326: Why Standard Heart Rate Formulas Fail People With Parkinson's With Cielita Lopez-Lennon, PT, DPT, NCS

Are the heart rate formulas we've been using actually working for our patients with Parkinson's? In this episode, hosts Erin Gallardo, PT, DPT, NCS, and Claire McLean, PT, DPT, NCS, discuss with Cielita Lopez-Lennon, PT, PhD candidate in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Utah, her recently published research on refining maximal heart rate estimation for people with Parkinson's disease. The conversation digs into why standard formulas like 220 minus age systematically overestimate max heart rate for people with autonomic dysfunction, what chronotropic incompetence actually means in practice, and how Claire has been applying — and adapting — the research findings in real time at Rogue. If you're prescribing high intensity exercise to your neuro patients, this episode will change how you think about whether they're actually hitting the dose.

www.linkedin.com/in/cielita

Research article: Refining Maximal Heart Rate Estimation to Enhance Exercise Recommendations for Persons With Parkinson Disease — https://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(25)00626-4/fulltext

Listen to the previously recorded episode where Claire shares the rationale and the formula she created (which you get access to!) Episode 302: https://www.neurocollaborative.com/blog/applying-a-new-calculation-for-max-heart-rate-in-pd