Having a hard time getting my heart rate up....

[joditoad1974]

I went to the Y again last night, and walked 3.6 mph going up on incline every 2 minutes, till I reached 10, then worked my way back down, for 30 minutes. My average heart rate was 128....it has been in the past in the 140's. This has happened the last few times I have went to the y to do some of my cardio. It also happened on the bike this weekend, and I was doing intervals easy 1 minute, resitance level 10 1 minute, heartrate stayed in the 120's on that too. Why am I having a harder time getting my heart rate up, I am working as hard as I always do? Any suggestions?

Thanks

joanna

 

[NicoleP]

Hi Joanna,
I was surprised when I got on my airdyne bike one day, and I thought I was working hard}( But I happened to be wearing my hrm and like you it was is the 120-130 range. I was shocked to say the least, but what I did is I PUSHED MYSELF HARDER 140-150's. I got a GOOD workout and now I wear my monitor for ALL my workouts and push myself as needed or lower my intensity as needed. During my Cathe workouts I like to keep my hr at 147-167 range when I go over that range that's when I go take a sip of water!! Hope this helps!!

Good Luck!!
~Nicole

 

[materialsgirl]

You are having a harder time getting your heart rate up because your body is becoming more efficient during exercise. The way to determine if your cardiovascular fitness is improving is if you see a decrease in your average heart rate for a given activity. That means your heart has a higher stroke volume - able to pump more blood in a single beat - so that it does not have to beat as many times to provide the same level of oxygen to your muscles and other organs. If you have ever checked your resting heart rate in the past, you might want to check it again because my guess is that number has decreased as well.

This has an up-side and a down-side. The up-side is that your heart is becoming stronger and more efficient, which of course is just plain good for you. The down-side is that you will have to work a lot harder during your workouts now in order to elevate your heart rate. One way to do this would be to try a totally new activity. If you have been walking and biking, maybe try swimming or jogging to switch things up a bit.

So, your workouts are paying off. Time to kick it up a notch and give your heart new challenges!

 

[joditoad1974]

My resting heart rate has dropped from 100ish to 80ish. When I started, it seemed my heart rate was always high in the 150's....now it stays in the 120's. I guess I am going to have to kick it up some.....I just have to learn how. I want to run, but have a lot of difficulty doing it, my legs give out quick.




joanna