Heart Health
Target heart rate on a beta blocker
Ask the doctor
Your article about interval training in the September issue suggests a target heart rate of at least 80% of your maximum heart rate during the high-intensity intervals. But what about people like me who take drugs such as metoprolol, which lowers the heart rate? Should I adjust my target heart rate for exercise?To estimate your target heart rate, subtract your age from 220, then multiply that number by 0.8. If you are 70 years old, for instance, your adjusted target heart rate would be (220 - 70) 0.8 = 120 beats per minute. For people on a beta blocker, one suggestion is to adjust your target heart rate by the same amount that the beta blocker has reduced your resting heart rate (usually around 10 beats per minute). However, beta blockers may also blunt the rise in heart rate that normally occurs with exercise, so this calculation may not fully capture the limits that the beta blocker puts on your heart. In fact, that is one of the ways beta blockers are believed to prevent heart attacks — by keeping the heart rate from getting too high.
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