Heart rate too high?

[Boomer]

My wife has recently started rowing, she’s doing the beginner Pete plan. she’s 51 and I’ve noticed her heart rate is very high when rowing but she said it doesn’t bother her. She‘s currently rowing at 2:28 pace 5k and her HR average is around 170-175. It comes back down again quickly to hr88 within 90s. Her resting heart rate is around 63.

The reason I’m concerned is that hr175 would be unbearable for me for longer than 3-4 minutes.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[ampire]

As a general rule, she should talk to a doctor before beginning an exercise program.

Higher heart rate is pretty normal on the rowing machine compared to other types of cardio. If you are comparing yourself to her, she has a different physiology than you. Possibly she is more anaerobic than aerobic. Or she is less fit. Or she has a smaller heart, that beats faster. As one gets fitter, heart rate usually comes down for a given wattage.

[Gammmmo]

As a general rule, she should talk to a doctor before beginning an exercise program.

Higher heart rate is pretty normal on the rowing machine compared to other types of cardio. If you are comparing yourself to her, she has a different physiology than you. Possibly she is more anaerobic than aerobic. Or she is less fit. Or she has a smaller heart, that beats faster. As one gets fitter, heart rate usually comes down for a given wattage.

This post pretty much sums it up with the bit in bold the first thing I thought....one more thing: could just be less fatigued than you.

....or she tries harder

[Boomer]

Thanks guys, she’s had a full cardio evaluation, stress test, echo, ecg etc etc so no medical condition. Just wondering if she should be training to a 150 hr for example.

[lindsayh]

Thanks guys, she’s had a full cardio evaluation, stress test, echo, ecg etc etc so no medical condition. Just wondering if she should be training to a 150 hr for example.

It depends what your wife wants to train for boomer but if she wants to improve her aerobic/general fitness then she will need to train regularly at a pace which keeps the HR at <80% of maximum. The high HR won't hurt her health but it should be <20% of her total training as has been described here a lot in heart rate training zone threads. If her MHR is around 180 and resting around 60 then the cap for much of her training should be 80% of 120 (180-60) plus 60 = 156. So 150 is indeed a good cap for her steady state training and keeping to that is how she will get fitter and improve general health. As she gets fitter her ability to go faster with a lower heart rate will naturally improve.

[Boomer]

Thanks guys that’s clear then, didn’t realise the smaller heart thing. She’s not out of breath at 175 bpm good lungs small heart. I’ll advise here to stick to 150max for most of her training. I’m sure she’ll be ok once she gets into this plan and she’ll get faster for a giver HR. Weight loss is her main goal so long and steady is the most important thing.

[Carl Watts]

The 150 max Heartrate rows are good for regular training.

Would not be worried about her heartrate, mine is similar with 58 resting and I can still see 178 for 20 minutes or so and still be in control of my breathing. Everyone is very different.

[lindsayh]

Thanks guys that’s clear then, didn’t realise the smaller heart thing. She’s not out of breath at 175 bpm good lungs small heart. I’ll advise here to stick to 150max for most of her training. I’m sure she’ll be ok once she gets into this plan and she’ll get faster for a giver HR. Weight loss is her main goal so long and steady is the most important thing.

..and of course you don't get weight loss at high heart rates as basically not burning fat unless you are aerobic.

[hjs]

My wife has recently started rowing, she’s doing the beginner Pete plan. she’s 51 and I’ve noticed her heart rate is very high when rowing but she said it doesn’t bother her. She‘s currently rowing at 2:28 pace 5k and her HR average is around 170-175. It comes back down again quickly to hr88 within 90s. Her resting heart rate is around 63.

The reason I’m concerned is that hr175 would be unbearable for me for longer than 3-4 minutes.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

If you feel fine, you are fine. But it looks like every workout your wife is doing ends up being some sort of timetrial. If you row a few times per week, thats ok. If you row more often and longer you will burn out.

[Phobos]

Higher heart rate is pretty normal on the rowing machine compared to other types of cardio.

Is that so?
I can only get my HR up to 170 on a very fast interval and not for long, on the erg.
However, just yesterday I went for a run for the first time in a long time, since Im away and there's no erg i can get to :-/
I immediately went up to >160bpm and, while I had trouble with the actual movement since it's so different, the HR didnt cause me any trouble, was breathing quite fine and the whole exercise while a lot lighter than Id train on the erg was done at a higher HR.

But Ive got another visit at the cardiologist coming up anyway, since my resting heart rate dropped through the floor since I seriously picked up training 5 months ago...

[Gammmmo]

Higher heart rate is pretty normal on the rowing machine compared to other types of cardio.

highest TENDS to be running as load bearing, then cycling/erging then swimming. other sports may also apply...

For reference...if I give it the beanz on the ergo I can get into the high 180s...maybe 190. Not sure, as rarely use a HRM. On the bike when I was early-mid 20s I'd do a 10 mile TT around 190 for about 16-17mins and then gradually build so I see over 200. This is one reason as we age we slow down...the ticker (pump) becomes able to shift less blood. Lack of elasticity in the tissues is one reason...maybe the pericardium gets stiffer too (the bit that surrounds the heart and inhibits its expansion somewhat).

[ampire]

Higher heart rate is pretty normal on the rowing machine compared to other types of cardio.

Is that so?
I can only get my HR up to 170 on a very fast interval and not for long, on the erg.
However, just yesterday I went for a run for the first time in a long time, since Im away and there's no erg i can get to :-/
I immediately went up to >160bpm and, while I had trouble with the actual movement since it's so different, the HR didnt cause me any trouble, was breathing quite fine and the whole exercise while a lot lighter than Id train on the erg was done at a higher HR.

But Ive got another visit at the cardiologist coming up anyway, since my resting heart rate dropped through the floor since I seriously picked up training 5 months ago...

Well I mean that in the sense that it gets my heart rate far higher personally (as seen on a Garmin HRM1G chest band) than most other types of gym based exercise equipment such as recumbent bike or elliptical. So if one is only used to those types of equipment, it may seem surprising.

[Anth_F]

My wife has recently started rowing, she’s doing the beginner Pete plan. she’s 51 and I’ve noticed her heart rate is very high when rowing but she said it doesn’t bother her. She‘s currently rowing at 2:28 pace 5k and her HR average is around 170-175. It comes back down again quickly to hr88 within 90s. Her resting heart rate is around 63.

The reason I’m concerned is that hr175 would be unbearable for me for longer than 3-4 minutes.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

If you feel fine, you are fine. But it looks like every workout your wife is doing ends up being some sort of timetrial. If you row a few times per week, thats ok. If you row more often and longer you will burn out.

Yeah i would reckon so... the HR is too high, especially for a 51 yo. Get her to Slow the pace down and HR will come down to a more appropriate level for UT2 based training, which is where most of the gains on the erg are made for getting fitter and faster.

[Boomer]

Thanks for the advice guys, she’s now rowing at 155-160 max on the beginner Pete plan. Week 3 I think she’s fine, when I passed in the feedback she admitted she’d been pushing it. She just didn’t want to admit her crappy times as her 60kg teenage daughter had just kicked her ass by 3 mins in a 5 k.

[Remo]

Okay Boomer,

There was a nice little article in the New York Times debunking the 220 - age rule. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/heal ... enged.html It is a worthy read particularly because rowing is mentioned several times. It also has a great quote by my favorite exercise physiologist Dr. Fritz Hagerman, RIP, who for many years was the physiologist for the US Rowing team

Dr. Fritz Hagerman, an exercise physiologist at Ohio University, said he had learned from more than three decades of studying world class rowers that the whole idea of a formula to predict an individual's maximum heart rate was ludicrous. Even sillier, he said, is the common notion that the heart rate is an indication of fitness.

Some people get blood to their muscles by pushing out large amounts every time their hearts contract, he said. Others accomplish the same thing by contracting their hearts at fast rates. As a result, Dr. Hagerman said, he has seen Olympic rowers in their 20's with maximum heart rates of 220. And he has seen others on the same team and with the same ability, but who get blood to their tissues by pumping hard, with maximum rates of just 160.

''The heart rate is probably the least important variable in comparing athletes,'' Dr. Hagerman said."

Your wife's erg time is about average for her age.