PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
Repeated max efforts uphill with occasional glances at head unit screen (and same value recorded on Strava summary for multiple hilly rides)
How hard do you ride?
- Thread starter Binky
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Repeated max efforts uphill with occasional glances at head unit screen (and same value recorded on Strava summary for multiple hilly rides)
If your doing that then yes MHR does seem low. Given resting pulse isn’t that low might be worth a check up.
N0bodyOfTheGoat
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Hampshire, UK
Can you borrow someone else's HRM to rule out HRM problem? 130 max sounds very low to me and something to contact GP about.
I did my first turbo races for a few months this morning, I hit 181bpm in Tiny Races 4 aged 51, been feeling exhausted since.
presta
Legendary Member
xx
Getting to MHR is not easy.
A training book I read said that a maximal test is something you should build up to over months, and spend several weeks recovering from, it's absolutely not something that you do several times every time you go out.
You should be able to balance the bike at 2.3mph, at which speed 15% and an all-up weight of 85kg would only be about 130W. As I said above, it's doable, you don't have to bust a gut to get up hills.
As I said above, cardiology at my local hospital uses 220-age, so I don't think it's all that discredited.
I would suspect 99% of the people that are seeing are strangers to serious physical exercise so it’s probably fine.
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
I do not believe for one millisecond they actually use it in any situation where they want anything other than a VERY rough guide.
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
GP doesnt seem at all concerned, but has set up for me to have an ECG, I suspect more a means to re-assure me than anything else.
Love those Tinies, fantastic V02 max workouts. At the start of race 2, 3, 4, thinking I cant do this again, but some how do
Everyone's HR whether max or resting is varied. I know some riders on here have around 150bpm max and others nudging 200bpm, even though they are into the 60s.
I have around 38-40bpm resting and max 183bpm for an oldie who races on Zwift almost every week
I have around 38-40bpm resting and max 183bpm for an oldie who races on Zwift almost every week
Last edited:
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
The only reason even care about max (and resting) HR is to set training zones.
How many of us actually do strict HR based training? Not all that many. And would it really matter a lot if you found out that what you thought was Z3 is "really" Z2? No, it wouldn't.
Speaking just for myself I keep an eye on my HR in order to keep my effort levels down early on on longer rides, when I'm inclined to waste energy, and I casually review the time spent in zones afterwards to see if my perception matches the numbers. It's interesting but not vital.
Yes, there are probably one or two on here who are serious about things and want Z2 to mean Z2 but for the rest of us 220-age is simultaneously utterly unreliable and good enough.
I enter my max observed HR. That may not be my real max that I would get in a lab but it's good enough.
How many of us actually do strict HR based training? Not all that many. And would it really matter a lot if you found out that what you thought was Z3 is "really" Z2? No, it wouldn't.
Speaking just for myself I keep an eye on my HR in order to keep my effort levels down early on on longer rides, when I'm inclined to waste energy, and I casually review the time spent in zones afterwards to see if my perception matches the numbers. It's interesting but not vital.
Yes, there are probably one or two on here who are serious about things and want Z2 to mean Z2 but for the rest of us 220-age is simultaneously utterly unreliable and good enough.
I enter my max observed HR. That may not be my real max that I would get in a lab but it's good enough.
Last edited:
PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
@Dogtrousers spot on. 👍👏
midlandsgrimpeur
Well-Known Member
Having done lab based ramp tests and knowing my accurate max HR, the easiest way to get your max HR without this is to find a steep hill and go as hard as you can up it for about 1 minute or the point at which you are struggling to breath. Check your highest heart rate post ride, from experience this will very likely be within 2 or 3 beats of max HR.
JtB
Prepare a way for the Lord
- Location
- North Hampshire
I don't bother using a HR monitor on my bike rides, but I do when using my Wattbike.
I received a new pacemaker just over 2 weeks ago and earlier this week I did a simulated hill climb on my Wattbike lasting about 14 minutes. I easily averaged more than my "220 - age" HR limit (which at the age of 64 is 156 bpm). This new pacemaker I have is monitored online and I've not yet received a phone call from the cardiology unit (who have access to the data) telling me off about the high HR during this ride. Also, I remember asking the cardiologist a few years back whether I should be monitoring my HR on bike rides and limiting it, and he said not to bother and to just limit it based on how I feel.
I received a new pacemaker just over 2 weeks ago and earlier this week I did a simulated hill climb on my Wattbike lasting about 14 minutes. I easily averaged more than my "220 - age" HR limit (which at the age of 64 is 156 bpm). This new pacemaker I have is monitored online and I've not yet received a phone call from the cardiology unit (who have access to the data) telling me off about the high HR during this ride. Also, I remember asking the cardiologist a few years back whether I should be monitoring my HR on bike rides and limiting it, and he said not to bother and to just limit it based on how I feel.
