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Sock Doc WorkshopsFrom the weekend exerciser to the professional athlete, heart rate monitors are the most ideal way to make your workouts much more effective, thereby increasing your fitness level while creating a healthier lifestyle. In my opinion, everybody should be wearing a HR monitor every time they exercise.
A heart rate monitor allows you to monitor your heart rate with a quick glance at a wristwatch that is constantly receiving your heart rate from a wireless transmitter belt worn around the lower part of your chest.
Today’s heart rate monitors come with a wide variety of functions and are extremely affordable. The one thing all heart rate monitors do is what gives them their name – they monitor your heart rate, so you don’t have to continuously stop to take your heart rate or guess at what it might be. Simple heart rate monitors will usually just give you an accurate heart rate display on the wristwatch. Some will tell the time of day and/or have a stopwatch function, allowing the user to get by with wearing just one watch while exercising. Other functions of heart rate monitors include a countdown timer, lap counter, back light illumination, target zone settings with audible out-of-zone alarm, time in training zone display, average heart rate display, and day/date calendar. Some monitors are even capable of downloading your workout information into your personal computer with the use of an interface adapter. Polar and Garmin are two companies that make great monitors.
Heart rate monitors work the best when a runner, cyclist, or triathlete knows how to properly use them. Putting the monitor on to see your heart rate can be interesting and fun, but it will be most valuable to your health and fitness program if you know how to properly monitor your heart. The maximum aerobic heart rate formula developed by Dr. Phil Maffetone is a great way to help you determine at what heart rate you should be exercising most often. Follow the guidelines below to see what HR you should be exercising at.
| 1) | Subtract your age from 180 | ||||||||
| 2) | Modify this number by choosing below: | ||||||||
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Now that you have your Maximum Aerobic Heart Rate number, it is important that you exercise accordingly with a proper warm up and cool down.
- Warm-Up for 10-15 minutes at a heart rate of 10-15 beats below your Max HR.
- Exercise at an intensity 0-5 beats below your max heart rate, but not over
- Cool-Down for 10-15 minutes at a HR similar to the warm-up, but now with decreasing intensity.
If you plan to exercise only 20-30 minutes, your workout will be a warm-up & cool-down.
This formula is ideal if you’re starting an exercise program and is also perfect for any experienced athlete as it correlates with their aerobic training zone. Read more about aerobic and anaerobic here.
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc"
I'm a board-certified chiropractic physician and clinical nutritionist with a passion for true natural health care. I implement dietary & nutritional therapies, exercise & movement practices, and lifestyle changes along with manual therapy techniques to help the body heal and prevent illness and injuries.
Chris says
Hi Mark
I’m 42 years old and am training for my first marathon which will be in late July this year.
I’ve been exercising at least 8-12 hours a week since I was 18 years old and have switched between swimming, cycling and running every few years.
I’ve been back running for 18 months and run either barefoot or in VFF’s or minimalist shoes after giving up running due to plantia facia and ITB problems running in usual shoes (gone now), and am currently running 40km/week.
My question is about the max aerobic HR. My HR has always been high compared to friends I train with, my max HR is 198 and when running comfortably (~4min.45s – 5min/km)on level ground is around 160.
What would my my optimal aerobic heart rate be? I never conform to the usual heart rate formulas.
Cheers
Chris
Sock Doc says
Hi Chris, though a high max HR doesn’t necessarily constitute a higher aerobic training zone, you can always do the lactate “race test” – Option 2 on the Aerobic/Anaerobic to verify where your LT may be, and adjust your training zones accordingly. Even better would be to have it checked via a lab or find someone with a lactate meter. Definitely DO NOT go by a percent of your max HR! Also, as I note in the Training Principles, an athlete with a strong aerobic base can run at least an hour, (actually much longer) aerobically and not “bonk”.
Guy says
That seems awfully low to me. At 28, I should only be running with a heart rate of 147-152? I know that when I compete, my HR is well above that even for an extended period of time. I’ve run 5Ks where my heart rate was over 180 for the last mile, and 10Ks where I hung out around 160 bpm. This formula seems a bit low for serious runners.
Sock Doc says
“Serious runners?” Interesting comment. Mark Allen was serious when he used this formula to win not one, but six Ironman World Championships. Many other professional athletes have too – from runners to triathletes to cyclists and everybody in-between, and from a 5K race up to the ultra distance. These are training HRs – if you’re running a 5K in the 180 that’s fine and so is a 10K in the 160s. Your LT is probably somewhere in that 160 range where you can run the 10K. So yeah, your aerobic training zone is 142-152, or 147-157 if you can add 5.
If you’re not quite sure you can follow the other methods I describe here, but you’re not going to see a huge change – 5-10 bpm, at most; 10 is pushing it.
Guy says
Well, after thinking about it, I suppose race day heart rates are going to be higher in general. But what do you think of anaerobically biased training programs? I felt like I made fairly good progress following a program that was primarily sprint and interval work with just one or two long, pace runs per week. Granted, I’m not comparing 5 and 10K races to marathons or ultras. I can see how the longer the distance, the more time you need to spend doing pace runs, but for shorter distances 10K or less, do you think this formula still applies? I feel like increasing my top end speed made running at slower speeds easier. I found that running the 3 mile run in under 18 minutes for my USMC PFT was easier after completing a sprint and interval program than when I tried following a program of trying to maintain a 6 minute mile pace for distance.
Sock Doc says
I think The Sock Doc Training Principles covers much of this topic.
Barefoot Marc says
Thanks for this article. Wanted to share how Most Aerobic Function running is helping as shown by barefoot runs last week. One mile pace has gone from around 9:00 to 7:50, 3 mile pace has gone from 9:20 to 8:20. Recently ran 7.5 miles at 143 BPM at a 10.40 pace making it 2 minutes faster than in August when I ran 7.5 miles at 144 BPM at a 12.57 pace. Today pleased with progress on 9 mile, sub 130 BPM. Shaved more than 2 minutes per mile from a 15.44 in August to 13.38 pace today. Long way to go but I am loving every minute of this progress, injury free and inspired with each run. At 55 I am now usually running sub 135 for my MAF zone runs on the assumption that for age and good behavior (running fit with no injuries in 14 months) I get an extra 10 beats. What do you think?
Thanks
Marc
Sock Doc says
What do I think? I think that’s awesome. Yeah you get 10.
BarefootMarc says
Thanks Sock Doc. I am cross training with a bike ride on sand this morning so the extra 10 will be great. Thanks for your very specific information on heart-health. I am passionate about health marketing and went back to school to earn my MSc and my dissertation was on Cardiovascular Health Promotion. Keep up the great work!
Alan says
Here’s a question:
I’m a 63 year old beginning natural runner. I’ve been working out on a treadmill for months with no problems. I want to move outside with a HR monitor. I take beta-blockers. How do I calculate my HR targets properly?
Thanks!
Sock Doc says
Start with 180-age-10 and then adjust accordingly. So figure around a 105-110 training zone.
George H. says
I’m 72 years old , and have been exercising for 40+ years. running until my knees gave out , then (light) weights, Nordic track and stairs at my local hockey arena 6 days per week, approx. 1 hour each day:
2 days weights
2 days walking/hiking/nordic track
2 days stairs in 35 steps up & 35 down X 12 per circut X 5 circuts
I’ve always used the 220 minus age for my max heart rate. On stairs, I average 128-138 heart rate, similar for nordic track , especially when I do intervals, pretty much the same.
My heart rate does not seem to stress me at all. I feel great. why should I strive for a lower pulse rate?
Sock Doc says
Might not be a problem for you. For those over 70 then often the aerobic zone is around 120. You can always check your lactate levels as I discuss in Part II of the Training Principles and here: https://sock-doc.com/2011/03/aerobic-or-anaerobic/
BTW – though you may not be able to hammer the miles like you did when you were younger, you should still be able to run at 72. Your knees should not “give out”.
Justus says
Hey Sock-Doc,
I’m 37 and have been running regularly for 2 years now. I have a slow summer planned and wanted to implement aerobic training. My problem is that my calculated max is 150 and once I’ve run more than a mile or two, I can’t run slow enough to keep my rate under that threshold (typically im in the 165 – 170 range and can run half marathon distances at that rate. When I walk fast my rate never goes above 120ish. So should I do run/walk intervals to keep my HR down at first or should I reduce my distance? What is the most effective way of building up?
Sock Doc says
Please read this; thanks!
https://sock-doc.com/sock-doc-questions-comments/
Daniel says
Hi,
Just started reading in the site, looks really interesting. Heart monitors with chest bands seem expensive for someone just beginning. Is there any cheaper alternative?
Thanks a lot!
Sock Doc says
You can get one for well under $100 today.
Anthony says
Hi! I take synthroid daily as I was diagnosed at a young age with hypothyroidism. Its controlled with medication, and I’m now 37 years old and have been training at 180-37=143 for months now. However, the 180 formula also states that I should be substracting an extra 10, so my MAF would be 133. Do you recommend the -10 adjustment for synthroid use? What would the reasoning behind this be? Am I not still training ‘aerobically’ at 143? Will this somehow dash my hopes of ever being a fast aerobic runner? A handicap of 10 bpm seems pretty dramatic.
Sock Doc says
It’s all individualized and if you are rather fit and healthy with a good aerobic base you could even perhaps be at 180-age or even +5. Best to do a LT test at a local university/training facility and get your exact zones to train at.
Liz says
I am 48. I have rheumatoid arthritis, multiple allergies, and asthma. I have been exercising for a year and a half. Would I subtract 10 or 15? Thanks!
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
Most likely 10 but get a feel for how you feel at the different intensities.
tom says
would the same formula apply for kids 10-12 years of age
Dr. Stephen Gangemi "Sock Doc" says
No – for kids that young I typically see what their HR is as they are running while able to still talk (meaning they’re aerobic and not gasping for air). It’s typically in the 160s but for some higher.
tom says
Thanks doc