Danger Zone during exercise?

[AmiFey]

So yesterday I was on an elliptical and checked my heart rate. It was measured at 200. I'm wondering if that's considered a danger zone, because I was feeling sort of funny (that's why I checked) and had to sit out. I ended up feeling terribly ill, dizzy and a bit confused, and had a nasty headache. The reason I'm most worried about this is because the listing of heart rates only had the list up to 170, and that was for advanced. ._. should I be concerned next time I use that machine? (And also should I allow myself to continue exercising after my heart rate gets up there? It only got down to 175 after sitting for a long time and then immediately jumped back up to 190..)

[Let's kill tonight.]

To work out ones maximum heart rate, you need to take your age from 220. So if you're 20, your maximum heart rate would be 200. Usually, it's appropriate to work between 60-80% of this figure. Not knowing your age, I can't say that it was definitely something to worry about. However, if you feel this is abnormal, you should probably keep a record of how your heart rate varies during exercise, and what it is usually at resting to allow you to measure how much it goes up by. If it makes you feel this ill though, I would say that you shouldn't work your self up to the rate of 200bpm because if you were on something such a treadmill or other machinery, you could pass out, hit your head etc. Find a heart rate you can work up to and not feel ill, and stick at this, it's probably safer this way. Take care x

[escape_thereal_world]

Generally you don't want to go over 200. There are some exceptions and some people who came go higher without problems, but general rule of thumb is 200. I don't know why the equipment only went to 170. If you are wanting a real workout then your heart rate should be around 180-190 (again, with exceptions).

If you were starting to feel weird, then I would say based off of that you shouldn't push yourself as hard next time. Stay between 180 and 200.

[Tyr.]

Originally Posted by AmiFey

should I be concerned next time I use that machine? (And also should I allow myself to continue exercising after my heart rate gets up there? It only got down to 175 after sitting for a long time and then immediately jumped back up to 190..)

No, there is no danger zone. When you push your body too far, you will pass out. Your body will recover by itself while you are away playing in your happy place.

However, I don't quite think you hit the 200 mark. I suspect your monitor was giving you an inaccurate or false reading. At 200bpm you will not be "feeling weird". You will be in an absolute world of shit, and you'll know it.

I'll go ahead and say "Keep it up". It's a fantastic zone to be in, and you will learn to love it and the endorphins afterwards. 200bpm is not dangerous in the slightest. A lot of academics have come out and said it is bad because you suffer all sorts of problems such as shortness of breath and blurry vision . Shortness of breath and blurry vision is nothing.

I assure you now, when you reach the 200+ territory you will be vomiting, passing out, unable to see properly, unable to stand properly and everything will be screaming in pain. I used to keep up around the 200 and 200+ area for six and a half minutes for racing, and afterwards I was looking at a full twenty four hours of recovery time.

Learn to love it, and embrace the suck. I never used a heart rate monitor - just go till you hit the wall, go a little bit further, and then bring the workout to a close.

- Yogi