a backwards step but it's about encouraging your heart to work at a lower level and aiding stamina.

I've used the technique through marathon training and it did stop my heart rate escalating over the course of 3, 4, 5 hours of running. My 20mi run was an average of 134bpm

In contrast, I've recently maxed out a parkrun with an average of 179bpm and max of 190. Hypothetically my max on 220-age should be around that average zone, but I was working comfortably at it and it was about the last 5 mins where it went anaerobic, and within a few minutes of finishing my breathing was calm and heart rate plunging back to normal.

It's taken years to get that kind of distinction between gentle run and hard run. In the early days I had one pace and HR seemed determined to be 155bpm, and generally it comes from calming the pace and heart rate first.

You need to change your running strategy, probably by doing intervals rather than distance. You're running faster the your fitness really warrants, which doesn't really help your fitness, so your heart rate is too high. Slow it down massively or break the run up!

heart rate recovery test: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23490-heart-rate-recovery

My 1st thought is to verify the numbers, verify your tech, take your HR by hand or borrow someone's Polar monitor (chest strap) to see if numbers are consistent.

I was once told my heart might be small for my body size (height, frame) which is why my heart could get so high. This could have happened because my mom smoked in pregnancy & I was a little small at birth (2 weeks overdue & only 6.5 lbs). My high heart rate is not a problem for me, though.

Not got any answers for you but I have the same issue, this was a slow ploddy nearly-5k

That's a formula to estimate. Mine is definitely higher than that suggests. And I do reach it during intense workouts

But I do pair my Garmin with a chest strap when rowing. Ironically,my HR is often lower for the same work now than it was about 12 years ago ....

It's similar with or without belt for running. But I've taken the last few years to learn to slow down enough to keep HR lower for longer etc.

Thank you very much, everyone - definitely some things to be thinking about. If I did the 220-age thing, I should be topping out at around 175, which is <well> below my usual peaks and suggests that there is a lot of work to be done. In fact, 175 is a lot nearer to my usual average heart rate rather than the peak.

I’ll look into interval training - could anyone recommend any good apps akin to the couch 2 5k that work for intervals, please?

I do suspect that I might be trying to push a square peg into a round hole though - by inclination, I’m a sprinter, and view 100m as the distance of choice 😂 But unless you are properly good ( which I am not) there’s not a lot of opportunities to do that in your mid 40s, so I need to get better at modest distance running of 10ks instead.

I have no advice but similar heart rate. Topped 205 once. I was running between 3 and 15k for a couple of years and it never seemed to get under highest heart rate of 195. I thoufht it would imorove as my fitness improved but it didnt. Also Garmin watch. I worried about it for ages but carried on and did a half marathon. Stopped running since then and too scared to start again in case I have a heart attack! I kind of assumed it's just normal for me but it's still a bit worrying.

As your fitness improves your resting HR can come down, your maximum is, well a maximum, you should be able to do more work at that HR.

I have no idea what @OwlsDance is talking about.

@sashh look up aerobic base

Similar here. It has been the same since my (fit) teens. I'm now mid-40s and often hit 184ish on a plodding run. My resting heart rate is in the 50s and my recovery time is good. It just seems to be the way I am built.

I've never been able to 'run' at a pace to keep my heart rate in a certain zone - as soon as I go faster than a brisk walk, my HR shoots up but comes straight back down as soon as I walk! i'm 54 now and its never changed so I think its just me. I have a HRM and my max heart rate is set at something like 185 or I would always be working at +95% if it was set at the 'correct' rate of 166!

That's because you're not warming up properly. Your body doesn't have enough time to adapt, which spikes your hr. If you warm up by bringing your hr gradually up, it doesn't happen.

The garmin training plans are actually pretty good and are free with the watch. They stop runs getting boring too. You can train for a distance to improve your speed or just get suggested plans to improve fitness. Otherwise I like Runkeeper, but you need a subscription.

When I started running aged around 51, my HR was very high. My over-50s MOT showed I was pretty anaemic and as soon as that was resolved, both my RHR and exercising one fell significantly. Your heart beats faster to help compensate apparently. I hadn't noticed the anaemia, was fit, healthy, lifted weights etc, and my GP said it could have crept up on me over years (heavy periods, children etc). So it might be worth getting that checked if you haven't recently.

As others have mentioned you need to work on your aerobic base. I would also suggest that running once week is not going to get you fit enough to bring down your heart rate significantly.

I am fifty with a resting heart rate of about 45-47. For my slow runs my heart rate is about 136 BPM but it can get to as high as 186 when really pushing it. So that calculation of 220-age is out by quite a bit. I also run about 4 times a week with a range of paces.

Therefore I think you need to add some more runs and mix it up between run/walk and faster interval sessions.