Transcription
Want to know how to calculate your maximum heart rate? Really getting into exercise and want to target in your zone really specifically? We're going to tell you the best ways to do that and the most reliable ways. Welcome to Talking with Docs. I'm Dr. Brad Weining >> and I'm Dr. Paul Za.
So, you want to know your maximum heart rate if you're trying to tailor your aerobic exercise routine, right? >> 100%. And some there's some good signs that working in very specific heart rate areas. >> Yeah. >> Work different parts of your cardiovascular system differently. So also for even like cardiac rehab, they want to know what your max heart rate is so they can protect you from potentially doing damage. So it's a really important thing. >> These are known as your zones. Zones you're going to get into. To calculate what zone you're getting into, we'll talk about another day, but to calculate what zone you're into, you need to know your maximum heart rate, >> right?
So one of the oldest, the easiest one to calculate is something 220 minus your age. Really easy. You just fire it into your phone or your calculator if you still have one and this gives you a number. >> For example, if you're 200 years old, your maximum heart rate is 20. Yes. Yes. Or more accurately, if you were 40, your max heart rate would be about 180. And as we get older, our maximum heart rate slowly goes down for a bunch of different reasons. You can't you can't necessarily really train to increase your maximum heart rate. You can train to do a lot of other things, but it goes down with time. So, that 220 minus your age was an old one. 1964, a group of researchers, uh, Haskell and Fox. It was a very small group of people, like 70 males, all middle-aged males, they were not doing standardized exercise. So, this is typically not good for people who are really fit or people who are really young or really old, but it's really easy to do, but it often underestimates your maximum heart rate. >> Right now, it's 1979 in Japan by a researcher named Tanaka. Yep. >> Modified that a little bit and said it's minus 0.7 times your heart rate. >> times your age. >> Sorry. What did I say? >> Your heart rate. >> No, your age. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Seven times your age. Yes. >> And that's going to let you get a little higher max heart rate. Okay. was better for more fit people, better for people over 40. And they studied this over about 200 people. So, a little bit more robust uh research went into this to calculate your maximum heart rate using the Tanaka method. >> Yes.
And then fast forward another 30 years, there was a group uh that published an article in the journal of applied physiology in 2011, uh the Nicolini group. They studied,250 people with diverse age, gender, fitness levels, um, and ethnicities and found that 211 minus 0.64 times your age gave you the most accurate if you were, uh, middle-ag and fit. So, three different ways to do it. The other way, kind of the really the nonextrapulated way, >> practical way really, >> something to do. It's called the Bruce protocol or there's a modified Bruce protocol. essentially getting you on a treadmill. >> Mhm. >> Starting you at a at a walking rate and then slowly increasing the rate of speed as well as the incline. Yeah. >> On the treadmill. >> This is probably the most dangerous way to try and figure it out. >> 100% definitely you need to be fit for this and need to be supervised. It's kind of like a an advanced version of a stress test essentially.
>> So So interestingly because I'm into this kind of stuff I find it interesting. Um I did all this. So I calculated my heart rate. So with the first one my max heart rate was 165. >> Okay. And then with the second one, which we say is more accurate, it was a 169. >> That's because you take.7 times your age. So that's going to increase your max heart rate. >> And then with the nicolini method, they say that's best for kind of middle-aged people that are in better shape. My max heart rate was 175. >> So then I thought, okay, well, I can do the Bruce protocol or the modified Bruce protocol. My kids and my wife are like, you are insane. And so I >> and your and your video partner. So, I got on the treadmill and I did a modified Bruce protocol and at first you're like, "Oh, it's not too bad, you know, and then the treadmill starts to go." Actually, the protocol actually is asks that you get to 22 degrees of incline, but I don't even know treadmills that do that. Our treadmill only goes to 12. So, I think I got >> That's called an elevator. >> Yeah. 12 degrees incline at 5 miles an hour and like after about I don't know 15 minutes or something. And honestly, I was ready to throw up. I was so short of breath. My heart was pounding out of my chest >> and I got to 175. So, your max heart rate. proved that that nickel one for me with an N of one >> was accurate. And so so why does all this matter? It matters most. >> Did you get rushed to the hospital after that? >> No, just mocked by my family. Just mocked by my family.
So the the main reason is that if you're going to do a specific type of training that is focusing on either really primarily aerobic training or anorobic training, you want to know where you should be because most people spend a disproportionate and and not a very useful amount of time in what's called zone 3 and zone 4, which is kind of between the aerobic and the anorobic. We're going to do a video about zone two training that explains why it's the best training that you to do for cardiovascular system. But that's why max heart rate's interesting and that's why it's useful. >> Yeah. There you go. Now, you can calculate your max heart rate, we don't recommend trying the Bruce protocol unless you're in a hospital setting. >> Yeah, very supervised. >> Um, but if you're wondering, if you're ever wondering what's how fast can my heart go, here's three ways to calculate it. >> Now, you know, um, if you like this video, please like it, subscribe to our channel, leave a comment about your maximum heart rate. If you've ever done any of these calculations, or if you've actually done the Bruce protocol, please share that with >> No one's done except for Bruce. >> That's right. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> God rest his soul. That's right. Remember, you are in charge of your own health. We'll see you next time.