Researchers have discovered that the old formula for calculating maximum heart rate (MHR) is not appropriate for women over 35, and have come up with a revised new method which should be used to calculate the MHR of women.
For decades, doctors have used the traditional formula, 220 minus a person’s age, to calculate a person’s MHR. It turns out that the traditional one was based primarily on male data, and the value is too high for women older than 35. That is why this calculation method needs some improvements.
Fortunately, a new way to calculate a woman’s maximum heart rate has been introduced. A group of researchers from Northwestern University have followed a group of women from the Chicago area over 16 years, and have concluded that for this specific group of people (women with the age of 35 years old or older), the correct formula should be 206 minus 88 percent of a woman’s age. Thus, for a 50 year old woman, the approximate MHR would be equal to 206 minus 44, or 162 beats per minute.
If you have been having difficulty reaching your desired exercise intensity based on the MHR calculated by the previous formula, it is likely that that one was over-estimating your MHR, and you should try out the new formula to see if it’s a better fit.
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