How often do you push beyond 90% of max Heart Rate?

[PaulSB]

My HR is generally quite low and your poll doesn't give my option which would be "rarely." My maximum is 178 but it's almost exactly two years since I hit that. I might briefly push 155 on a very hard ride and will sustain mid 140s for long periods if we're absolutely caning it.

For example I rode the Fred Whitton three weeks ago with an average of 124bpm, maximum of 166 on Honister but only around 145/150 on Hardknott and in Zone 2 for 65% (6 hours) of the ride.

Yesterday I did 66 miles with a buddy. He averaged 127, me 97. His max was 151 and mine 130 - at the top of my road straight out of the garage at the bottom of a climb!

 

[JtB]

My resting HR is very low, but when I exercise it easily goes beyond “220 - my age”. I asked my cardiologist (note: I have a pacemaker) if this was a problem and he said “not at all, just listen to what your body tells you”. So I no-longer use a HR monitor now when I exercise.

 

[alex_cycles]

Most rides, but not all. (Recovery rides and rides with my wife, I'll rarely get out of zones 1-2).
Someone mentioned "220 minus your age" being not very good. Totally agree. 220 minus my age would be 168. My working max is 197, although I have seen 204. I will get into the high 180s, low 190s pretty much every time I ride alone.

I think if you have a heart condition, pushing yourself very hard, very often will likely make it more obvious, but it seems highly doubtful to me that it would actually be the cause of it.

 

[CXRAndy]

220-age is a flawed calculation for estimating max HR..

There are others which are best. Ultimately you need to do a max effort until you fail to get a good indication of max HR

 

[PaulSB]

220-age is a flawed calculation for estimating max HR..

There are others which are best. Ultimately you need to do a max effort until you fail to get a good indication of max HR

I feel the best measure is to find a damn big hill and ride it! My max was 162 for years and then I went and rode Fleet Moss!!

 

[alex_cycles]

220-age is a flawed calculation for estimating max HR..

There are others which are best. Ultimately you need to do a max effort until you fail to get a good indication of max HR

I couldn't agree more. Much more interested in a measurement than some meaningless guesstimate. (I've been wearing a heart rate strap on my rides for about 3 years - self-confessed data freak).

 

[Alex321]

I couldn't agree more. Much more interested in a measurement than some meaningless guesstimate. (I've been wearing a heart rate strap on my rides for about 3 years - self-confessed data freak).

Agreed, although the various formulae aren't really even guesstimates. They are rough averages.

Most of us aren't average, we all differ from the average person in a variety of ways.

For heart rate zones to be meaningful, you need at least a good approximation of what your personal max heart rate is, you simlpy can't rely on an average population value.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

220-age is a flawed calculation for estimating max HR..

There are others which are best. Ultimately you need to do a max effort until you fail to get a good indication of max HR

It was never intended a calculation for your own heart rate. The flaw is people using it for that, not the calculation itself.

 

[Ridgeway]

I reach 90% of HRM just bending down to put my shoes on these days...

 

[CXRAndy]

My first Zwift ride in probably months saw my heart rate, >173bpm for 26mins in one hour

I'm slightly unfit

 

[swee'pea99]

At a guess, two or three times a day, though I don't have the numbers. I don't do data. But I do climb two really quite pokey wee hills on my fixie on my daily perambulations, at which points I take it as read that everything's in the red zone. I couldn't speed up if a tiger was on my tail.

I've always assumed, intuitively, that this was 'a good thing'.

Maybe it's like running a engine. It needs a good rev now and then. To keep reliable operation, a good steady run, often

...has always been my take on it. Bit like circuit-training - periods of cruising, periods at the max.

 

[byegad]

Mine is about every 5 yrs, sometimes sooner, when I see which bunch of money grabbing untruthful chisellers have made up the new government.

 

[alex_cycles]

Mine is about every 5 yrs, sometimes sooner, when I see which bunch of money grabbing untruthful chisellers have made up the new government.

Doesn't matter who you vote for, we always get the government.
Riding with the As today. Only three of us. Nowhere to hide. 68.7% of the time in threshold zone. About half of that was >90%

 

[kayakerles]

Same here I can't get over 135 even on a turbo

I don't think my medication would let me push that hard.

Same here, Guys. One thing that sucks about taking BP meds, eh? Except that we have the fake feeling that according to our HR we’re super athletes! I just try not to get to the point that I am completely out of breath and can still talk to myself.

 

[Norry1]

90% of Max HR is not actually very high - it corresponds to my Threshold HR, so I'll hit that most rides even if they are not very hard rides.

I just looked at my last 2 week's rides and I hit 90% Max HR on 7 of those (and was quite close on the other 3).