Heart Rate Query

clunsy

Is too high unsafe?

I started road cycling a few years ago and after packing in football at the end of last season, I've increased the amount of cycling I do quite a bit. Since January I've averaged about 80 to 100 miles per week at an average of around 18mph usually spread over 2 or 3 outings.

My average heart rate for a ride is rarely below 155 and has been high as 166 for a 70 mile ride. Last week I took part in my first ever race - what a buz! It was 20 laps of a 1.1 mile course and I completed with an average of 23.4mph. my average heart was 188 and i recorded a maximum of 205. My previous highest recorded HR was 198, so quite a jump.

A couple of days ago I read an article saying that it was unsafe to let your HR go above 220 minus your age. At 32 years old, that would suggest I shouldn't ever go above 188.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

mattbass789

The 220 minus your age is widely discredited, and is a simple sum for the mass untrained public to conceptualise their effort.
My experience is that you really need to know your boundaries. 205 is clearly your max heart rate, you should now focus your training and HR zones around this. To concentrate your training and prevent over training.

A hard ride for me I would average, 155, my max is somewhere around 200. In fast pace groups I have average 160. An Average of 188 is very high, even if your max is 205. When I started it was much higher.
Your HR will come down over time, if your resting HR stays higher than normal days after a ride, there's a chance you're not recovering well enough. In which case I would ease up.

How do you feel after a ride averaging 188? also how do you perceive your effort in these rides?

Lakesman

It's not so much that you shouldn't let it - max HR means your heart cannot beat faster; you are at your maximum effort and the heart regulates that. 220 minus age is a broad measure and everyone is different. I too have a high average close to yours, and i'm 45 years, What's your resting or waking HR , and how long does it take to settle after exertion ? That's a better baseline to gauge overall fitness; if you're in good shape with a few years cycling in you, you'll probably be around 60 on waking, or less. You will be able to exercise at max HR for a very short spells only. Beware any hint of dizziness or pain at this level - stop immediately if so. If not, just enjoy feeling alive and don't worry about the numbers too much

MartinB2444

Lakesman wrote:

Beware any hint of dizziness or pain at this level - stop immediately if so. If not, just enjoy feeling alive and don't worry about the numbers too much

Is there anyone who isn't dizzy and hurting at MHR :shock:

The answer is no, it isn't dangerous physically for a healthy person. You might not be in proper control of your bike or aware of what is going on around you which could be dangerous. Getting your genuine MHR is truly vomit inducing.

drlodge

MartinB2444 wrote:

Getting your genuine MHR is truly vomit inducing.

It can also be dangerous if dong it on a bike! Remember when I got mine up to 187 and I had to concentrate not to pass out for a couple of minutes.

diy

I tend to use this as a guide.
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/maxhr.htm

On a fasting day my resting HR is high 30s low 40s, on a eat day its mid to high 40s. I rarely go above 170bpm on a ride for more than a few minutes. My flat out performance is about 175-180. At high 170 everything has a red/pink look to it and I know I'm at my limit.

Personally I think you should build up to this sort of thing slowly. Particularly if you have never had any decent tests done on your heart (e.g. ECG, Angiogram etc)

warrerj

It all depends on you!

My wife's avg on the Welsh 12hr TT last year was 193bpm
Her resting is about 50 ish and she's been to see the cardiologist, had all the tests, and his verdict is everything is fine. She can hold a normal conversation at 190+ bpm!

It really depends on you. If you're feeling ok at those rates then don't worry too much. On the other hand if you're feeling dizzy or getting any other ill effects get it checked.

ScreaminWargasm

I wouldn't worry about it. I'm also 32 and my average resting HR is about 50-55. On a fast ride my average is in the low 140's and my maximum HR ever recorded is 162 but usually about 158 which is quite low considering my age.

A friend that I ride with is of equal fitness to me and his HR is similar to yours.

We are all different and doubt it has any impact on health.

Mick

sloppyschleckonds

Have you tried pushing a bigger/ smaller gear*









*delete as appropriate

FlacVest

Become more fit and the HR might go down; some people naturally have a higher HR than others though.

Personally, my parents were both track sprinters and I have practically all glycolytic muscle. My HR is always high. On climbs it hits 190, every time. I'm 21.

I've looked at other guy's ride stats and theirs is an average of 140 or something. Mine is always ~170, with a max at 190-200, depending on how hard I hit various climbs.

Resting HR is in the 60s, or 50s when I'm sitting still and concentrating on lowering it.

diy

190-200 is about right for a fit 21 yo.

clunsy

Thanks very much everyone who took the time to reply. The article i refered to in my original post had planted a few seeds of doubt in my head, but your replies give me a lot of reassurance and im confident again that i'm not about to keel over!

In answer to a few of the questions - my resting heart rate is around 55 and i do recover fairly fast. Most importantly, i feel good pushing myself (or as good as you can when approaching your maximum heart rate!) and certainly dont feel like its a problem.

johnny25

I find if a drink a caffeine based product prior to a cycle, my heart rate can be 6 or 7bpm faster.

Today I didn't have a strong cup of coffee prior to a ride and my average was 151bpm. 2 days ago I did and my average heart rate was 158bpm. That's a 4.6% increase. The terrain and weather conditions were similar.

Clearly this is subjective and heart rates can be affected by many different factors.

neeb

As you cycle more and get more "cycling fit" you'll probably find that your average HR comes down for a given speed/power and perceived level of exertion. Then you'll start worrying about that too (must be getting old, can't get my HR up to the levels I used to be able to, etc etc..)

I find it pretty difficult to get near my maximum HR on the road. I know when I'm approaching on a sharp climb because the blood starts getting shunted away from my arms and they feel tingly..

dazz_ni45

I started wearing an HRM last Autumn and on "gentle" club rides I was averaging 175 and when pushing on or climbing my HR was peaking at around 210 and I felt dizzy with a tingling in both arms which concerned me so went to see the Doctor. (I'm 35)

I was referred to a cardiologist who carried out various tests (bloodtests, blood pressure, ecg's amongst others). Eventually they did the treadmill test. They didn't expect to be able to raise to my heartrate to the levels when cycling, but after about 30 minutes and a significant incline on the treadmill my hr hit over 200. The thing that they watched for was that my HR went up smoothly and came back down smoothly and quickly which it did and I was told there was nothing to worry about and some some people had a naturally high heart rate.

If you concerned at all, then my advice would be to see the Doctor for a bit of piece of mind.

imposter2.0

drlodge wrote:

MartinB2444 wrote:

Getting your genuine MHR is truly vomit inducing.

It can also be dangerous if dong it on a bike! Remember when I got mine up to 187 and I had to concentrate not to pass out for a couple of minutes.

Athletes of all types and all levels routinely hit their MHR during training and racing - there is nothing dangerous about it, assuming you have no underlying health issues. If you are genuinely close to passing out, I would see a doctor.

neeb

dazz_ni45 wrote:

The thing that they watched for was that my HR went up smoothly and came back down smoothly and quickly which it did

You can pretty much observe this yourself if you have a HR monitor and software that displays a graph of HR over time on the indoor trainer. The most important thing is that after pushing your heart rate up to 90% + of HR max or so and then soft pedalling to recover, you should see the heart rate drop by 15bpm or more in the first minute. If you are properly fit it will be about 40bmp. This is one of the best indicators of fitness and general cardiovascular health.

GGBiker

I average about 150 usually on a long run, resting is around 40s (recorded 37 once at work). I usually max out around 186 (age 36) but have hit 196.

A few weeks ago after a race (wasn't feeling well due to cold/cough) I recorded a max of 236.

I'm putting it down to recording error on the HR monitor, otherwise I must have been in ventricular fibrillation and close to a cardiac arrest.