Participating in a marathon may seem like the perfect fitness goal, but so is the danger of overworking the heart, especially during training across long distances, said cardiologist Dr. Stuart A. Baine.
With many South Floridians taking up running, or fundraising through 5K runs, half marathons or full marathons, Delray Beach-based cardiologist Baine, who lives in Wellington, is eager to share a formula that could save the heart.
Baine suggests keeping your heart rate at no more than the maximum training rate and never exceeding the heart rate formula of 85 percent of 220 minus your age. For example, if you are a 36-year-old, that’s 220 multiplied by 0.85 and 36 subtracted from the result, which equals 151 beats per minute (bpm). So, 151 bpm is the maximum training rate.
“Marathon running can overwork your heart,” Baine said. “If you exceed your maximum heart rate for a significant period of time, you can cause damage to the heart muscle and even heart muscle loss.”
He also warns that keeping well-hydrated and maintaining your level of electrolytes is also of the utmost importance.
“The cause of most marathon deaths is from hyponatremia (low sodium),” Baine said. “If you’re only drinking water during the marathon race, the sodium levels in your blood can drop to the point where fatal heart rhythm disorders occur.”
Baine began running marathons at 52 years old and has been running ever since. He usually trains three times a week for a race by running on a treadmill, cross-training with a cycling and elliptical trainer, circuit weights and by running one lap around the perimeter of his Wellington community, more than 6 miles.
“If you’re just doing casual running and keeping the heart rate in that training range, you’re conditioning the heart and heart circulation to become more efficient,” Baine said. “With the heart more efficient, over time the resting heart rate goes down, resting blood pressure goes down, your heart rate doesn’t accelerate to a faster degree, and blood pressure doesn’t increase to a greater degree. That’s all part of conditioning training, and that’s all beneficial.”
He tells his new patients to start out walking and then work up to 30 minutes, five days a week. Next, after a five-minute warm-up, try to pick up your pace to the point where you are breathing heavier but still able to speak. “If you can do that, then it’s a great rule of thumb and it means that you have your heart rate into the training range — the range where you are truly conditioning your heart and circulation to be more efficient and you’re conditioning the heart to develop new collateral arteries,” Baine said.
Baine is board-certified in both cardiovascular disease and internal medicine, and has been practicing for 29 years. His office is on the campus of Delray Medical Center, where he is also on staff. Baine specializes in preventative cardiology, fitness, weight loss, nuclear cardiology, echocardiography and vascular medicine. Contact his office by calling (561) 495-0990 or visiting www.tfpsdocs.com.
ABOVE: Dr. Stuart A. Baine
