Heart rate and cardio exercise

[Asteconn]

Yesterday, as part of my Gym-ness, I did 40 minutes of workout on a Crosstrainer (ellipticals I think they're called in the US). I do a randomised resistance program on them, and at 68 strides per minute (or about 134 steps per minute) or faster, which is in time with the music I have on my headphones. At one point I do a 20 second or so long sprint near the end.

I'm 24; my resting heart rate is about 63 and I weigh 15 stone (210lbs).

Now, yesterday I borrowed a heart rate monitor just out of curiosity. On my heart rate monitor, I spent almost all of the time I was on there around the 170 mark. At this level, I was working out hard, but very comfortably. Whilst hammering away during my 20 second sprint, I tipped 191 beats per minute. At this level, I was really hurting at the end of the sprint just before I wound down.

Now my questions.

Is 170 bpm good or bad?

Apparently for someone my age 170 bpm is supposed to be anaerobic, yet I had no issues maintaining such a level for 40 minutes. Would this mean that I have a high lactate threshold? Is such a thing good? Or does it mean I have a high max heart rate?

Would I be better calming down and going slower?

Thanks

 

[Caferacer]

A good cardio heart rate is anywhere between 60-85% of your max heart rate. you get your max heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. You get the percentage by finding the range (resting minus max HR), multiplying that by whatever percentage and adding it to your resting.

So yes, 170 is high for cardio. 191 is damn near your max heart rate (which is just a safe zone; being consistantly near that HR or even over is very bad for you and unsafe to train near).

It's not far off target though, and I can only guess at the HR I reach doing interval training. Just keep those numbers in mind. Whether you change will be dependant on what you want. Training for aerobic response is in the upper ranges; 85%-70%. Cardio for fat burning is done in the lower ranges, 60%-70%.

 

[Asteconn]

I went to the gym again today. Borrowed a heart rate monitor again to see what was happening. I was in the 160-170 region for the whole 40 minutes. at about 65 RPM, I was around 163; at 70 prm, I was around 168.