[at-l] Heart Rate monitor

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 06:34 PM 7/12/2005 -0500, Thomas Fort wrote:
>Anyone ever worn one?  Or, afraid to know.  :-)  There have been
>countless times I knew my HR was maxed.  And, I just kept walking. I
>often wonder what that number would be.

How did you know your heart rate was maxed?

The one time I had monitor on was during a heart exam 2 years ago when I 
was doing the stress test business. I had to work like the devil to get my 
heart rate up to where the cardiologist wanted it (160 I think). When I was 
running I never bothered checking my heart rate. I went by the rule of 
thumb "if you are sweating and breathing heavily but can still carry on a 
conversation you are in the aerobic target zone". Whenever I was getting 
out of breath to the point that I couldn't talk, I backed off a bit. I tend 
to do the same hiking. When I have ground to cover I prefer pacing myself 
that way to taking breaks, especially sit down breaks. If I'm tired and sit 
down for 15 minutes my body goes into rest mode and doesn't want to start 
again.

The actual 'number' varies depending on your age. There is a chart at 
<http://www.jackis.com/Heart_Rates.htm> and another here 
<http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4736> which also 
mentions the Running Rule Of Thumb that I use.

FWIW Taking your heart to maximum rate and then just stopping whatever 
activity you are engaged in is not a good plan. I don't know if it's true 
but I've heard tales of people doing that and just dropping (dead that is). 
That's what happened to Jim Fix (of running fame) but he had a congenital 
heart problem that he had ignored so it may not apply to someone with a 
healthy heart. I've always thought it best to move around for a "cool down" 
period after strenuous activity. OTOH I no longer push myself to the point 
of maxing out like I did occasionally when I was younger.