Question re: heart rate

[pyxichick]

I was on a ride the other day with a guy who could read my heart rate on his bike computer (he wasn't wearing a monitor, so it was picking up mine) and when we went up a hill, he said "wow, bird heart. If my heart rate ever got that high I'd be dead!"

So I'm wondering, what is "normal" for a maximum heart rate? Sometimes mine pegs out at 194 if I'm going up a steep hill or even if I go all out on a flat trail. I sense this is pretty high, based on all the stuff I've read about how to determine your max HR.

I've been a xc skier for 6 years, so I'm not just starting my exercise program or anything. My resting HR is 72, which seems normal. Is there any danger in riding with my HR up so high?

Any answers are greatly appreciated!

Kate

[Fredwina]

I think you're referring to the 220 - your age, which is more of a wild guess than anything else. I'm 45 , and I can get it into the 190's

[RoadRaven]

Hey there PC... there is no "normal" max HR or resting... you can do guestimates based on your age, but they are not always accurate.

The "official" calulation for guesstimates is 220 minus your age...

The younger you are, the higher you max and resting heart rates will be... the older you are, the lower your max and resting HRs.

But there can be dramatic variations

For example, my partner (43) maxs at about 180 and his resting is about 48bpm... he is extremely fit and rides in the top grade in the local club

...but my brother in law who is 3 years younger has a max of about 200, but his resting HR is about 60 - he has been as fit as my partner as he was a decathalete when younger.

My 17yr old son is about 200 and his resting is in the high 40s

My 15 1/2 yr old maxs at about 210 and also has a resting HR in the high 40s.

I am 41 (almost) and I max at about 172, but my resting HR is unusally low for my age at 39bpm...

I guess all this post has done is confuse... but I hope it has also, in some way, helped...

[pyxichick]

Thank you both.

I guess I won't worry about it. It's good to know that it's not abnormal to get my HR up that high.

Now my goal is to get in better shape, so it doesn't need to go that high on my flat midwestern rides

Kate

[chickwhorips]

i'm just like you. my heart rate is higher.

from what i'm told its not a bad thing, just a lower heart you may be able to go longer from what i understand.

still trying to figure the whole thing out.

[susan.wells]

Another hummingbird here! I thought my ceiling for bicycling was 196 until this year when I hit 200 on a steep climb during this lovely sauna-like heat wave. I'm almost 49.

[Tuckervill]

I'll bet it's important to note how you felt when your heartrate was 200. How did you feel?

If you didn't have a heart rate monitor, wouldn't you just go by how you feel, and only worry if you felt poorly?

Karen

[Deborajen]

My HR is high, too. I'm 44 and so far have seen a max of 192 (at the end of a 10K running event). During that same 10K, my HR stayed pretty much at 186. I've been running for over four years so I'm in pretty good shape, but isn't 97% of MHR a little high for that long? I felt good the whole time, wasn't wiped out afterwards, etc. When I woke up that morning and put on the heart monitor, my HR was 90 (after I got out of bed and started walking around) whereas it's usually around 80, so obviously I had some adrenaline working. Maybe my MHR is actually higher than 192 - I don't know. I'm still trying to figure it all out. HR is always lower on the bike, but it does shoot up on climbs.

It does seem to take some experimenting and adjusting for everyone.--

Deb

[yogabear]

I'm thinking that heart rate monitors are interesting to train with, etc. But, they don't give the whole story I train with one, but my hubby trains with a power tap and heart rate monitor. He looks more at his watts and he says this year, it has given him more valuable data for his training...

Hmmm, since he's gettin' a new road bike this year...Hmm, maybe I can hint around...'Honey, I'd sure like a power tap too!' ROTFLMAO

I remember when I was 'younger' (say 10 years ago), I saw my heart rate get up to the 190's in a mtn. bike race. As I've gracefully aged though, my heart rate usually doesn't get over 180's (and this is in criteriums, mind you)...

Everyone is different, so naturally, there's not a right or wrong or typical for anyone when it comes to heart rate

Peace out,
Lisa

[RoadRaven]

I'm thinking that heart rate monitors are interesting to train with, etc. But, they don't give the whole story I train with one, but my hubby trains with a power tap and heart rate monitor. He looks more at his watts and he says this year, it has given him more valuable data for his training...

ENVY... I WANT a power tap....

HR monitors are a gizmo many people seem to get without an understanding of how to use them and get all excited about nubers and draw interesting conclusions... I agree - they do not give the whole story and are just one tool in your training repertoirre

I use my HR monitor to train with - for example, to make sure I keep my HR low in recovery rides

I also use my HR monitor to race with - to keep me at just below my lactate threshold for the length of the race, and to ensure i don't blow my HR racing on hills.

[li10up]

Another hummingbird here! I thought my ceiling for bicycling was 196 until this year when I hit 200 on a steep climb during this lovely sauna-like heat wave. I'm almost 49.

This seems very unusual...are you sure there wasn't some sort of electrical interference? Overhead power lines can make your HR monitor put out some false readings. Also, other people's HR monitors can interfere with your readings if you get close enough to them.

[Eden]

This seems very unusual...are you sure there wasn't some sort of electrical interference? Overhead power lines can make your HR monitor put out some false readings. Also, other people's HR monitors can interfere with your readings if you get close enough to them.

It's not that unusual - some of us are bunny rabbits, and among the women that I know who race, as a group we seem to have a tendancy to be in the high max range. My max is 211 (I'm 34). Now if I see 230 or something ridiculous like that I can be pretty sure its powerline/electric fence etc. interference.

[easterbird]

older woman chimes in
this discussion is timely...I've been doing some googling about max hrt. I used the 220-age to come up with 'my' HRT max of 161(I'm 58.5 YO) and have been riding almost one year. In anticpation of my first century ride on 09 Sept, I decided to really push myself to do more hill climbing. I have now have a high one day of 166 and another day at 173. I was pretty winded at top of that portion of the climb but recovered quickly enough to continue to the real top. My RHRT is 55 or less. I'm wondering if I should change my limits on my HR monitor to use these new data for max. My thought being that I want to make the most of my workouts and calorie burn by keeping myself in the 65-85% range.Old versus new would be 109-139 or 113-147. Is this the right way to use HR data?

[Raindrop]

Heart rate measurments are guestimates and the 220-age or the woman's 226-age is one that fits only about 1/3 of the population. Also, a higher max heart rate is not a sign of fitness. The heart rate is what it is, in that it's genetically programmed. However, as one trains to get fitter you'll find the ability to work at higher heart rates without going anaerobic.

Also, it has been shown that the heart rate doesn't necessarily decline as one ages as long as you keep aerobically fit. I use a heart rate monitor when I train and I encourage my clients (I'm a personal trainer and Spinning instructor) to use one as well.

I think if you coorelate your breathing to your heart rate you get a better estimate of your possible heart rate max. That, and also going with highest number seen. You'll know when you get into the "red zone" of your heart rate max when you are thouroughly warmed up and then work increasingly harder until you reach a point that you can no longer increase your effort and at this point most people feel the need to slow down since they are close to puking.

For most of us this is an area we don't care or need to work at. I read an interesting article by Dr. Len Kravitz that illustrates how to determine if you're working at a level that will increase your cardio-respitory fitness:

http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Articles/talktest.html

[mimitabby]

My resting HR is 60 today!! (whoopiee! it used to be closer to 80)
I'm 54 years old
but I wore a HR monitor this weekend for the first time and found out
that much over 162 and I am really getting stressed. The good news
is that my HR goes back down fairly quickly.

So, if you are 40 or over I would be concerned about those numbers
but if you are just a sweet young thing, you probably aren't hurting yourself
but keep working and it will go down.