23% Grade - Heart Rate Approaching DEATH - Help???

[GLC1968]

I typed up a reply to this last night and then I lost my connection to TE!


Your true max HR is genetically predetermined and it does not change. That said, the max you determine for sports is, like keeper suggested, a line in the sand over which you shouldn't regularly go. But, it is possible to hit close to your true max in a high stress situatio. From my experience, I seems that it is highly unlikely that your true max is the same as your theoretical max (no matter how you determine it). Based on your description, my guess is that you were very close (if not there) to your true max at 211 bpm. It's not a place at which we want to spend a lot of time...particularly in an uncontrolled environment! As we get in better shape, we develop the ability to work closer and closer to that true max for longer and longer periods of time. But the actual real max number will not change (and somebody correct me if I've read incorrectly on this!).

As an example, my theoretical max is 181 or thereabouts. I've had my max scientifically determined (running on a treadmill) and it came out to 179/180. A few months back when I was doing intervals, I was doing all I could to avoid puking at each of the last few intervals and the highest HR reading I got was 178. While riding my regular rides, including the occasional mountain climb, the highest I've ever seen was 174. My true max is likely about the same as my theoretical one at around 180 or so. Of all the fitness people I know, I've never met anyone who's true max was as close to the 220-age thing as mine. I always thought *I* was the weird one when I couldn't post HR numbers as high as my friends all did!

Anyway, my point is that I'm guessing that your true max is actually somewhere around 211.

And to answer your questions:
Could that cause a heart attack? I don't know. I have no experience with this...
Should you have kept going? No, you were right to stop when you did. Keep working on that hill and eventually you'll be able to do it without getting the HR up that high AND you will eventually get to where you are comfortable sustaining a higher HR for longer periods (probably not THAT high, though).
Is this any indication of your fitness level? Seeing new 'max' numbers? No, not really. I think that being stronger or even well rested might have made you capable of hitting new highs, but your max isn't really changing due to fitness. You are probably getting to the point where your body can work harder than your heart is capable. It takes a certain level of fitness to get to that point.

[batsheva]

the HR on the monitor instantly spiked up and instantly 'recovered' back down-- if it had really hit 211 it would have come down in a curve like the other variations on your graph. it was a misreading, i promise-- i have stared at cardiac monitors in icu for last 18 years fulltime and 211 would not suddenly recover as the graph indicated ever. unless it 'recovered' from 211 to ZERO

bat

[GLC1968]

batsheva - that's a really good point. I didn't notice that. I agree...it's probably an errant reading! Looking at that graph, your max is probably somewhere in the 190's....

[indysteel]

Mr. Silver, out of curiosity, what hill were you climbing? Boltinghouse Road?

I don't have any expert knowledge to add. I've seen my heartrate as high as 220 on hill in Brown County State Park. My heartrate runs pretty high anyway, but that scared me.

K-

[kelownagirl]

I'm in the "not likely accurate readout" camp. I have a Garmin and it gives me super high readings once in awhile. I figure my max HR is around 185. My usual high up the dreaded hill is round 180 but sometimes it shoots up to 225 or so when I fly down that hill. It's at the very beginning of my ride so I think the thing just isn't "set" quite yet and although I'm sure HR does shoot up high when I'm doing 60+ kmh, I'm positive it didn't really go up to 225.

If I were you, I'd be more worried if it stayed at that high rate over a period of time. It would be interesting to stop and take it manually to see if it really was that high...

[Deanna]

Were you anywhere near a traffic signal when the spike occured? There's a few in my town that make my HR go whacky (like reading of 285, then immediate drops down to 90). However, a 26% grade just might spike it like that!

[Mr. Bloom]

As to the spike/errant reading: The graph is a Distance graph. If I had placed it on the Time oriented axis, it would have shown that it was 5 minutes before my bpm was below 190. So, I suspect this is an accurate reading.

Indysteel: Yes, it was Boltinghouse Road. An article last week in the local paper featured one guy who did it 14 times in one hour last week. Eek

Deanna: No traffic lights...a very rural area.

Interestingly as to my level of exhaustion approaching the hill, I road down the hill before turning around and riding up. The downhill was exhausting and made every muscle ache. The road was rough, so I had to ride the brakes all the way down. I was braking hard the entire way and couldn't slow to less than 15 mph. Now that I know where it is, I'll come at it from the opposite direction next time and see if that helps.

[El Hombre]

As to the spike/errant reading: The graph is a Distance graph. If I had placed it on the Time oriented axis, it would have shown that it was 5 minutes before my bpm was below 190. So, I suspect this is an accurate reading.

Indysteel: Yes, it was Boltinghouse Road. An article last week in the local paper featured one guy who did it 14 times in one hour last week. Eek

Deanna: No traffic lights...a very rural area.

Interestingly as to my level of exhaustion approaching the hill, I road down the hill before turning around and riding up. The downhill was exhausting and made every muscle ache. The road was rough, so I had to ride the brakes all the way down. I was braking hard the entire way and couldn't slow to less than 15 mph. Now that I know where it is, I'll come at it from the opposite direction next time and see if that helps.

I've gotten up around 190 a few times and things start to close in. SWMBO HATES it when I do that. My family has a history of heart attacks I just got my Polar back up and there is a BIG hill nearby. Hmm, what to do today??

[lph]

ok, I really wasn't going to ask this because I know, I should be asking my dr instead, BUT she really hasn't got a clue about cycling or other strenuous exercise, nor does the heart specialist I've gone to see, so bear with me please...

any of you medical types have an opinion on whether I should be avoiding stressing my heart eg. up to max HR, when I have no sign of heart disease at all, but my family all do? My dad has had a 5-double bypass, my mom has had a small heart attack, my brother died at 41 of a heart attack. All of them with very few symptoms in advance, if any.

I don't really worry about it much, but I wonder a bit if I should be more careful than most about riding alone without a cell phone, for example. All opinions welcome, qualified or un-

[Mr. Bloom]

I don't really worry about it much, but I wonder a bit if I should be more careful than most about riding alone without a cell phone, for example. All opinions welcome, qualified or un-

I know Norway is a safe place (my Mercedes mechanic is from Oslo), but IMHO, I personally think everyone should carry a cell phone with them and whether you are alone or not would be dictated by how isolated your route is.

As I was climbing the hill, I honestly pondered "if I have a heart attack, could I actually get my hands on my cell phone?"

[Andrea]

ok, I really wasn't going to ask this because I know, I should be asking my dr instead, BUT she really hasn't got a clue about cycling or other strenuous exercise, nor does the heart specialist I've gone to see, so bear with me please...

any of you medical types have an opinion on whether I should be avoiding stressing my heart eg. up to max HR, when I have no sign of heart disease at all, but my family all do? My dad has had a 5-double bypass, my mom has had a small heart attack, my brother died at 41 of a heart attack. All of them with very few symptoms in advance, if any.

I don't really worry about it much, but I wonder a bit if I should be more careful than most about riding alone without a cell phone, for example. All opinions welcome, qualified or un-

You are right to assume that your docs don't know too much about exercise, because they barely teach exercise physiology in medical school! As for yourself, since you have a family history of heart disease, it's very important that you have regular heart checkups for any abnormalities. If you perform a stress test at the doctor's office, request that he let you exercise until you get very close to your max heart rate (most docs will stop the test at approx. 85% of max). By doing this, you can be assured that everything is working smoothly across your entire heart rate range.
As long as your checkups are clear, then you should have no issues with strenuous exercise. If you start showing early signs of heart disease (plaque buildup/blocking of the coronary arteries), then you'll have to modify your exercise intensity to avoid depriving any areas of the working heart of oxygen. As long as there are no blocked arteries, though, you should have no problem with pushing yourself to the extremes of your abilities.

[indysteel]

[QUOTE=Mr. Silver;240197]
Indysteel: Yes, it was Boltinghouse Road. An article last week in the local paper featured one guy who did it 14 times in one hour last week. Eek

I saw that article and immediately broke out into a cold sweat. They looked like they picked the hottest day of the year for the "challenge." Insanity!

When I first started riding last year, I was alarmed at my heartrate and perceived exertion during the Hilly Hundred. I decided to start from stratch over the winter and worked on building a better aerobic base. During spin classes, I kept my heartrate in Zone 2 for a couple of months and then gradually increased my intensity from there. I haven't been all that scientific in trying to figure out whether it worked. I can climb better this year, but I've still had a few bad moments. Luckily, most of the hills are short enough that it's okay, but I've still gotten off the bike a time or two to catch my breath.

[Scarlet]

sometimes when I read the "technology" threads with heart rates and "what should be my max" i just get a bit naffed off. Surely when you cant get enough breath in your lungs and your heart is bursting out of your chest!!!! this should tell you your heart needs a rest!!!!! And if you want to puke .......well why on earth would you make your body work so hard that all it can do is throw up???
I do understand about getting fitter but one can measure this without a heart rate monitor... really
As you get fitter you go the same route faster and without feeling fatigued
also hills become easier to do
For me i dont want to feel ill after a good ride , I like to feel a sense of acheivement and that my body is still ok for example...
51 miles on Sunday in 4 hours ... oh yeh no puking and a good few hills Scarlet x

[ChickWithBrains]

I'm gonna go out on a limb.

I'm in the "your heart rate monitor was EXACTLY RIGHT" camp.

What does a quick spike on a HR chart mean? It means that, for the interval your HRM is set to (1 sec? 2 or 3? 5?), your heart beat really fast. Maybe you somehow got 4 into that one second for whatever reason. It only lasted a second, but your HRM picked up on it and you have a huge spike saying you were at 240 BEATS PER MINUTE!! But you weren't. You were at 4 beats per second, for one second. Before and after, you were likely lower. Who knows? Maybe you even had a PVC (a premature beat we all get from time to time for a huge variety of reasons) during that little window your HRM was listening.

The important thing is that it was not sustained, you had no repercussions from it, and you're listening to your body and your doc. Keep it up and don't worry about the little blips on your graph that don't seem quite right. No one has a smooth graph.

[Mr. Bloom]

well why on earth would you make your body work so hard that all it can do is throw up???

You're right....BUT....

Some of us come from an era where it was expected that one would push BEYOND their limits to excel. Just because there's bad info out there doesn't mean that attitudes change quickly with new revelations...confusion comes first