Hi oxologic-

I'm just going to give you some basics, then recommend some good books for reading on the topic so you can gain a better understanding of heart rate training.

First, it is good that you've figured out that 220- age is not accurate. It isn't. At the last lecture I attended regarding heart rate, I got the same reinforced facts- that 220- age is an archaic formula developed by some scientist who determined that a baby's heart rate at birth is 220, and every year the baby lives, it's heart rate declines by one beat per year (hence, subtracting your age from the 220). So how accurate is it? Well, can you take a baby and put them through a max heart rate stress test? No. Does it take into account hormones, which can affect max heart rate? No. There are many other factors that are not taken into account by this formula (or fable, as I like to call it).

Having said that, I believe that a lot of the self-administered tests out there are generalizations. If you get on one of those treadmills that do the self testing or you get a heart rate monitor that administers the self test, I don't believe it to be accurate. Even those machines have numbers programmed into them based on a generalization of a specific exercising population. All those tests do is test you against the generalized figures the machine has, then spits out a number for you to use. I don't believe in any test that doesn't slap a spirometer over your mouth, take blood every minute to measure lactate build up in the blood, and slap a heart rate monitor on you to correlate these different factors- all while you are performing your activity of choice. THAT'S the accurate way to determine heart rate. You can get pretty close with some tests, and I guess if you need to have something to go by, some kind of test is better than no test, but if you're serious about finding out what your heart rate max is for each of your sports, better to go to a sports performance lab and pay to have them test you. Try your local university. If they have a kinesiology or exercise physiology department, they may have the facilities to test you at.

Another good point that you brought up is that max heart rate is sport specific. Now, for the sake of avoiding the obvious arguments, YES... there is an ABSOLUTE maximum heart rate- how fast your heart will beat when stimulated. However, for the individual that trains in different sports, it is unrealistic to look at that number. Why? Because different sports, your heart rate varies. For instance, some reasons why heart rate is lower when swimming than when, say... running, is because in swimming, because the body is horizontal, rather than vertical, blood flow better circulates in the body. When you're running, the blood is forced to go to different limbs, sometimes working against gravity. This extra work for blood flow causes an increased heart rate. Also, with the body being in water, the water itself creates a coolant for the body, keeping heart rate down. When running, as the body heats, there isn't anything there in the air (unless running through cold gale force winds ;-) to cool the body down. The increase in heat causes heart rate to increase..... there are other differences. I can recommend some books on further reading if you're interested in reading about this.

Also, there are differences in max heart rate that is affected by genetics, heart size, altitude, hormones (which I mentioned earlier), number of mitochondria in the muscles, and fitness level. I had this conversation with an individual last night. He's 36 years old, and doing an estimated test on him (testing rate of perceived exertion against heart rate over a one hour period), we found his anaerobic threshold to be somewhere at a heart rate of 171. That made his estimated max hr 215. Of course, without doing a true test, we couldn't determine how close we were, but we did know one thing- the 220 minus age would not work for him. His heart rate is just what it is- doesn't mean he's stronger or faster or fitter than anyone else in the class- it just is what it is.

Let's address this comment you made:
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The aerobic range varies for people. The maximum aerobic range will be around 82% to 94% of your MHR. For fitter people, it would be close to the latter. It's like there are so many varied answers on the internet. Some people say it is from 83% to 92%, but it should generally be around there.
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The aerobic range is actually much lower than that for the average individual. Actually, for most individuals, the aerobic range is lower than that. Defining the aerobic range, in simplistic terms-it is during aerobic work the body is working at a level that the demands for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body's intake. Once the body begins working at a level that exceeds the body's demands for oxygen, you begin to work at anaerobic levels. One of the ways aerobic intensity is measured is by what kind of fuel the body uses to provide the body with energy. At aerobic intensity, the body's promary fuel is fat. This breakdown of fat produces 36 ATP, carbon dioxide, and water. At anaerobic intensity, far less ATP is produced, as the body's primary fuel source shifts away from fat metabolism into carbohydrate metabolism, producing only 2 ATP, plus carbon dioxide and water. As you have much more ATP from fat metabolism, you can certainly see how you can maintain a workout for a longer period aerobically than anaerobically. ATP is the energy that drives the body's muscles, and if you're producing less of it, you can't spend as much time working out...... keep in mind that fat can only be metabolized in the presence of oxygen!!!! Check on the internet for the Kreb's Cycle or the Citric Acid Cycle to see the complicated steps behind how oxygen drives this phenomenon.

With a better understanding of what aerobic intensity is, understand that people who are less fit have much lower aerobic levels. Look at anaerobic threshold- when the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. In this case waste products accumulate, the chief one being lactic acid. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as oxygen debt. For the untrained individual, anerobic threshold can occur at heart rates as low as 65- 70%. For the average training individual, it's more like 75- 80%. This means, for the average training individual, aerobic threshold starts somewhere around 75% and goes as high as 80%. For the professional athlete, training every day for years on end, they've managed to manipulate their anaerobic threshold very close to their maximum heart rate. Can an individual also work to get their anaerobic threshold higher? Yes. But unless they train like athletes, it is unlikely they will see very high anaerobic thresholds. Our typical example- look at Lance Armstrong. His anerobic threshold is somewhere around 177 beats, and his max heart rate is something like 185 beats (I believe, or somewhere in those numbers). For the average individual, this is almost unheard of. And other professional athletes are probably closer to Lance's differential for max heart rate and anaerobic threshold than ours.

Ok, check out some good books on reading. I gotta get ready for work, but I can contribute more later:

A good starter book:

"The Heart Rate Monitor Book", by Sally Edwards
"The Heart Rate Guidebook to Heart Zone Training", by Sally Edwards
"Periodization Training for Sports", by Tudor O. Bompa- good if you want to look at maximizing your training for different sports
"Precision Heart Rate Training", by Ed Burke
" The High Performance Heart: Effective Training for Health, Fitness and Competition With the Heart Rate Monitor", by Dr. Phil Maffetone

These are some great starter books, but start with the first book on the list, which gives a good guide for the beginner just starting out. Then pull out that high school biology book you've got for a quick review of the Krebs Cycle, and then read the other books. Practice what the books say, and you'll see over time how the principles of the book affects your training.

I'm sorry, I rushed and I have to get to work. So I may have summarized when I shouldn't have.... I can go into greater detail later in the day.

Good luck!

Koffee Brown