Hey man, congrats on starting and your progress !

1. Doesn’t really matter how you compare to others. HR is very individualised. Even at an individual basis, it might fluctuate based on temperature, stress, sleep etc. What’s important is that you get in tuned with your body. Get a feel of how it is in different HR zones.

2. Intensity is part of training and used as a tool to develop several qualities; lactic & alactic anaerobic system etc. With that said, it has a part in training but you don’t need to go hard all the time. Look into zone 2 training. You’d be surprised to find that many professional athletes spend >80% of their training volume in zone 1&2. Also, there’s nothing wrong with skipping all intensity work for now. Build that aerobic base before considering intensity.

Running is taxing on joints. You’d want to pay attention to that and increase volume cautiously.

Hope my reply helps and again, congrats on your progress. (:

Hi,

I will go straight to the point.

(1) What is your purpose of running? Love of Sport? Get Fit? Or Lose weight?
(2) What is your BMI? What is your body fat?

Some do it for cardio, some do it for weight loss/maintenance, some just love running, some are hooked on endorphin.

If you need to go for stress test, just go. The doctor will let you know your health.

It depends on your health & fitness, hard to answer (1) to (3). You can be at BMI 25, and low body fat %, but still will hit zone 5 very fast, but run at higher pace for middle distance (ie 1k to 10k). Or you can be at BMI 19 and low body fat but run long duration at higher pace but majority at zone 5 (although doctors will strongly discourage you).

Dun compare to the elite or even athletic type recreational runners, some have years of running, so they can run pace 8 min/km at heart rate zone 3 or 2 or even 1, even with BMI > 21 and body fat > 20%. Generally, long distance runners have both lower BMI and lower body fat.

Important for you -> see a doctor for your question (3), do you have high BP? do you have high cholesterol? do you have a underlying heart issue?

If you want to lose weight, it is fine to stay in heart rate zone 3 for most of your runs, aerobic zone. Some runs/jogs, you may want to do 1 min or even 3 min at higher pace, pushing your heart to zone 4 or zone 5... then a similar 1 min or 3 min slower pace, so your heart rate drops to zone 2, even walking. It depends on your health and fitness level, HIIT or interval, you can once a week or twice a week. But if you want to do HIIT daily, ok too just keep it short as long as you are injury free.

So for 9 months till now, you lose weight from 154kg to 135kg, and your pace moved from 13-15 min/km to 10 min/km. Well Done! Important to do your upperbody workout, to ensure you maintain muscles strength and mass while burning body fat.

I presume you dun have a GSP watch, and use treadmill HR monitor, go get a GPS watch, it will give you a peace of mind in your journey of fitness. With a GPS HR watch, just stay in the avg HR in zone 3; most people will have a HR drift, longer you run at constance pace constance cadence, avg HR per km will drift higher. As long as 70% stay in zone 3, it will be fine.

If you want to know, i was at 66kg, and my first attempt at pace 8 min/km, i can barely lasted 1 km, and was panting badly after running only 1km, i think the treadmill HR showed me hitting zone 5 few times. Fast forward 11 months later, i ran 10km race in sub 60 mins but at weight 56kg where HR 60% in zone 3 (rest in zone 4/5) with GPS HR watch. 3 years later, at 66kg, i run 10km, at pace 8 min/km, my HR is in zone 2, and i can talk freely; however, when i am in a "de-trained", my 10km run in 80 mins is at totally zone 5 at weight 66kg.

Question: Do you want to bear with the higher risk? Running in zone 5 for 60 mins, or even 120 mins? I have seen recreational marathoner runner complete in 3, 4, 5 or 6 hours in totally zone 5. They look fine after the run.

No point right? Putting so much effort, to change your life style and die from taking so much risk at this early stage.

The fitter you are, heart is so much stronger on top of a stronger muscular-skeletal, so at constant pace and fixed distance, avg HR will drop. But some people just can push more at HR zone 5.

Just stay safe, if your objective is at this moment is to lose weight, stay in zone 3, over time, you will be fitter and still run faster in zone 3. And you will also be able to run in zone 5.

Well done. On 1 & 2, increasing pace even by 1 min per km is quite a lot. That explains the heart rate spike. Perhaps can try 15 to 30 seconds increase, over a few months, and go from there.