What Is Maximum Heart Rate?
Almost all physical exercise programs, especially those that focus on cardiovascular health, are predicated upon reaching and sustaining a target training range based on your maximum heart rate. If you're new to the world of exercise, your first question almost certainly will be: What is my MHR? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question and there is disagreement about how to calculate MHR. However, there are some widely accepted formulas for determining it.
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Popular Formula
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Probably the most widely accepted formula, and one cited by the American Heart Association on its website, is to calculate MHR by subtracting your age from 220. Thus, if you are 42, your MHR would be 178, while a person twice your age, or 84, would have an MHR of 136.
Target Training Range
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The American Heart Association recommends a target training range that is 50 to 85 percent of MHR. If you're just getting started on an exercise program, reaching and sustaining a heart rate that's at least 50 percent of MHR but not much higher is a good way to begin. As you continue with your program of exercise, you can gradually step up the level of activity until you reach the upper limit of 85 percent of MHR.
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Variations on a Theme
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Starting with the same basic formula cited above (220-age), Stevens Creek Software comes up with some variations designed to adjust MHR based on the physical condition of the individual. Under this system of calculating MHR, the 220-age formula is reserved for nonathletic males, and the female counterpart is 226-age. The formula for the MHR of physically fit males is 205 minus half your age, while that for fit females is 211 minus half your age. For males whose physical condition falls somewhere between nonathletic and physically fit, the formula is 214 minus 80 percent of your age; the comparable formula for females is 209 minus 70 percent of your age.
Alternate Unisex Formula
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In a paper published in 1982, University of Missouri researchers B.R. Londeree and M.L. Moeschberger agreed with the premise that MHR varies with age, but not necessarily in a uniformly linear progression. As an alternate to the long-accepted 220-minus-age formula, they suggested that MHR be calculated for both males and females by subtracting roughly 71 percent of their age from 206.3. Thus, a male or female of 50 would have an MHR just under 171.
British Formulas
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More recently, researchers at John Moores University in Liverpool, England, came up with formulas for calculating MHR in males and females who have been trained for both endurance and anaerobic fitness. Their findings were published in a 2007 issue of the International Journal of Sports Medicine. Men's MHR is calculated by subtracting 55 percent of their age from 202, while the female equivalent is determined by subtracting 109 percent of their age from 216. Thus, a fit male who is 40 years old would have an MHR of 180, while the comparable figure for a 40-year-old female would be roughly 172.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit SashaW, http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/3171917389_676fd8f603_o.jpg
