Question: Hi there,

I'm 34 years old and working to get in shape. I've exercised pretty regularly for a few years now, so I'm not new to exercise, and I'm fairly healthy aside from excess weight and being sometimes prehypertensive (but often normal in the mornings).

I know the most common formula for determining maximum heart rate is 220-Age, which in my case means a XXXXXXX heart rate of 186. I'm trying to fit in lighter activity throughout the week (long outside walks, that kind of thing), but my main intense activity is an incline treadmill. I usually do a daily map-based workout, which has a lot of variation as far as incline, and I try to adjust speed to aim for around 85% of my XXXXXXX heart rate (which works out to 158 bpm), sometimes less, sometimes more, but always adjusted towards that.

I use a formula to adjust the treadmill so I'm consistent. If my heart rate is currently less than 158 bpm, I increase speed .1 mph every minute, and if I end up above 158 bpm, I reduce speed .1 mph every 15 seconds (so I decrease faster than increasing). If I go above 176, which is 10 beats from my XXXXXXX I decrease by 1 mph every 15 seconds til I'm back down under it to make sure I don't hit that 186 limit. This works well, but it can result in a few minutes (~3 or so usually) where I'm above 85% and pushing towards my XXXXXXX heart rate. (But I never exceed MHR - if I hit it, I'd either stop, or slow it down to the slowest speed until HR is back down.)

I feel fine when this happens (tired, but a normal, good exercise tired; never dizzy or in pain or anything), and if I always try to stay under 85%, I feel like I'm not getting as good a workout. Additionally, I'm trying to lower my heart rate and increase endurance, and I feel like a slight revving might help with that.

What I'd like to know is if what I'm currently is safe. My father passed away quite young (52) while exercising, and I don't want to overdo it, but I don't want to be so cautious as I'm not improving either.

Thanks for your input!

Warmly,
XXXX

Hi and thank you very much for your answer.

Just for some extra clarification, as long as I head back into the safe zone (within, say, 5 minutes at most), if I exceed this briefly (even up to the 186 XXXXXXX as long as I'm decreasing speed gradually to head back to 158 or below), I should be fine without increased risk?

It's hard to always stay under this threshold as I'm trying to get more fit. I just want to make sure I'm not going to do any damage by briefly (again less than 5 minutes) exceeding the zone I aim for sometimes.

Thanks!