revchuck Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Folks - I just found out officially that I have borderline high blood pressure. One of the strategies the PA and I discussed for bringing it down involves exercise. I asked her about heart rate; mine usually runs around 170 when running on equipment (I have no idea what it is when actually on the road). She gave me the max heart rate = 220 minus my age formula, which means that it shouldn't be going over 164 (I'm 56). I've got to do something about that. My usual run speed is about six-seven mph - hey, I'm an old guy! I still need to run two miles in under 19 minutes. I need suggestions for stuff I can for cardiac health that lasts about 45 minutes, and shouldn't get my heart rate up past about 140. I'm afraid the two mile run time requirement and the cardiac exercise might be at cross purposes. Any suggestions will be welcome - TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Cheely Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 The max heartrate "formula" is really only used for estimating a persons max HR. All sorts of things come into play including age, fitness level, and too many other things to list. Running is not a good way to get low exertion aerobic exercise. Buy a bicycle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve J Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Find a gym with good treadmills. You can walk at increasing speeds and inlines and monitor your heart rate at the same time. Some say treadmills are boring. I love them. Uneven and unlevel roads and sidewalks hurt my joints. Not to mention safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Walking? Maybe with a pack on for some extra weight.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckS Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Treadmill and monitor has worked for me. Swimming is good without the impact. A mix is easy on the old body Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve J Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Walking? Maybe with a pack on for some extra weight.... I've been packing extra weight since birth. Don't underestimate the training effect of speed and incline when walking. And never ever hold on to anything. Pump your arms. Holding on makes any incline easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I'll add this to the mix --- you really need to breathe, fully and deeply. The more oxygen your lungs can pump into the system, the less your heart needs to work to move it around. You can work on that yourself, but if the muscles in and around your ribcage and diaphragm are tight, you might need massage or PT to loosen them up...... I like treadmills and especially ellipticals, but there's nothing run with long walks either..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Carlin Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 (edited) Swim, swim hard, swim with a purpose, like say as far as you can in an hour. Bicycle, walk. Skip rope, run, 30 minutes to an hour at a whack three times a week. A better measure of your fitness is your resting pulse rate. I am 57 and my resting pulse rate is less than that. When I do 200 meter freestyle max effort intervals my maximum heart rate will run up to 196. It takes me about 5-5:15 to swim 200 meters as fast as I can, I did not learn to swim until I was 51 in 2001. I like to see 48 to 72 beats per minute drop in heart rate in the first minute of recovery and a pulse rate of less than 100 after 2 minutes. I do not let the fact that I run up past my max heart rate by the formula bother me much. About 3 days of serious effort for 30- 60 minutes every week seems to keep me at about 46-54 bpm for RHR. The 220 - your age formula is a guide probably slanted towards the average person. The average person our age can not run 2 miles in under 19 minutes. Nor swim 800 in less than 24. No walk 2.5 miles in 39:30. It is much like the BMI (body mass index) it is already slanted fat. I know I am! ;-) Edited May 7, 2008 by Michael Carlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 In order of easiest to manage your pulse rate to hardest: - Swimming: You may need to take a class or two to get efficient enough to manage 500 to 1000m without flailing yourself to death if you're not up on your swim skills - Elliptical: Very easy to manage your heart rate and still burn lots of calories - Bike: About the same as elliptical - Treadmill: I'm not a huge fan of them unless they're well sprung. Pretty easy to really rocket your pulse rate if you're out of shape and trying to run. - Stairmaster/Stair-"mill": Looks easy. Also really easy to spike your heart rate. - Running Buy a Polar heart rate watch. All you need is a $125 one that's waterproof and has alarms for your pulse rate. You don't need to super-fancy ones unless your doctor tells you that there's a specific feature (s)he wants you to have that the cheapie doesn't. Most work just fine in the pool. I used mine swimming for years with no issues other than the band getting eaten by the chlorine. Spiking your heart rate is an issue, particularly if you're overweight. The biggest "danger" is accelerated fatigue, which is why I bought my watch.l If I kept my heart rate under NNN, I could definitely get in better, longer workouts without sudden total exhaustion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 A Red Head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 A Red Head NO NO NO.....he said get the heartrate Down I love to walk. I walk on sidewalks on busy city streets that don't have any pedestrian traffic. I don't speed walk but you can get your HR up and control it by your pace. Like EricW said, a good heart monitor watch is the way to go. Besides, unless you're watching an aerobic class (watch that HR ) from your treadmill, the scenery never changes. dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 (edited) Why do you HAVE to run the two miles in under 19 minutes? The only way to train for running is to run. Not walk, swim or bike. All of the above mentioned exercises are great for you heart, but they won't help you maintain you current level of running fitness. It sounds like, based on your age and training speed, that you may be a natural runner and would be able to meet the 19 minute time even if you walk for your cardio. Edited May 7, 2008 by rangertrace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Why do you HAVE to run the two miles in under 19 minutes? Because I'm still in the Army National Guard, and have to meet at least the minimum standards (18:38 for the run at my age). I actually need to get it under 18 minutes because my commander exercised his option to set higher standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Elliptical is my favourite, and treadmill (not running) on a steep incline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Di Vita Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 First and foremost, the most important thing you can do is fix your diet. Lean meats, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. That's it. I'd highly recommend checking out 2 books: The Zone, and The Paleo Diet - and combine the two. That being said, favoring the oxidative pathway is arguably one of the biggest mistakes made in the fitness industry today. I'd recommend short duration - high intensity exercise for getting in shape. Running, Bicycling, and Swimming are definitely better than nothing, but the bottom line is most endurance athletes are woefully lacking in total physical capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Chuck, what's the end goal? The run time? Lowering blood pressure? As Matt said, the formula she gave you is used to estimate a person's MHR (Max Heart Rate) for the purposes of determining a good number to work at. For instance, when doing aerobic (the oxidative pathway Jake mentions) exercise, most current research is showing that 75% of MHR results in the most optimal situation to burn fat. If losing fat is the goal, and relatively long interval aerobic exercise is the only means at your disposal, that's where you want to be. Obviously, in your case, your MHR is higher than is predicted by the formula. The 170 bpm you mention is likely not 100% - you can only sustain that for a short period of time... If you have no other conditions that prevent you from working at that rate (ie, risk of heart attack due to some defect, etc), you can generally work at higher intensity. I'm no doc - double check with yours. If, other than borderline high blood pressure, you are otherwise healthy, it shouldn't be a problem to work as you have. I have had similar experiences to Jake - I decreased my 2 mile run time from a 10 minute / mile pace to a 7 minute / mile pace simply through high intensity, short duration exercise methods... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatland Shooter Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 (edited) Per my cardiologist (discovered I have a bad valve this spring) I was directed to continue exercising but reduce my heart rate and increase the duration. In my case, on a tread mill I would bring my heart rate up to 150 then maintain it for 25 to 30 minutes. I now bring it up to the 110 to 120 level and maintain it for a minimum of 45 minutes with 60 minutes being better. I try to do this six days per week. The treadmill by itself is boring, but walking and watching the History channel at the same time makes it bearable. Bill (also 56) Edited May 7, 2008 by Flatland Shooter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Chuck, what's the end goal? The run time? Lowering blood pressure? The answer, of course, is "yes". Losing weight would be a side benefit - at 6'2" and 210, I'd like to lose about 30 lbs, but it's not the main goal. I hit the elliptical this morning for 45 minutes. My heart rate evened out at 140-150 according the the monitor on the equipment, so I guess that's about where I need to be. I'll be getting a heart monitor watch-thingy this weekend, and probably a bike as well. I'd actually like to use the weight equipment at the gym I'm using, but I don't know squat about it, and there's no "Weight Training for Old Dummies" book out there. It's on a military base, so there are no "trainers" there, just folks who hand out towels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 I need suggestions for stuff I can for cardiac health that lasts about 45 minutes, and shouldn't get my heart rate up past about 140. Keeryest, guys - read his post. Cardio, <140 bpm, ~45 minutes. Chuck - I think EricW nailed it. Get a HRM and choose something low impact. As flat as the land is down there in Cajun Country, a bike or a brisk walk would be where I'd start (bike being my preference.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Carlin Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Why do you HAVE to run the two miles in under 19 minutes? Because I'm still in the Army National Guard, and have to meet at least the minimum standards (18:38 for the run at my age). I actually need to get it under 18 minutes because my commander exercised his option to set higher standards. The Army Regulation 350-1 para 1-24 (3 Aug 2007) page 12 (which is #24 in the PDF file) says that if you are 55 or over all you have the option of selecting your aerobic event. Go to USAPA (http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r350_1.pdf) to view it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Why do you HAVE to run the two miles in under 19 minutes? Because I'm still in the Army National Guard, and have to meet at least the minimum standards (18:38 for the run at my age). I actually need to get it under 18 minutes because my commander exercised his option to set higher standards. The Army Regulation 350-1 para 1-24 (3 Aug 2007) page 12 (which is #24 in the PDF file) says that if you are 55 or over all you have the option of selecting your aerobic event. Go to USAPA (http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r350_1.pdf) to view it. Yeah, but then I don't get to pass up the twenty-something-year-old self-described "studs" on the last half-mile and razz them! Thanks for the info - I never even thought about checking into this, I thought you had to have a profile to do the alternate event. I'll probably stick with the run as long as my body lets me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SA Friday Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 The eleptical is a very good alternative. It fits between walking and running IMO. Very easy to control your heart rate and not pound the snot out of your body. Check with the Gym's front desk. There are always a few guys working as part time trainers at every base's gym. I bet they have the name for one there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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