What Does Your Maximum Heart Rate Mean to Your Workout?

Tracking your heart rate during a workout is a great way to see how far you are pushing your body. After all, the more intense the exercise, the higher your heart rate will be. But, what does your maximum heart rate really mean? If you are using a fitness tracker, you are likely already tracking this, but what does it actually mean for your workout? We’ve got you covered with some helpful information about maximum heart rate below.

A Basic Overview of Heart Rate During Exercise

According to The Age, to get the most out of every workout, you should work towards figuring out what your optimal heart rate is. This will be based on your age, your goals, and your fitness level as it stands currently.

By figuring out what your maximum heart rate is, you will know that, when you hit that peak, you have reached the highest intensity possible for your body. This is basically the fastest rate at which your heart is able to beat.

Here’s How You Can Figure Out Your Max Heart Rate

A simple equation will help you determine what your max heart rate is:

Max Heart Rate = 208 - (0.7 x your age)

But Should You Exercise at This Intensity?

It turns out that, when you exercise at your max heart rate, you aren’t really getting stellar results. After all, how long can you sustain this heart rate before you have to slow down? Exercising excessively in this manner might not really give you any extra cardiovascular benefits either. And, if you tend to lead a sedentary lifestyle, you might even do more harm than good, as there’s a greater risk of having an acute cardiac event while you exercise if your body isn’t used to working out at this intensity.

What Should You Do?

Hitting your maximum heart rate during a workout is fine, but you don’t need to focus so much on getting there or staying there—it simply isn’t necessary and won’t make that much of a difference. You can try interval training, as an effective alternative. And, experts recommend getting a total of 150 minutes of any kind of exercise in every week, at a minimum, to support your health.