Health Questions - Mercy Medical Center

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Exercise and heart rate

To determine your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. This number represents how many times your heart should beat per minute at its maximum rate. Multiply that number by 0.6 and 0.85 to determine the range of heart rate to strive for. Healthy people can build up gradually to sustain this heart rate for 30 - 45 minutes at least 3 times a week to build aerobic fitness.

Review Date: 6/8/2008
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital.

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