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Mid-40s man. Is heart rate hitting low 180s during cardio safe, or should this be concerning? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by tomkatt@lemmy.world to c/fitness@lemmy.world
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I'm in my mid-40s and I do cardio 3x weekly, and during my sessions, it's basically HIIT training. I try to keep my HR above 150 during my sessions, but it peaks in the low 180s intermittently.

Is this okay? My doctor noted potential concerns with getting my HR up that high, but it could be fine, she wasn't sure. I don't get any dizziness or anything (generally that happens if I sustain a heart rate above 185 for a bit). I'm not staying at 180 bpm, that's just the peak, I'm targeting an average HR of around 150-155 for my workouts.

In a 60 minute workout, I'll probably spend 10-15 minutes with my HR between 166 and 182 range.

Not sure if I should scale it down a bit or take it easier, or if this is fine.

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[-] tomkatt@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'm not new to it, have been lifting weights since I was 30, so well over a decade. I've only been doing cardio heavily for the last year or two, after an injury put me off weights for a while.

Also to be fair, I call it HIIT, but I'm just playing really hard DDR songs for an hour. The dips and spikes are the cooldown between picking songs. ๐Ÿ˜‚

I've found maybe I'm hitting my cap currently. Over time I've been doing harder and harder tracks, and over time I get better, my HR goes lower during workouts, and then I start pushing harder tracks again, gets easier over time, lower heart rate, repeat.

Also not sure if it matters, but it feels like if my heart rate is staying under 160, it's completely unchallenging, like I'm not making an effort.

[-] albbi@piefed.ca 3 points 1 month ago

Also to be fair, I call it HIIT, but I'm just playing really hard DDR songs for an hour.

Haha, I'm mid 40's too and still boot up DDR every once in a while! Love to hear from a kindred spirit!

[-] tomkatt@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah, I loved DDR as a teen but decades of apartment living made it a no-go. I had a house built in 2021 and after a bad elbow injury put me off weights for a year I needed something more interesting after my treadmill died. Wife reminded me of DDR and I dove back in.

I use ITGMania with an DDR-based frontend and have it on my Steam Deck to dock to the TV. Zenius-vanished forum and stepmaniaonline.net have a huge mix of both the original stuff and user made SM files.

this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2026
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