Heart rate ?

[DebsyDoo]

I wonder if anyone could give me an idea as to what is a "normal" range for the heart rate of a 50 yr old smoker, not excessively overweight, but unfit (due to no excercise) for the following:-

1) At rest
2) After 5 mins of mild excercise (cycling, low resistance)

3) And how long should it take to return to the "norm" ?

Thanx !

[Velvetee]

It's hard to say what your heartrate at rest should be, as it varies from person to person. People who have excellent cardio fitness, for instance athletes etc can have a RHR of 40. The average person is between 70 and 85, but the lower the RHR, the more efficiently the heart is seen to be working.

People who have poor cardio fitness tend to be in the high 80's to 90's.

If you are exercising at a moderate intensity, say you are working at 65% of your maximum capacity, then your heartrate (for your age) should rise to around 111 Beats per minute. An indication of poor fitness levels, is when it rises much higher, especially during moderate activity. If you are a smoker, then your lung capacity would be affected more so than a non smoker.

Again recovery time is dependant on the individual. You would need to time your own recovery rate from when you stop exercises to when your heartrate returns to it's normal resting rate. Over the weeks, as you get fitter, this time should reduce, which is a good indication of your progress.

[DebsyDoo]

Thankyou Velvetee, very helpful.
My at rest is aprox 88 & after the 5 mins was 110, didn't time the decrease back to norm, but understand what you've said about that.
One last thing, perhaps you could also settle a dispute between my fella & I:-
He reckons if I have the resistance on the bike higher, it will make my heart work harder - therefore be more effective.
I think that as I have done no excercise (whatsoever) for the last 5-6 years, I'm better starting off (s)low & building it up - after all, I don't want to have a goddamn heart attack, as I'm doing it !!!!

[Velvetee]

If you are a smoker, who has done no exercise for a number of years, then it is sensible to begin moderately for a few weeks. (So at 65% of your MHR, increasing to up to 85% with increased fitness)

To work your heart harder, you can either just peddle faster on the bike, or increase the resistance, both will increase heartrate. But as you haven't done too much exercise, your muscles are probably quite weak, so you are more likely to tire quickly with increase in resistance and probably won't be able to cycle for as long.

Resistance can be increased gradually over time. Try interval training by increasing resistance at 2 minute intervals for 2 minutes, before returning back to your usual resistance. This will challenge your body, but allow you to build up stamina.