the most important thing is to listen to your body when you work out because your own interpretation of your level of effort is always more accurate then a machines assumption based on age. This is mainly because athough there is a general link between fitness and age, it is VERY general and two individuals of the same age can be at totally different ends of the fitness spectrum!

There is nothing wrong with working to a high heart rate/intensity (apart from being outside a comfort zone for many people) as long as:

- you are medically fit and do not suffer with high blood pressure and/or take medication for such a condition.

- are accustomed to regular exercise - so you are not a beginner and have been training consistently over the last 3-4months.

- you have not recently been confirmed to have diabetes - inexperience with controllng blood sugar can be an issue!

- You ensure you gradually warm up to and cool down from an intense effort level so not to suprise the body and aid draniage of waste products that will have accumulated.

As long as you are healthy and the follow the guidelines above then yes it would be ok to ignore the 'max heart rate' calculated by gym machines if you find their estimation of your max heart rate seems low and you feel you could work harder.

I often say to people that it is easy to give too much attention to a 'max' figure which can leave exercisers short-changing themselves through a fear of getting to close or going over such a figure. Your body will warn/tell you how hard you are working and how well it is managing far more accurately then a gym machine, so use a self-calculated zone or scale to judge for yourself how hard you are working.

The cardiovascular training zone is an excellent intensity to work at for fitness benefits and caloire burning and can be achieved two ways:

1) Use the equation of 220 minus your age and you can get an approximation of your maximum heart rate. From that, calculate your heart rate range for 65-75% of your maximum heart rate, (220 minus age). The range you get is approximate but is good as a general guide. If you go over it when you are training, it doesnt matter!

Another option to use, instead of your heart rate zone based on age, is to use a 'Borg scale' that gives a subjective feeling of effort. The feeling of fatigue is very highly correlated with heart rate. As you exercise, rate yourself between 6-20. And if you can work hard enough to rate yourself between 12-16 than you would be achieving the heart rate zone of 65-75% of your maximum heart rate:

BORG SCALE:

6

7 very, very light exertion

8

9 very light exertion

10

11 fairly light exertion

12

13 somewhat hard exertion

14

15 hard exertion

16

17 very hard exertion

18

19 very, very hard exertion

20

I hope this helps.

Kelly