Max Heart Rate 200+ (63 Year old)

martincashman

I was concerned that my Dad was pushing himself too had recently so I looked back on his heart rate data from a few recent cycles and his heart rate is peaking over 200 on most of the big climbs. 211 on the most extreme.

We both have the same computer, Sigma Rox9.0 and I know from my own experience that it's pretty reliable and not prone to interference or error spikes and his HR profiles shows a build up to 200+ as the hills get higher.

The max my own heartrate have gone to is 196bpm but it's rare to be in the 190's, even under extreme pressure It doesn't go much higher that 189 to 190.... it took a dog chasing me up a 10% gradient to hit 196.

He is fairly fit for his age and has a resting heart rate in the 40's but I wondering are these 200+ levels a warning sign or just part of his genetic make up that allows him to train so hard.

danowat

martincashman wrote:

Ior just part of his genetic make up

This, if in doubt, have a word with a GP.

Full Merckx

Could be exercise induced SVT. Exercise ECG on treadmill would confirm as resting ECG likely to be normal.

ut_och_cykla

My guess would be - just the way he's made. If he feels ok (not faint or dizzy, no chest tightness etc) probably no problem and if he's been very active all his life and isn't new to this exercise stuff its probably nothing to worry about... but you're worried Full Mercx has the answer!
I'm 50 plus and my max is 187 where as the 220-age thing would have it as 170. resting is 52

shazzz

Does it increase steadily and then decrease steadily as exertion reduces, ie similar to your HR profile but with higher numbers? If so, then shd be ok. If it spikes then could be SVT, A-fib or something else.
But deffo worth seeing a doc / cardio about it if you are concerned. They can be quite skeptical though - mine thought I had a dodgy cheap HRM until he saw my HR go from 150 to 240 in a matter of seconds on his ECG machine!!

StageWinner

3 possibilities as I see it.

Broken HR monitor
He has a naturally high HR
He should see a doctor

freehub

Sounds like a glitch with the HR monitor tbh.

twotyred

Probably static electricity build up. I get this all the time with my Garmin. Try rubbing one of those tumble drier conditioning cloths over his jersey and the HRM strap before he goes out next time. The anti-static treatment should sort out the problem.

cyco2

I'm going to have a stab at it.
All being well with your Dads health I would say that he has probably got a little heart and its pumping like mad because of it. If he had a bigger heart it would it wouldn't need to pump so quickly to get the same amount of blood round the system. Biologically it's not possible that we all have the same size and fitness of hearts. I hope this has helped.

martincashman

Cheers for the info, think consulting a doctor is prob the right thing to do... I feel a bit responsible as he's trying to keep up with me and I'm trying to keep up with the front group... know if I dropped back he'd ease up or at least not dig so deep to try and hang on.

The trend looks fairly consistent and the peaks are on hills, so I don't suspect it's a static issue. His HR does recover quickly though, which is a sign of his fitness... It's just the 200 number seems scary and it's not like we've been going over Mt Ventoux.

jgsi

I'd second a medical check up as soon as - hrm glitch or not - it may be masking an underlying issue. Just too high imo

Lucky Douglas

JGSI wrote:

I'd second a medical check up as soon as - hrm glitch or not - it may be masking an underlying issue. Just too high imo

Doesn't sound like a glitch on the hrm to me - I'd strongly 3rd getting some proper medical advice

welton

The sudden spikes with heart rate monitors are a real worry on the bike, and I think it is not an uncommon problem.
However, it would be a good idea for your dad to have a regular 6 monthly check to include a blood test purely from the preventative and 'peace of mind' angles.
Fortunately, our doctor insists on this and includes a PSA test as well - all good sense as you get that little bit older.

Full Merckx

cyco2 wrote:

I'm going to have a stab at it.
All being well with your Dads health I would say that he has probably got a little heart and its pumping like mad because of it. If he had a bigger heart it would it wouldn't need to pump so quickly to get the same amount of blood round the system. Biologically it's not possible that we all have the same size and fitness of hearts. I hope this has helped.

:shock:

Irrespective of his heart size you have physiological limitations on your cardiac output = stroke volume x HR. However, ventricular filling takes time and excessively high HR results in a decrease in cardiac output.

Exercise ECG, either treadmill or bike unless there is aberrant conduction on the resting ECG.

sturmey

My average HR in a recent 25 mile tt including 1minute waiting at start line was 176 bpm.

My max HR in the race was 194.

Is this max HR also too high? (Serious question)

By the way I have been time trialling all this year(28 events) and am not dead yet.

benno68

Can you swap over HRM's to double check? If confirmed it's definitely worth a once over with the GP.

sturmey

pretty sure it's giving genuine readings as my bro(same age) uses his own hrm and his gives v.similar readings to mine.

rdt

sturmey, a few months ago I tried a bunch of HRM / strap combos*.

With one combo (possibly a decathlon uncoded strap with my partner's analog coded Polar HRM), I would get HR readings which were consistently something like: True HR * 1.2. At resting heart rates (ie before setting off on the bike), the x1.2 factor wasn't obvious; it became obvious only when I was cycling, particularly full gas, when I was seeing values >220, which I knew were bollox.


*What had caused me to try out these various HRM combos was an earlier unusual elevated HR episode or two during rides, something I wrote about here a while back, and which sounded like some form of tachycardia. The jury's still out on the cause (I've had an ECG and am awaiting more info on that), but based on my own experiments with yet more HRMs, is now quite possibly looking like it's due to the original HRM/strap equipment I was using at that time giving erroneous results - albeit a different error to the one I've described in the paragraph above! In short, try some different equipment combinations and see if he gets the same repeatable results, to rule out that as a cause.

sturmey

Fair do's, I will have to do some more 'research' with the equipment to rule this out tho' have tried his HRM and it gave similar numbers.
Guess we all want to know if there is a danger in pushing TOO hard and what the consequences could be for our health.

furrag

I'm wondering why so many are recommending medical interventions such as ECG's? It won't hurt to have one, but I'm just wondering if age is the only justification.

shazzz

The heart is pretty important.
If someone is concerned enough to start looking for advice then they must be worried about it. It's easy to have it checked out. At the very least, if concerned about the heart then speak to a GP, rather than listening to random comments on a forum where you have no idea who is qualified, and some of the suggestions made will be utter bull (see above).
If there is no problem, then the peace of mind will be worthwhile. If there is a problem and it is left untreated then it could get worse over time - in some cases quite rapidly.

Monty Zoncolan

I'd always heard that maximum heart rates will differ from person to person, even those who are close in age or fitness. There isn't really such a thing as a 'good' value to have in comparative terms, although your own max will generally come down as you get older.

When I was in my eary 20s my max was about 215. I'm now 40 and it's 188 or thereabouts.

My Dad, also a very fit man, had a higher max at age 40 as I have now, and also had higer average rates for similar events and times.