Do you know the correct exercise heart rate range for a 47 year old woman? I got up to 144 bpm :o today and was wondering if that was too much.

(Ok, I'm being dorky and am having fun playing with the emoticons)

Hi Merryrose! I wouldn't know off the top of my head (heck, I don't even know MINE.......I just workout how I like).

I'm sure some sort of search should turn up lots of results. :D

Here's a link to the Heart Association that has a table
http://www.justmove.org/fitnessnews/healthf.cfm?Target=/hartrates.html

It looks like you should be at 88-131 beats per minute with a maximum of 175.

Hiya MerryRose - around 140 is certainly fine.

Even though these heart range gauges are great I gotta share that my husband's cardiologist told him it's perfectly fine to exercise way higher if you feel comfortable doings so - it's just a guideline.

Of course this is assuming you are healthy to the best of your knowledge.

I usually run at around 150 - 160 basic with occasional burst close to 200 - I do this for 1-2 hours; my husband does the same. He's 65, I'm 52 - we're very healthy :D ...g

Gabi -- Does PMS affect your running heart rate at all?

At any rate, I seem to be fine, even though my rate was higher than I've been pushing myself lately. Maybe, I need to kick it up in higher gear once in a while.

Oh Yea on the PMS - your whole metabolism can get weird :( - I used to get major lead legs the week before and could tell when I was starting because it was always exactly within 24 hours of when I started feeling better.

Of course everyone's diff. but most of my female running partners got similar symptoms; you also burn more calories which is why you rarely gain weight in spite of the PMS Chocolate medication :D

I personally think training at varying intensity levels is very beneficial...:D...g

The basic formula for maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age, although some sources suggest 225 minus age for women.

For an average, ordinary (ie. unfit, sedentary) person, the suggested target range is 60-80% of your maximum heart rate. But if you are fit and active, there is no harm in going up higher <b>as long as you feel comfortable</b>. I can happily work at 95% of my max for up to an hour. However, it isn't recommended to go over 95% for anything more than occasional bursts (like interval training of a couple of minutes at a time) as that can put too much stress on your heart. Also, the maximum heart rate formula above is a *theoretical* maximum. You might find you can push yourself above your maximum if you try.

The simple guideline is how do you feel? Can you still talk? Breathe? Do you feel like you are about to die? Listen to your body, it knows best ;)