Heart Rate

nbuuifx

I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time whilst out cycling, I took notice of the figures but don't really know what to do with that data to help me improve.

Any Clues?!

My Ride was 10 casual miles, 10 miles pushing it, then 10 casual miles back.

My resting HR is 49.
My Max heart rate according to the formula is 191.

During the first 10 miles it was mostly around 130 with a peak of 155 when I hit a hill.
During the second 10 miles it was mostly around 170 with a peak of 182 - interstingly the peak was on the flat
During the third 10 miles it was back around 130ish

What can I take from that to improve? Should I also be looking at how long it takes to return to rest?

Thanks

Kingy911

I have a heart rate chart, pm your e-mail and I will try and send it over to you. I started training with the HRM about a month ago and I think it has improved my cardio fitness (at least thats what I tell myself ;-) )

nbuuifx

PM Sent,

Cheers

sungod

there are several formulae for calculating maximum hr, there's no reason to assume any will correctly determine your maximum hr, it takes a test to do that

higher hr on the flat *may* reflect your leg strength/endurance...

on the flat, you can use a higher cadence, which is easier on the legs, you can put out more power, so you have a higher hr

on the hill, at lower cadence your legs run out of steam before they can place a high load on your heart, so your hr stays lower

...or it may simply be that you hadn't warmed up earlier, or etc. etc., don't read too much into a short run

read this for an intro to hr based training...

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... sts-28838/

RoadMeridaBen

nbuuifx wrote:

I wore my heart rate monitor for the first time whilst out cycling, I took notice of the figures but don't really know what to do with that data to help me improve.

Any Clues?!

My Ride was 10 casual miles, 10 miles pushing it, then 10 casual miles back.

My resting HR is 49.
My Max heart rate according to the formula is 191.

During the first 10 miles it was mostly around 130 with a peak of 155 when I hit a hill.
During the second 10 miles it was mostly around 170 with a peak of 182 - interstingly the peak was on the flat
During the third 10 miles it was back around 130ish

What can I take from that to improve? Should I also be looking at how long it takes to return to rest?

Thanks

The best way to find out your max heart rate is to find a barstuard of a hill and go balls out up it (assuming you have no health problems) make sure you are well warmed up before attempting, then when your vision goes blurry and your legs stop you should have your max HR :P

Once you've found that out, then you can work out your zones

Mikey23

... Famous last words.

A resting hr of 49 and a max of 182 suggests that you are quite a healthy bunny

nbuuifx

RoadMeridaBen wrote:

The best way to find out your max heart rate is to find a barstuard of a hill and go balls out up it (assuming you have no health problems) make sure you are well warmed up before attempting, then when your vision goes blurry and your legs stop you should have your max HR :P

Once you've found that out, then you can work out your zones

I'll give that a go, the 182 I got to today wasn't absolute max, more a comfortable max.

Mikey23 wrote:

... Famous last words.

A resting hr of 49 and a max of 182 suggests that you are quite a healthy bunny

Well according to the government I just go into the overweight bracket :roll: . The BMI calculator they use gives me a 25.9. The Gym has a calibrated machine that you stand on and hold two things in your hands - that gives me a BMI of about 18.5. Personally I think I'm quite fit but would like to improve - I've not really got the physique to be a top cyclist (6'2", 14 Stone) but I'd still like to improve!

kevprimer

according to my hrm my heart rate max's out on steep downhills...think i must be scared!!

hmbadger

No, that's just a false reading caused by flapping clothing!

johncp

nbuuifx wrote:

RoadMeridaBen wrote:

The best way to find out your max heart rate is to find a barstuard of a hill and go balls out up it (assuming you have no health problems) make sure you are well warmed up before attempting, then when your vision goes blurry and your legs stop you should have your max HR :P

Once you've found that out, then you can work out your zones

I'll give that a go, the 182 I got to today wasn't absolute max, more a comfortable max.

Mikey23 wrote:

... Famous last words.

A resting hr of 49 and a max of 182 suggests that you are quite a healthy bunny

Well according to the government I just go into the overweight bracket :roll: . The BMI calculator they use gives me a 25.9. The Gym has a calibrated machine that you stand on and hold two things in your hands - that gives me a BMI of about 18.5. Personally I think I'm quite fit but would like to improve - I've not really got the physique to be a top cyclist (6'2", 14 Stone) but I'd still like to improve!

The second figure isn't a BMI it sounds like a fat percentage. And as has been said many times here and elsewhere BMI may not apply if you've been or still are a body builder/pro rugby player/rower type, but for general population its still a reasonable indicator of health risk. Having said that you're borderline and shouldn't get too bothered

Gizmo_

nbuuifx wrote:

I've not really got the physique to be a top cyclist (6'2", 14 Stone) but I'd still like to improve!

14 stone is just under 90kg.

Sir Chris Hoy: 6'1 and 92kg. Admittedly 30kg of that is his thighs

nbuuifx

Gizmo_ wrote:

nbuuifx wrote:

I've not really got the physique to be a top cyclist (6'2", 14 Stone) but I'd still like to improve!

14 stone is just under 90kg.

Sir Chris Hoy: 6'1 and 92kg. Admittedly 30kg of that is his thighs

That makes me feel better



As for the body fat percentage that does ring a bell, if I remember correctly they said I was on the good side of the normal band.

DavidJB

Heart rate by itself will mean nothing. You have to explicitly train within heart rate zones to get any improvement a subject far more complex than anyone will go into on this forum. All you'll do is go 'oh average of 132 thats nice' I knwo because that's what I did for a year.

182 I doubt will be your max, take your resting when you wake up and over 5 days to get the accurate picture of what it is..taking it in the afternoon is not a good idea as you're stressed from the day.

My resting HR is 38 which I found out by taking it over 5 days after I woke up and my max is 188 sitting and 192 standing (yes they are different) which I only ever hit in the last lap of a race or sprinting up a super steep hill...bear in mind that if you're truly at max HR you won't be able to look at or see the HR monitor...

Bordersroadie

RoadMeridaBen wrote:

The best way to find out your max heart rate is to find a barstuard of a hill and go balls out up it (assuming you have no health problems) make sure you are well warmed up before attempting, then when your vision goes blurry and your legs stop you should have your max HR :P

Once you've found that out, then you can work out your zones

I agree with that. I'm 48 so 220 minus age = 172. My actual max HR, following the above method, is 185, so this is what I use as my max. After a few months including many eyeballs-out hillclimbs, the 185 has been verified a few times.

Just one example, but if I'd used 172 I'd have been miles off on my real zones. I wonder how many riders are using way-off max HR by going with the 220 method.

Kingy911

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... sts-28838/

MartinB2444

As has been said, you can use heart rate zones to train with specific targets in mind e.g. sprinting, hill climbing, endurance however you have to take some of this with a bit of a pinch of salt because some of it is written by self serving training "gurus" who like nothing better than over complicating things. A bit cynical maybe.

However, I find a heart rate monitor really useful in gauging my effort when climbing. I know I'm making a decent sustainable effort at around 165bpm. Sometimes I feel like I'm busting a gut at 155 and have to give myself a kick up the backside and pedal harder. On other occassions I've easily zipped up to 170 and blown up further up the climb. The more you ride the better you get to know how your body responds and a hrm certainly can help. Don't forget to look at the scenery though (and the traffic).

nbuuifx

Thanks for all the replies, I realise 182 isn't my max, it was just what I went up to and to be honest I'd guess that the max would be a good bit more - I'll give it a proper go next time I'm out to see rough what it is.

For now I'll just keep an eye on figures and try to see patterns. I tend to grind rather than spin and have noticed that when grinding a big gear up a hill my HR stays lower than if I spin up. I can quite happily leave the bike in the top gear and cycle most of my normal routes (I may stand and go at snails pace occasionally) - If I left the bike in a middle gear for the whole ride I'd be knackered.

Think about what was mentioned above with specific targets, my target is to increase speed by a few mph over normal distance.

The HRM is a polar one and does have zones that it works out, and you can put it in a mode where it calculates limits etc - will have to read the manual a bit more!

nbuuifx

Had a go at finding my max heart rate but failed all 3 times I tried.

First go, long hill not too steep, went flat out at the hill in top gear, got heart rate to 182 - could maintain it but just couldn't get it any higher, no blurryness etc.

Second go - figured I must need to spin more, slightly steeper shorter hill than the first. Got heart rate up to 170ish in top gear then knocked it down the gears and really gave it some - got to 180ish and it slowly crept up to 186 before I ran out of road (busy main road to cross at the top )

Third go - Long medium climb which is quite stepped, so climbs for a bit then flattens out then climbs etc. Got it to 186 again and could maintain it at this all the way to the top but just couldn't get it to go any higher. No blurryness etc.


So how do I get it to go higher? I did notice I did a bit of a sprint in top gear along a flat - probably slightly downhill section and it went quite easily to 182 at approx 35mph (peak). I could have probably pushed a bit more at this point.

nbuuifx

Managed to get HR up to 196bpm today, and still not blurry eyed or passing out - just struggle to get it any higher!