Cardio heart rate too high? 180bpm.

[KawRider]

I've been doing HIIT type cardio 3 times a week on my off days from lifting. I do my cardio on the eliptical and do 2mins hard and 1min light. I do a 2 minute warmup, then 20-25 mins of HIIT, followed by a cooldown. The machines have its own interval settings which are 2min low incline and resistance, 2min higher incline and resistance so I get overlapping variety.

The problem is my heartrate is reaching 180bpm which I feel is too high. When it gets up there I take an extended short intesity break until it comes down to around 160, usually twice per session.

I am not getting really winded when it reaches this high and I actually feel like I could go harder even though I'm dripping sweat by this point.

Could the machines reading just be off? I've tried multiple different machines and get the same readings. Should I not worry and eventually it will come down on its own as I condition myself better?

My main concern is burning muscle even though its a lifting off day.

[Untchbl]

Ignore the HRM, let your body tell you when your heart rate is to high.

On my Thursday night hilly group bike ride I look down on some of the longer hills when I'm trying to hang on to the group doing 20+mph up hill and have seen mine as high as 203.

Trust me, you'll stop pushing long before your heart explodes.

And if you are concerned about burning muscle, there are a couple ways to avoid this.

Do more zone 1 or 2 cardio meaning lighter cardio for longer periods of time if it will work into your schedule. This will burn more fat and spare carbs/protein. Think of the human body as having two cardio fuel tanks. One has fat in it with 60,000 to 100,000 kcal's of storage space. The other has carbs in it with (I forget the number of kcal's of storage) I think it's 2,000kcal roughly. Fat is burnt for fuel when the demand is lower and the metabolism doesn't have to happen in a hurry. When the engine is turned up and the demand to fuel those muscles is more critical, the body resorts to burning carbs which are metabolized much quicker for the needed energy demand. Once the carb store is burnt up, that is when the body starts to look for other sources to fuel the fire, and protein/muscle is next in line.

So, if you are on the HIIT band wagon, or longer cardio sessions just don't fit your agenda, you want to be sure you are keeping up with the carb demand that the harder training is going to bring, and thus spare your muscle.

And you really aren't going to deplete your carb stores in 20 minutes of HIIT cardio no matter how hard you are going. It would take closer to 45 minutes to an hour at maximum effort.

Cardio lesson over.

If you want more reading, just ask, I can find the links to the studies.

[KingOfChaos]

Mine regularly gets that fast or faster on the elliptical.

[nef087]

Mine regularly gets that fast or faster on the elliptical.

same i was doing some hard hiit this week and noticed my hr at 190 oh yia buddy

[KawRider]

Ignore the HRM, let your body tell you when your heart rate is to high.

On my Thursday night hilly group bike ride I look down on some of the longer hills when I'm trying to hang on to the group doing 20+mph up hill and have seen mine as high as 203.

Trust me, you'll stop pushing long before your heart explodes.

And if you are concerned about burning muscle, there are a couple ways to avoid this.

Do more zone 1 or 2 cardio meaning lighter cardio for longer periods of time if it will work into your schedule. This will burn more fat and spare carbs/protein. Think of the human body as having two cardio fuel tanks. One has fat in it with 60,000 to 100,000 kcal's of storage space. The other has carbs in it with (I forget the number of kcal's of storage) I think it's 2,000kcal roughly. Fat is burnt for fuel when the demand is lower and the metabolism doesn't have to happen in a hurry. When the engine is turned up and the demand to fuel those muscles is more critical, the body resorts to burning carbs which are metabolized much quicker for the needed energy demand. Once the carb store is burnt up, that is when the body starts to look for other sources to fuel the fire, and protein/muscle is next in line.

So, if you are on the HIIT band wagon, or longer cardio sessions just don't fit your agenda, you want to be sure you are keeping up with the carb demand that the harder training is going to bring, and thus spare your muscle.

And you really aren't going to deplete your carb stores in 20 minutes of HIIT cardio no matter how hard you are going. It would take closer to 45 minutes to an hour at maximum effort.

Cardio lesson over.

If you want more reading, just ask, I can find the links to the studies.

Great answer just what I was looking for. I can fit pretty much anything into my schedule with no problems. My gym is 2 minutes away and I work from home.

Probably going to start doing 20-25mins HIIT followed by another 20 of steady cardio. I love the feeling of completely taxing my body going hard in intervals.

[Tessien]

A general rule of thumb I've heard is 220-your age gives you a general idea of your max heart rate.