MHF

The maximum heart rate (MHF) is different for each person and has nothing to do with individual performance. However, the heart rate plays an important role in training planning and control. The optimal heart rate for training can be determined by formulas or a field test.

To determine the MHF yourself, you should be sporty and exercise regularly. After a relaxed warm-up, the pace is increased continuously until you run up a slight incline after two minutes at maximum load. Immediately afterwards, you measure your heart rate and thus determine your approximate maximum heart rate.

This test should only be done in a recovered state, otherwise the MHF would be falsified. Another way to determine the MHF is to calculate it with a formula. A rule of thumb for calculating the MHF is: 180 minus age.

This formula, however, refers to untrained people who have done little or no sport. According to this formula, a 22-year-old young man should train and exercise with an MHF of 158 beats per minute. Especially in the beginning, amateur athletes should take care not to overstrain their bodies, but to slowly work their way up to a higher level.

Long training sessions with a moderate heart rate are recommended for beginners and are clearly preferable to short intensive sessions. For trained people who want to increase their performance, the pulse rate can and should reach the maximum upper limit from time to time, otherwise there will be no improvement at some point. For trained athletes, a different starting value is used to calculate the MHF using a formula. Here the MHF can be calculated with the formula: 220 minus age. But also for fit athletes it is important not to exaggerate and to use the MHF only in single training units to avoid overloading.

Positive effects on our body

Sport is known to have positive effects on our body, especially on the cardiovascular system. Those who exercise regularly increase the stroke volume of their heart.This means that more blood is pumped through the arteries of the body per stroke. But it is not only the increase in volume that plays an important role here, but also the heart’s beating power, which improves.

Thanks to these optimizations, the so-called “athlete’s heart” can work more economically and supply the body and especially the muscles that are important during exercise with oxygen and other important nutrients in an optimal way. Without the supply of nutrients such as potassium, magnesium, carbohydrates, etc., a person cannot maintain his athletic performance for long. The consequence of the adaptation phenomena of the cardiovascular system is an increased sporting performance and a lower heart rate of the body at rest and during sleep.