Training too hard for my heart health

For gosh sakes, yes, by all means give up!

It all depends on your max HR. 220 minus your age is not accurate. I am 34 and can still hit 202+ doing hill repeats and the like.

Having said that, you could be running too hard. Try some "tempo" runs where you stay under 170 the entire time.

Good grief, if it feels like 80-90% effort, you're not running in zone 5 for 10 minutes at a time or on long runs. You almost certainly don't know your true max heart rate, and your running habit is probably the best thing you can do for your heart health. If you are worried about your heart, get a checkup with your doctor.

I promise you, the wrist readings are not accurate. Try verifying the readings, either with a chest strap or just count right as you finish.

Especially when you start seeing average HR in the

170-180 range, be suspicious because watch readings are subject to cadence lock. It's usually worse at higher intensity, which is why you might get good readings on a slower run.

170-180 is quite normal for a 32 year old.

You probably have a SMALL HEART that BEATS FAST to compensate for EFFORT.

It is not about what is normal, it's just garbage in-garbage out. Maybe one day they'll get this tech to the point that it's useful for running, but it's not there yet.

If heart health is your concern I don’t think it is even possible to train too hard from a cardiac perspective, other body systems would fail well before this ever became an issue. Figure out what your real max heart rate is and then compare your workouts to this max, Most runners would not do more than 20 percent of weekly miles at more than 90 percent of max. Wrist HRM, even the very expensive ones can give you false high readings. I’ve been running with a Garmin Fenix 6X sapphire for a few years and very often when I start a run I’ll see 170 bpm but I know I’m running at 130 effort. I stop and lick the back of the HRM and tighten the strap and the reading drops to 130.

When I do a tempo run it’s normal for me to be at 175 bpm by the end of mile 1 and at 185 by the end of the workout. I am 19 and have a max HR of about 205, so keep that in mind.

You’re honestly probably fine at that effort level.

amchugh89 wrote:

I got a Garmin forerunner-35 w a hr monitor that I’m inclined to believe is pretty accurate.

Thing is, if I run what I have always considered tempo pace (~6 min pace), or what feels like 80-90% effort for me, my heart rate will be above 170, and even above 180.

My 5k pr is 16:40-17:20 on road, can’t be too exact since haven’t done much racing recently, but I’m wondering, is it super dangerous that I’m spending so much time (over ten minutes) in zone 5? Even long runs, in which I also try and progress in gets to this stage.

I am 32yo, 150lb, and have a bad foot, so more of a strength runner than a twig, I’m wondering if I’m pushing too hard at my age?

It is as easy as that the body needs a volume of blood (depending on how much oxygen you can bind to it and the uptake in the muscles). Some have higher stroke volumes (bigger hearts) and some have slightly smaller and the heart just beats as fast it needs to deliver the volume needed. If you cycle as hard as you can the heart will beat slower than when running and if you go cross country skiing you might go even higher. The amount of muscles at work will need different volumes of blood and the heart just beats faster. Max is sport dependent. With age the heart rate can be reduced, but active runners might see very little decline over decades.

As long as the beating is steady and you feel fine even if you might push as hard as you can, there is no danger. In fact using the heart makes it very healthy and able to beat so the best medicine for the heart is to use it, even for those experiencing arythmic problems. Disclaimer, I am no health professional, but I at least know that not using the heart muscle makes it weak less good at beating.