It seems to me I heard somewhere that George Weischadle wrote in
article <[email hidden]>:
Quoted message said:I'm in my 50's, normal height and weight, athletic build. I lift weights
and run on the treadmill (20 minutes) 3x per week.
Quoted message said:If I maintain a speed of 5.5 mph for the 20 minute treadmill session, my
heart rate stays around 128-132 bpm while I run. However, if I increase
speed just a bit to 6.0 mph, my HR moves all the way up to 152-156 bpm while
running.
Quoted message said:In either case, my HR drops back to under 100-105 bpm within 2 minutes after
stopping running, and my resting HR is around 50-55. (I'm on Atenolol and
Lisinipril for borderline hypertension.)
Quoted message said:My questions: isn't this a very BIG jump in heart rate for a relatively
minor amount of additional exertion? Should I see my doctor about this? Is
152-156 bpm more than I should be doing at my age?
Have you been running long enough and at a pace fast enough that you
could reasonably expect to accelerate that much without your heart rate
taking a big jump? Perhaps your fitness level is somewhere over that
5.5mph (= 11 min/mile) pace but not quite up to the 6mph (= 10
min/mile). That's roughly a 10% increase in pace--not a minor change.
You might experiment with some intermediate settings and see if the
heart rate increase tracks fairly smoothly. I set my pace by min/mile
which is easier for running outdoors but maybe not for a treadmill; I
usually go for a pace increase of only 10 or 15 sec/mile faster than
what I've been doing. If I tried to increase by a full minute per mile
I'd be breathing hard, and my pulse would also be up.
OTOH, if gentle increases in pace also make your heart rate increase
markedly then I would suggest checking with your doctor.
I run somewhere around 10 min/mile and my heart rate will be around 130
to 145, depending on weather and other variables. If I really push it
will go up into the 150s. I'm 74 and have been running for years.
--
Don
[email hidden]