Working out above your peak max heartrate.
April 30, 2011 11:27 AM Subscribe
Is it healthy to work out with your heart rate varying between 188bpm and 195bpm for 20 minutes (or 40 minutes)?
Bonus sub-questions that come up whenever I talk to people about the first question:
1) is this dangerous for a 155lb, 27 year old male in otherwise good physical fitness?
2) is this kind of exercise going to "burn fat" on an already skinny person, thus making them dangerously skinny?
3) is this kind of exercise going to build muscle, increasing the number of calories burned at rest and while sleeping, thus reducing the amount of caloric intake that goes towards fat production, resulting in a dangerously skinny person?
4) will working above my "peak maximum" like this "burn out" my heart, doing damage or reducing the length of it's lifespan (and therefore, mine)?
5) will working out like this lower my resting heart-rate if I do it consistently?
6) will this kind of workout decrease the time it take my heart to go from resting to max (e.g. if I am watching TV and suddenly jump up and sprint the 500 yard dash)?
7) should working out above my peak max feel "easy"?
8) if I forget to eat eggs, protein, bread, or any kind of food at all after doing this, will my body begin to digest my brain and other internal organs, taking into account that i am skinny?
9) which should feel "easier:" running at the slowest possible jog for 20 minutes, or working the elliptical machines at this heart-rate for 20 minutes?
10) why is excessive salt intake bad for your heart?
10 - a) how do you know whether you need more salt or less salt to balance your electrolyte levels?
11) if I go through the exact same motions in my workout, exerting the exact same amount of force at the exact same speed for the exact same amount of time, over time will this identical workout become so easy that my heart-rate does not increase very much? will i be healthier after doing this than when i started? will the non-cardio muscles:
a) grow larger every time i work out, even though the exertion never increases
b) grow larget initially, and then stay at the same size
c) grow in strength but not size every time i work out
d) grow in strength but not size initially, and then maintain at the same strength
e) always grow in strength when worked out, but only in size when the muscles are ripped or torn.
f) only grow in strength when the muscles are ripped or torn.
12) do the heart muscles work in the same way that non-cardio muscles do? (e.g. do all the answers to question 11 apply to the heart as well?)
13) what happens if my heart physically grows larger in size? will it push on my bladder and make me have to pee more often?
14) does cardiovascular fitness make the heart "stronger" like a body builder's tricep, able to move more mass? or does it make it "quicker" like a typist's fingers, able to move more quickly? or does it simply make it more efficient, requiring less oxygen and blood to exert the same amount of energy? or does it make the delivery system of oxygen and blood more efficient, allowing the heart to work harder before it "runs out of gas?"
Bonus sub-questions that come up whenever I talk to people about the first question:
1) is this dangerous for a 155lb, 27 year old male in otherwise good physical fitness?
2) is this kind of exercise going to "burn fat" on an already skinny person, thus making them dangerously skinny?
3) is this kind of exercise going to build muscle, increasing the number of calories burned at rest and while sleeping, thus reducing the amount of caloric intake that goes towards fat production, resulting in a dangerously skinny person?
4) will working above my "peak maximum" like this "burn out" my heart, doing damage or reducing the length of it's lifespan (and therefore, mine)?
5) will working out like this lower my resting heart-rate if I do it consistently?
6) will this kind of workout decrease the time it take my heart to go from resting to max (e.g. if I am watching TV and suddenly jump up and sprint the 500 yard dash)?
7) should working out above my peak max feel "easy"?
8) if I forget to eat eggs, protein, bread, or any kind of food at all after doing this, will my body begin to digest my brain and other internal organs, taking into account that i am skinny?
9) which should feel "easier:" running at the slowest possible jog for 20 minutes, or working the elliptical machines at this heart-rate for 20 minutes?
10) why is excessive salt intake bad for your heart?
10 - a) how do you know whether you need more salt or less salt to balance your electrolyte levels?
11) if I go through the exact same motions in my workout, exerting the exact same amount of force at the exact same speed for the exact same amount of time, over time will this identical workout become so easy that my heart-rate does not increase very much? will i be healthier after doing this than when i started? will the non-cardio muscles:
a) grow larger every time i work out, even though the exertion never increases
b) grow larget initially, and then stay at the same size
c) grow in strength but not size every time i work out
d) grow in strength but not size initially, and then maintain at the same strength
e) always grow in strength when worked out, but only in size when the muscles are ripped or torn.
f) only grow in strength when the muscles are ripped or torn.
12) do the heart muscles work in the same way that non-cardio muscles do? (e.g. do all the answers to question 11 apply to the heart as well?)
13) what happens if my heart physically grows larger in size? will it push on my bladder and make me have to pee more often?
14) does cardiovascular fitness make the heart "stronger" like a body builder's tricep, able to move more mass? or does it make it "quicker" like a typist's fingers, able to move more quickly? or does it simply make it more efficient, requiring less oxygen and blood to exert the same amount of energy? or does it make the delivery system of oxygen and blood more efficient, allowing the heart to work harder before it "runs out of gas?"
This post was deleted for the following reason: You need to pick one. This is not ok. -- restless_nomad
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