Women who target a heart rate to determine if they are exercising hard enough to promote heart fitness have a new formula to follow -- one that is only for women. The new formula, based on a large study from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, provides a more accurate estimate of the peak heart rate a healthy woman should shoot for during exercise.
The old formula -- 220 minus age -- is based on studies
of men. The new formula for women is 206 minus 88 percent of age. It’s based on a study of 5,437 healthy women ages 35 and older.
Based on the old formula, the peak heart rate at age 50 is 170 beats per minute for men and women. The new formula for women gives a maximum heartbeat of 162.
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