What is best way to get Heart Rate MAX?

Hill repeats. But you'll want more than 2 or 3. Find a 300-400 meter hill and do 5 or 6 of them, starting off moderately hard and running progressively harder. Blast the last one.

i think run a flat out effort of 3minutes and check it stright after( within 10seconds) is often used.

people will post variations on this theme but i think they will all centre around running flat out and anaerobically as this is the way to get the heart working the hardest.

Go to the track on a day that you're fresh and rested, ready for a race. Do a good long warmp including 6-8 minutes of brisk running (M-pace or quicker) plus a few strides. Line up to "race" 800m. Stop, bend over and suck air for 30s, line up and "race" 400m. The highest number you see near the end of the 400 or 800 will be pretty close 9within a couple of beats) to your HRmax, and will be plenty close enough to go by.

I've seen the HR approach HRmax near the end of 5k races. I can't ever seem to get it there for longer or shorter races, though. Maybe it's just me.

Go to a lab, pay the $200 and have it done right. I've had it done twice in the lab and also tried to recreate it on the track/treadmill and never came close. Maybe my HR monitor just sicked. If you need the name of a place I know one in the Philly area.

Go to the middle of a large field, put on your HRM, hang a steak around your neck, unleash a pack of wild dogs.

You'll get an accurate reading about 12 seconds after you scamper to safety.

Ha, funny Keith...........but along that line, I go get in a deer stand (with a HRM on)...it has to be early part of hunting season (preferably the first week when I am not used to seeing deer yet), and the first Monster Buck that I see, I check my HR when I no longer think I can breathe any more and it feels like my heart is about to pop out of my throat...........aka "buck fever"

come on, its not sooo difficult.

jump on a treadmill, increase the pace every 3-4mins till you can't go faster anymore.Monitor the whole session and the highest reading=your maximum heart rate.

Find some hot looking wife of a mobster, and get in the sack w/ her right before her husband is due home. Put on your HRM as you're hiding in the closet naked, watching your life pass before you ;-)

Seriously, the hill repeat or end of a 5k has worked for me in the past, although I'd agree a lab test is probably more accurate, but not so much more so that your training will suffer if you base it on field tests.

Runrayb wrote:

Go to a lab, pay the $200 and have it done right. I've had it done twice in the lab and also tried to recreate it on the track/treadmill and never came close. Maybe my HR monitor just sicked. If you need the name of a place I know one in the Philly area.

I've got a better idea, don't go to a lab and save yourself $200. Just do it like the other posters suggest.

anybody else?

AMH wrote:

anybody else?

While my above comment was facetious, it wasn't totally off base. It's unlikely you're going to see anything near Max HR unless you have some serious incentive. You'll be about to pass out as your ability to distribute oxygen outstrips consumption. Few clinics will push you that hard since you'll fall down and there's a good chance of injury (and if you didn't fall down you weren't near max).

Go to a track, run a nice easy warmup. Gradually increase the pace until you cannot talk without gasping for air. Maintain that pace for a bit and measure your HR. Call that 60% and do the math for your max.

i have a question regarding heart rate, as i think i might have an abnormally high rate while exercising:

I usually do my recovery runs at 6:20+/- a mile, 8-9 each time. when i get a heart rate reading, it says im hitting 170-5, give or take. It's not a particularly taxing effort; I could keep on for a while but quite frankly i get bored (i run on a treadmill, as all of the sidewalks are iced over, and dangerous streets). I'm a small (5'7, 135lb) 19y/o male, pr's of 51, 1:58, 4:30 (mile), doing 60mpw currently, if that affects it.

Is my heart rate messed up, and should I throw any heart rate ranges people give me out the window?

Run an 800m race at full effort. Then, take 10 seconds rest and sprint the 400. Take your heart rate at the end of the 400 and add 3 to that number.

old school shorts wrote:

Is my heart rate messed up, and should I throw any heart rate ranges people give me out the window?

Mess up? My guess is no. When you consider the averages (220 -age) etc, are just that, averages, falling outsides that isn't "messed up", just the law of averages. ;-)

The deviation for the average I think is +/- %15 (of the top of my head without a reference) so odds are you're just one of the NORMAL outliers. It doesn't make any sence to use a average for training anyway, so you some method (several outlined above) and based from that. If you're not experiencing anything indicating an issue (dizziness, etc) you just have a high HR. If you think something's wrong see a doctor.

Keith Stone wrote:Go to a track, run a nice easy warmup. Gradually increase the pace until you cannot talk without gasping for air. Maintain that pace for a bit and measure your HR. Call that 60% and do the math for your max.

Are you stoned? (pun intended)

Noone should be gasping for air at 60% of HRmax. Once well-trained aerobically, you should be able to converse comfortably at up to about 90%.

okay, thanks for the info. my normal resting heart rate is around 50bpm (44 when i woke up this morning) so i just thought it was wierd to have such a range difference. this makes me wonder what my heart rate is at the end of a fast session of 400m reps, or a 5k xc race. only one way to find out, i suppose...

Hill repeats after a hard "tempo" run of about 20 minutes.

Pete wrote:

Are you stoned? (pun intended)

Noone should be gasping for air at 60% of HRmax. Once well-trained aerobically, you should be able to converse comfortably at up to about 90%.

I didn't say you'd be gasping for air at 60% MHR, I said you WOULDN'T be. If someone says they're at 90% MHR and maintaining a normal conversation they're really not at 90% MHR, but possibly 90% effort. People will be able to talk up towards 85%, but they'll have to measure their words and work in talking around breathing.

And it doesn't have anything to do with your level of training. I think you're confusing level of effort. Someone poorly trained will simply hit 90% HR very quickly with less effort, while someone trained will have a higher level of effort with a lower percentage of MHR.

Also, someone well trained is more likely to approach MHR since a poorly trained person is going to hit a high level of discomfort quickly and likely say "&*$% it" at about 85-90%.

Keith Stone wrote:If someone says they're at 90% MHR and maintaining a normal conversation they're really not at 90% MHR, but possibly 90% effort.

I beg to differ. I can run at 90% (150) of my HRmax (168) and carry on a conversation, but this is because I've spent some considerable time developing my aerobic fitness and improving my aerobic threshold. In a runner who hasn't developed their aerobic fitness, I would agree that 90% HRmax running would not be comfortable, and carrying a conversation would not generally be possible.