I am 30 years old and in reasonably good shape. I was a swimmer in college and am accustomed to high intensity workouts. My resting HR is ~40. My wife, a physical therapist, has a theory that I don't need to raise my heart rate as much for aerobic activity as much as average person because my resting HR is low. It scares her that my active (treadmill, rowing machine, swimming for <10 minutes before rest interval) HR is 180+ she thinks that I am hurting myself. I hate to tell her that my resting HR was 35 and touched 210 (more typically~200) while active in college. Question: Does your resting HR determine your max HR? Does it hurt you to exercise near your max HR?