ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Gazzetta Medica Italiana Archivio per le Scienze Mediche 2016 April;175(4):154-7

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

The validity of maximum heart rate predictions based on age for young men

Jully BARBOZA ^{1, 2}, Fernando S. NOGUEIRA ^{1, 2}, Dailson PAULUCIO ^{1, 2}, Fernando A. POMPEU ^{1, 2}

¹ Biometry Laboratory, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; ² Postgraduate Program in Physical Education, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

BACKGROUND: Equations for predicting maximal heart rate (HRmax) based on a subject’s age are used to estimate peak effort and prescribe exercise. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of HRmax estimates generated using the “220 - age” and “208 - (0.7 × age)” formulas.
METHODS: To achieve this objective, 41 apparently healthy, physically active, non-smoking male volunteers (age: 28±5 years; body mass: 77.0±10.6 kg) were examined. The subjects performed a maximal strength test on a treadmill with a slope of 5.25%, an initial velocity of 133-200 m · min-1, and increments of 16.7 m · min-1 in 3-minute stages interspersed with intervals of equal duration. Heart rate (HR) was monitored continuously by telemetry. HRmax measurements were compared with predicted values by repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc Tukey honestly significant difference (HSD) tests.
RESULTS: The measured HRmax values (190±7 bpm) did not significantly differ from the HRmax values predicted by the first (188±3 bpm) or second (192±5 bpm) equation. However, there were significant differences between the values predicted by the two equations (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: Thus, it was concluded that both formulas satisfactorily predict HRmax measurements for young adult males.