High heart rate when exercising strenuously

I'm 53 years old and have been exercising 4-5 days a week for the last 14 months.  When I'm walking at 4 miles an hour with a 2.5 incline my heart rate gets up to the high 160's (167-168) according to the treadmill monitor.  I'm getting a good workout but feel fine - I'm not gasping for air, feeling dizzy, etc.  Is that high a heart rate okay?

[Dr J Singh]

Hi,

At your age, the target heart rate zone during exercise should be between 80–140 beats per minute and the maximum heart rate should be approximately 165 beats per minute. Hence, if you are achieving the maximum heart rate, its okay but this shows that you are putting an extra effort and even if you achieve your heart rate between 80-140 beats/min, that’ll be good for you.

I hope that helps. Please do keep me posted. Kind Regards.

[caregiver222]

The general formula for determining tolerable heartrates during exercise is:

Take the number 220

Deduct your age.

Multiply by .6

Multiply again by .85

As we age the maximum tolerable heartrate decreases. High heart-rates result in insufficient filling of the ventricles. They also result in increased disposition to the condition known as ventricular fibrillation.

This does not necessarily mean that you will develop a life-threatening arythmia or die because you are exercising at a rate that exceeds this number, however your heartrate is a tad high. Rates above 100 are termed tachycardia. This suggests "resistance" to blood flow throughout the vascular system, much as there is resistance to flow inside a fire hose. The reasons for the resistance could be a failure of the vascular system to compensate by varying the diameter of the blood vessels, or there could be deposits within the walls of the blood vessels. It could also be due to reduced lung capacity in the parenchyma, related to age or smoking.

There is anecdotal evidence that daily doses of 1000mg of omega-3 supplements will increase the "lubricosity" of the blood, and assist in reducing the burden on the heart.