Maximum Heart Rate

(From http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/maxhr.htm)

Overview

Athletes who use a heart rate monitor as a training aid need to identify their maximum heart rate in order to determine their appropriate training zones.

Calculation of Maximum Heart Rate

The easiest and best known method to calculate your maximum heart rate (MHR) is to use the formula 220-age. A paper by Londeree and Moeschberger from the University of Missouri-Columbia indicates that the MHR varies mostly with age, but the relationship is not a linear one. They suggest an alternative formula of 206.3 - (0.711 * age). Similarly, Miller et al from Indiana University propose the formula 217- (0.85 * age) as a suitable formula to calculate MHR.

Londeree and Moeschberger also looked at other variables to see if they had any effect on the MHR. They found that neither sex or race make any difference but they did find that the MHR was effected by the activity and levels of fitness.

Studies have shown that MHR on a treadmill is consistently 5-6 beats higher than on a bicycle ergometer and 2-3 beats higher on a rowing ergometer. Heart rates while swimming are significantly lower, around 14 bpm, than for treadmill running. Elite endurance athletes and moderately trained individuals will have a MHR 3 or 4 beats slower than a sedentary individual. It was also found that well trained over 50s are likely to have a higher MHR than that which is average for their age.

To determine your maximum heart rate you could use the following which combines the Miller formula with the research from Londeree and Moeschberger.

Use the Miller formula of MHR=217 - (0.85 * age) to calculate MHR
Use this MHR value for running and versaclimber training
Subtract 3 beats for rowing training
Subtract 5 beats for bicycle training
Subtract 3 beats for elite athletes under 30
Add 2 beats for 50 year old elite athletes
Add 4 beats for 55+ year old elite athletes

Here is a table to help you.

	Running		Rowing		Bicycle
Age	Average Athlete	Elite Athlete	Average Athlete	Elite Athlete	Average Athlete	Elite Athlete
20	200	197	197	194	195	192
25	196	193	193	190	191	188
30	192	189	189	186	187	184
35	187	187	184	184	182	182
40	183	183	180	180	178	178
45	179	179	176	176	174	174
50	175	177	172	174	170	172
55	170	174	167	171	165	169
60	166	170	163	167	161	165
65	162	166	159	163	157	161
70	158	162	155	159	153	157

% MHR and %VO2 Max

It is possible to estimate your exercise intensity as a percentage of VO2 Max from your training heart rate. David Swain (1994) and his US based research team using statistical procedures examined the relationship between %MHR and %VO2 Max. Their results led to the following regression equation :

%MHR=0.64 * %VO2 Max + 37

The relationship has been shown to hold true across sex, age and activity.

The following table provides the conversion values for %VO2max to %MHR and %MHR to %VO2max.

% VO2 Max to % MHR		% MHR to % VO2 Max
10	43.4	40.0	4.7
15	46.6	45.0	12.5
20	49.8	50.0	20.3
25	53.0	55.0	28.1
30	56.2	60.0	35.9
35	59.4	65.0	43.8
40	62.6	70.0	51.6
45	65.8	75.0	59.4
50	69.0	80.0	67.2
55	72.2	85.0	75.0
60	75.4	90.0	82.8
65	78.6	95.0	90.6
70	81.8	100.0	98.4
75	85.0
80	88.2
85	91.4
90	94.6
95	97.8
100	101.0

Associated Journals and Books

The following journals and books contain more information on this topic:

Peak Performance - Issues 104 page 5,6, & 7
Londeree and Moeschberger (1982) 'Effect of age and other factors on HR max' - Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 53(4), 297-304
Swain et al (1994) 'Target HR for the development of CV fitness' - Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 26(1), 112-116
Miller et al (1993) - 'Predicting max HR' - Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 25(9), 1077-1081

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