Cardio and heartrate

[anilom]

Hi all! I wanted to stop by and see if anyone had any advice. I used to train, run and be in great shape, got an allergy that stopped me from doing just about any kind of strenuous activity. five years later, its resolved but now i have a lot of weight i have to lose. I was working out with a trainer, and not happy w/the results. I want to do cardio of course, and i want to weight train b/c i want to have muscles when the fat melts. I have about 60 pounds to lose! Currently I am doing cardio, about 45 minutes on either the elliptical, tread or bike, or a mixture of and weight training 3 days a week, alternating upper/lower. I started really paying attention to heart rate with the cardio and noticed that rate was going up to 200!! I felt absolutely fine, wasnt really out of breath, no light-headedness, nothing. Then a friend said thta was way too high. So i started using a breathing technique...or should i say, i actually started breathing during the cardio! I didnt want to lower intensity but i was good with it, but i wanted to lower heart rate. Sometimes this deep breathing really does pull the rate down...even down as low as 120s. Other times just a little, down to 170. I want to know, is this really a bad thing? If you are not feeling pain, or gasping for air, having chest pain or anything like that...is this bad? Also if i really have to work and get it lowered, is this something that will get better over time as i exercise heart!? Just curious to see what you all have to say..and thank you in advance for your help!!

[Boss Man]

Maxium heartrate is often defined as 220-age, so therefore yours should be 172bpm.

If your heartrate is over that then you might have cause for concern and not feeling any problems, may not necessaily mean there isn't a potential one.

I would suggest for your own peace of mind you consult a cardiologist, because what you perceive the truth of matter to be and what the actual truth is, may not necessarily be congruent .

[CardioGpa]

Never heard anything about 'breathing techniques' so no comment on that. But I'd like to add that - yes, your heart rate will come down as your level of fitness improves. Figure your body needs so much blood pumping through it at a given time .. a 'weak' heart will need more beats to get this done, while a stronger heart (that moves more blood with each beat) can do the job at a lower rate. This is why your resting heart rate (RHR) is a good indicator of your physical fitness.

[toddhicks209]

It appears as though you have the right regimen. Keep doing what you're doing and don't get discouraged or give up.