Supertraining

Thank you Jamie for scientific evidence debunking outdated formula of 220- age 
for estimating max HR. 

Ralph Giarnella MD 
Southington Ct USA 


--- On Wed, 5/21/08, carruthersjam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> From: carruthersjam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: [Supertraining] Re: Max heart rate
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2008, 2:32 PM
> --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED],
> "chaney21200" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> >
> >     I had a client ask a strange question the other
> day.  His
> question
> > was "what is the max heart rate that a person can
> maintain and
> sustain
> > will working cardio conditioning until the body will
> shut down."  My
> > educated guess was 220.  But know that the body will
> voluntarily
> slow
> > down with the fatigue and lactic acid overcoming the
> person.  Has
> there
> > been any studies or a definite answers for this type
> of performance.
> >
> > Thank you for you time on reading my question.
> 
> ***
> The below abstract and link may be helpful:
> 
> http://faculty.css.edu/tboone2/asep/Robergs.doc
> 
> THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF THE "HRmax=220-age"
> EQUATION. Robert A.
> Robergs, Roberto Landwehr. JEPonline. 2002;5(2):1-10. The
> estimation
> of maximal heart rate (HRmax) has been a feature of
> exercise
> physiology and related applied sciences since the late
> 1930's.  The
> estimation of HRmax has been largely based on the formula;
> HRmax=220-
> age.  This equation is often presented in textbooks without
> explanation or citation to original research.  In addition,
> the
> formula and related concepts are included in most
> certification exams
> within sports medicine, exercise physiology, and fitness. 
> Despite
> the acceptance of this formula, research spanning more than
> two
> decades reveals the large error inherent in the estimation
> of HRmax
> (Sxy=7-11 b/min).  Ironically, inquiry into the history of
> this
> formula reveals that it was not developed from original
> research, but
> resulted from observation based on data from approximately
> 11
> references consisting of published research or unpublished
> scientific
> compilations.
> 
> ***Consequently, the formula HRmax=220-age has no
> scientific merit
> for use in exercise physiology and related fields.  A brief
> review of
> alternate HRmax prediction formula reveals that the
> majority of age-
> based univariate prediction equations also have large
> prediction
> errors (>10 b/min).  Clearly, more research of HRmax
> needs to be done
> using a multivariate model, and equations may need to be
> developed
> that are population (fitness, health status, age, exercise
> mode)
> specific.
> 
> ================
> Based on this review of research and application of HRmax
> prediction, the following recommendations can be made;
> 
> 1.    Currently, there is no acceptable method to estimate
> HRmax.
> 
> 2. If HRmax needs to be estimated, then population specific
> formulae should be used.  However, the most accurate general
> equation is that of Inbar (17) (Table 3);
> HRmax=205.8-0.685(age).  Nevertheless, the error (Sxy=6.4
> b/min) is still unacceptably large.
> 
> 3.  An acceptable prediction error for HRmax for
> application to estimation of VO2max is <„b3 b/min.  
> Thus, for a person with a HRmax of 200 b/min, error equals
> „b1.5%.  If this precision is not possible, then there is
> no justification for using methods of VO2max estimation that
> rely on HRmax prediction formulae.
> 4. Additional research needs to be performed that develops
> multivariate regression equations that improve the accuracy
> of HRmax prediction for specific populations, and modes of
> exercise.
> 
> 5. The use of HRmax is most prevalent in the fitness
> industry, and the people who work in these facilities
> mainly have a terminal undergraduate degree in exercise
> science or related fields.  These students/graduates need
> to be better educated in statistics to recognize and
> understand the concept of prediction error, and the
> practical consequences of relying on an equation with a
> large standard error of estimate (Sxy).
> 
> 6. Textbooks in exercise physiology and exercise
> prescription should contain content that is more critical
> of the HRmax=220-age or similar formulae.  Authors need to
> stress the mode-specificity of HRmax, provide alternate,
> research substantiated formula, and express all content of
> items 1-5, above. Similarly, academic coverage of HRmax
> needs to explain how this error detracts from using HRmax
> estimation in many field tests of physical fitness and in
> exercise prescription.
> 
> 
> =======================
> Jamie Carruthers
> Wakefield, UK