Hitting target HR during cardio

ABChinaman · 06-21-2008, 08:09 PM

I haven't been running very much for the past year or so but am starting to slowly pick it back up again. Yesterday, I was on the stationary bike at a very mild pace (~100rpm average, low resistance, ~100 calories over 12 min) and the HR monitor said I was around 140-150bpm (unsure about accuracy since I didn't take my pulse myself). Also keep in mind that I did some weight lifting before this.

Using the 220-age formula, my max HR is around 195 so my target is ~120-170. Now, at the pace I was pedaling at it felt like I was doing nothing (ie, too easy). I should mention that I ran x-country my senior year in high school (by no means fast or good) and distance running has been up and down (year to year) since then.

Question is: should I just keep my HR within my target range even though I feel like I'm hardly doing anything? Or should I kick it up a notch but end up bringing my HR near my max, which I'm not sure is bad or not?

crupiea · 06-21-2008, 09:33 PM

I started by staying within a certain target range. At first it seemed really slow but quickly I was going much faster to maintain the same heart rate.

You will see a bunch of conflicting opinions but for me staying in the target worked great and I lost a lot of weight doing it.

ABChinaman · 06-22-2008, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crupiea

I started by staying within a certain target range. At first it seemed really slow but quickly I was going much faster to maintain the same heart rate.

You will see a bunch of conflicting opinions but for me staying in the target worked great and I lost a lot of weight doing it.

Exactly what I was thinking: too many different opinions but I guess thats because everyone's body responds differently. I suppose I'll just ease my way back to running by doing it the "right" way. No point in hitting +90% of my max HR when 60-80% does the trick.