Maximum Heart Rate?

Richard-Dublin

I always wear a HRM while I'm riding. I ride 3-4 times per week including a club race on a Thursday evening and a National race (at Sports Level) every 2-3 weeks. On just about every ride my heart rate maxs at 175 bpm (never higher) - can I assume that this is my "Maximum Heart Rate" for training purposes? I'm 48 and fairly new to MTBing.

stumpyjon

Rule of thumb for max heart rate is 220 minus your age so it's certainly in the ball park. Only way to know for sure is to push it as hard as you can and measure, if you're doing that on a ride then it's your max. Managed to get mine to 181 bpm a couple of weeks ago, really pushing up a steep hill :oops: .

Ditch Witch

No, Richard, that's not necessarily your max heart rate. It would likely be something like 75-80% of your max, depending on how hard you are working.

For a start, your cycling heart rate is usually much lower than your running heart rate.

The only way to be sure is to run flat out for 3 minutes, recover for 3 minutes, then run flat out for 3 minutes again. The second lot of 3 minutes should give you the closest approximation to your actual max heart rate.

This, of course, relies on one being able to run flat out for 3 minutes

Finbar Saunders

Depends on if you were going as hard as possible in the race or not. In the past I have had my max tested for running and cycling: 197 for running and 201 for cycling. I have managed to see 201 in races when I have sprinted flat out but not at any other time including long pulls to chase down breaks. If you sprint as hard as you can at the end of your races for a few times you might get a better idea. 220-age is way off for me.

djvagabon

220 minus your age is a rough guide. My maximum heart rate is 206 and im 33.