Heart Health
All about your heart rate
Here's what you should know about target and maximum heart rates during exercise — and other things that can speed up or slow down your heart.
- Reviewed by Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
If you are committed to keeping your heart in good shape, perhaps you already know how much heart-pumping aerobic exercise you should be getting each week. (For the record, it's at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise, or an equivalent combination).
But just how high should your heart rate rise during exercise? Should you aim for a specific target — and is it dangerous to go above your "maximum" heart rate? For answers to these and related questions, we asked Dr. Sawalla Guseh, director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
About the Reviewer
Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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