Whenever I do cardio, my heart rate is very high, usually between 165 and 180. The charts for a 25 year old say max rate should be about 156. Does anyone know if this is dangerous? I do not have any heart problems, and normally have a fairly low heart rate, I have a clean bill of health, at least cardiovascular, LOL. I have tried lowering the intensity, but there doesn't seem to be any happy medium. Any thoughts?? TIA

By Lieska on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 - 12:56 pm:

Crystal, I have a friend who naturally has a high heart rate. I can't tell you that this is your case but it could be an option to look into. We did a heart rate test at our gym and found out that her heart rate is much higher than the "average". So, for example, my high is 190, hers is 220. She used to think she was so out of shape LOL. I think one thing to go by is how you feel. I know when my heart rate is above 190 I truly "feel" too pushed. She would feel like she was just getting going at 190!
I say go by how you "feel" until you learn your rates. Do you wear a heart rate monitor or are you going by what the machine tells you? A lot of times the machines are wrong. I learned that after I started really working our in my ranges.
I hope this helps

By Kaye on Thursday, January 17, 2008 - 08:24 am:

Crystal, I don't know. Mine runs really low, so when I had my stress test done a few months ago, it took some time to get my hr up so they could see what they needed.

I think you should at least monitor it, I don't think it can be good for you for it to stay so high. But it may just be your norm and then you would know.