What's your max HR?

[Eden]

It's not impossible but, yeah - usually 220 is an anomaly from something. Sometimes power lines or an electric fence can cause readings like that or perhaps cross talk from other people's monitors. I used to get that on my old Polar in certain places.

[kelownagirl]

I believe that mine is 186 biking and 193 running. I have weird readings every once in awhile, all the way up to 225 but something is going on when it does that.

[teawoman]

The highest I've seen mine is 198 at the end of an 8k road race. I was pushing it. So my max is prolly somewhere in the 210s maybe? I was also much less fit at that point--nowadays I rarely see it get that high--185ish is about as high as I've seen it in awhile.

[alpinerabbit]

at the beginning of my cycling career there was this hill that made me go up to 193. I consider this my puke barrier and Max. HR when training. Could be higher but I think this is a rather good estimate.

I also think 220 is likely from interference from another HRM. Even if yours is coded it can happen.

[Mr. Bloom]

drtgirl:

Here's a link to a post that may give you some more thoughts:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=18381

I'm starting to use my HR measurements as a guide to pacing myself...for instance, if I'm coming up to a steep hill, I know that my HR needs to be in the 140 to 160 range, or I'm not going to have the juice to climb.

Yesterday, on the Hilly Hundred's steepest hill, I crested the hill with a HR at about 190...but my HR was 140 at the bottom. If I had been at 160 at the bottom, I probably couldn't have made it...

[Veronica]

My max is 202.

Usually when I get HR readings in the 220s, I also have a cadence of 160 and a speed of 60 or so. And funny enough, it's usually in the middle of a climb. I always just figured I was getting a second wind.

V.

[OakLeaf]

Mine's 188 riding, 192 running.

And to add to the mix: what are your ages? I'm almost 48. But my HRM says I'm 28. Obviously the age-predicted max HRs are way low for an athletic crowd, but I wonder if there's still a correlation? My max is definitely lower than it was 20 years ago, but then again I'm not in the same condition I was then, either.

But actually Drtgrl's question sounded like it went to equipment. What does your heart rate graph look like? Equipment-related spikes are pretty obvious. My indicated HR spikes to 240 when contact is intermittent. This happens to me when I'm sweating very heavily as well as when I'm too dry. Pure aloe vera gel works really well for me as an electrode gel (plus it's cheap and easy to find), but even that will sweat off sometimes. Also, if you're in a deep tuck or your sports bra doesn't accommodate the strap well, there can be mechanical issues that interfere with contact. The instruction manual for mine notes that some cyclists do better with the pickup on their backs.

Veronica, that's interesting that you get speed, cadence and HR spikes all at the same time. What kind of monitor do you use? (Mine's a Garmin Forerunner 301.) I wonder if you've got intermittent battery contact?