Thoughts on Target Heart Rate?

[Catrin]

Catrin,

Just noticed you are on a SI lady gel flow. How do you like it? I went saddle shopping all weekend - came up empty.

Worst part is I got confusing advice from two different bike shops. Some say your sit bones should be on the widest part of the saddle. Another shop (more racer orientated said you should be sitting in the nose of the saddle right before it widens. Selle SMP and fizik models seem to lean towards this b/c their saddles actually have a bit of a craddle that prevents you from sliding back to the furtherest part of the saddle. Guy from bike shop #1 said, yeah that's great if you are riding TT or triathoons but on long rides it would kill you.

I'm now waiting for LBS#3 to get a SI SLR lady in so I can test it.

Do you like your saddle? How long are your longest rides?

I think the SI SLR Lady is different from the SI Lady (LDY), though I could well be mistaken. I get confused by all of the similar names that Selle Italia seems to have. I had quite the saddle journey before finding this one, starting with Brooks. I love my SI Lady, and the furthest I've ridden on it is 75 miles.

One thing to keep in mind is I've a VERY upright riding position due to arthritis in my hands not allowing me to use road bars. I ride 2-inch riser bars with grips, and I can ride for hours without hand pain or saddle issues. I suspect that my contact with the saddle is quite different than yours as you likely have road bars. I also have this same saddle on my mountain bike.

Good luck on your search!

[bathedinshadow]

I didn't read all of these responses, so forgive me if I'm repeating some things. But my friend actually works in the athletic department as a sort of expert on these very things. He does all the testing on the athletes to get there stats Vo2 max, max HR, body fat, etc.

The calculation that is typically used is 220 - your age. That is a VERY generic calculation. The only way to truly determine your Max HR is to go to an expert and literally push yourself to that point. Don't do this on your own, it can be dangerous and it's extremely uncomfortable! According to that calculation, my Max HR is 188. I know for a fact that it's higher as I can hit 188 and feel fine, if tired. I had mine tested by my friend 2 years ago and it was 199. I'd hazard to guess it's about the same now as I still exercise and peak the same way. My ex has a crazy high Max HR. In fact. At my age (32), it was reaching 203 at it's peak regularly. We ended up going to a doctor and having an EKG to make sure nothing was wrong. Everything was fine.

People are just different. My resting HR is usually about 48. When I'm extremely relaxed, it's gone down as low as 42. But when I work out, it's usually higher than everybody else. It's just the way my body works. There is no "calculation" that can accurately assess this.