Max Heart Rate 206 bpm? 41 year old male is this something to worry about?

WheelMeals

Hi, I'm about 2 years in on road cycling, noted my max heart rate is higher than all of my contemporaries on Strava (my data is from Wahoo Chest strap and also if I use my Apple Watch). Resting heart rate is in the low 50's or lower sometimes.
Is the max rate bad (can be at this max rate for approx ~ 10% of the ride)? BHF and few other sites I note not to push HR above 170 odd in your 40's.

Feel fit and well, work/family only allow ~100km per week. Sort of putting me off doing bigger/longer events. Curious to know others experiences....?

sh3p

51 in a few weeks HR can be as high as 210 for short periods have my garmin set to alarm at 190, and it goes off quite often during short climbs at max effort, (although I'm well aware at that point lol) I guess it is ofc down to the individual and their fitness level, as I seem to recover back to 140-50 quickly I don't worry about it..

StillGoing

I'm in my late 50's and regularly in the high 160-low 170 region with a dodgy artery. Resting HR is high 50's.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

A mate of mine turned 40 around Easter and he regularly hits 200bpm.

I'm 44 and regularly hit 188-190bpm up the hills on big efforts. https://cricklesorg.wordpress.com/ (freebie stats site that links to Strava) reckons my Lactate Threshold Heart Rate is ~171bpm.

imposter2.0

WheelMeals wrote:

Hi, I'm about 2 years in on road cycling, noted my max heart rate is higher than all of my contemporaries on Strava (my data is from Wahoo Chest strap and also if I use my Apple Watch). Resting heart rate is in the low 50's or lower sometimes.
Is the max rate bad (can be at this max rate for approx ~ 10% of the ride)? BHF and few other sites I note not to push HR above 170 odd in your 40's.

Feel fit and well, work/family only allow ~100km per week. Sort of putting me off doing bigger/longer events. Curious to know others experiences....?

Your HR is completely irrelevant to anyone else’s. Generic BHF advice is probably targeted at the general ‘sedentary’ population, so presuming you are generally healthy just disregard that. Unless you are monitoring your HR for any kind of training purpose, I personally wouldn’t bother with it..

mrfpb

High max means you're probably more fit than your general age group, as HRmax generally falls with age due to inactivity and/or weight gain I'm 51 with HRmax of 195, I regularly sprint finish my Parkruns at 180+, but do most of the run in 160-175 zone.

You're resting heart rate will be your best indicator of fitness. Anything under 60 is very good in terms of the general population. You're GP or practice nurse wouldn't feel the need to take action if your HRrest was as high as 100bpm.

imposter2.0

mrfpb wrote:

High max means you're probably more fit than your general age group,

High MHR means you have a high MHR - nothing more. It is not an indication of fitness. He may indeed be fitter than his general age group, but not because of his MHR.

Bottom briquettes

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

imposter2.0

Bottom briquettes wrote:

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

That's meaningless info in itself. What is the reason that you don't let your HR go above 170?

norvernrob

Bottom briquettes wrote:

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

170 is barely touching threshold for me, I often average 165 over a 4 hour ride and hit a constant 185 on short 5-6 minute climbs. Big efforts I’ll be over 190 briefly.

supermurph09

It could also be a glitch.

WheelMeals

Thanks for all the replies, will check out that Strava site. Sounds like I don’t need to worry too much, it is what it is, as the ol saying goes.

Bottom briquettes

Imposter wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

That's meaningless info in itself. What is the reason that you don't let your HR go above 170?

Advice from qualified medical professionals.

Bottom briquettes

NorvernRob wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

170 is barely touching threshold for me, I often average 165 over a 4 hour ride and hit a constant 185 on short 5-6 minute climbs. Big efforts I’ll be over 190 briefly.

I never used to monitor it. I’ve only had a HR meter for the last couple of years. I don’t know what it used to get to, for sure. I’ve now got a way to measure it, that suits me. I know my resting heart rate is typically sub 50 bpm, past that I just go on what Ive been advised.

imposter2.0

Bottom briquettes wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

That's meaningless info in itself. What is the reason that you don't let your HR go above 170?

Advice from qualified medical professionals.

So you have some kind of heart problem. You should have said.

cougie

Does that explain the low cadence then BB ?

OP I can't see how you're at your max for 10% of your ride. I suspect your HRM is reading wrong.

WheelMeals

Most of Last Months readings were all from Apple watch, will dig out the wahoo tickr for tomorrrows ride.

Ps: 10% estimate was using an app called Cardiogram which is on iOS/android that crunch’s all the hr data

Brakeless

Bottom briquettes wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

I don’t let my HR get above 170. If it goes higher, I back off the effort.

That's meaningless info in itself. What is the reason that you don't let your HR go above 170?

Advice from qualified medical professionals.

What’s the reason they give you ?

gingerflash1975

A higher-than-expected Max HR isn't a problem, as others have already said.

I'm 43. Mine is about 198 and I do not back off. If you can occasionally touch 206 under max effort, then that's just what it is. Unless you know of a medical problem, i wouldn't worry about it.

However, if yours is showing 206 for 10% of the ride, then I suspect a technical problem.

Unless your rides are incredibly short, then you're not going to be able to sustain max HR for that long. Max HR is only reached when everything is screaming at you to stop and you cannot hold the effort for more than a few seconds. It's not something you can hold for minutes at a time.

I have noticed artificially high HRs when on very fast descents or when riding into strong head winds. It seems that wind blowing around the chest strap was the problem. I've also noticed crazy-high HRs (230bpm when it feels more like 160) when the battery was low.

Finally, a mate (in his late 40s) kept getting very high HRs from his Garmin. Turned out he had an arrythmia and his chest strap didn't know what to make of the irregular pattern so just kept posting up 200-240bpm for an hour or so at a time.

bendertherobot

gingerflash1975 wrote:

A higher-than-expected Max HR isn't a problem, as others have already said.

I'm 43. Mine is about 198 and I do not back off. If you can occasionally touch 206 under max effort, then that's just what it is. Unless you know of a medical problem, i wouldn't worry about it.

However, if yours is showing 206 for 10% of the ride, then I suspect a technical problem.

Unless your rides are incredibly short, then you're not going to be able to sustain max HR for that long. Max HR is only reached when everything is screaming at you to stop and you cannot hold the effort for more than a few seconds. It's not something you can hold for minutes at a time.

I have noticed artificially high HRs when on very fast descents or when riding into strong head winds. It seems that wind blowing around the chest strap was the problem. I've also noticed crazy-high HRs (230bpm when it feels more like 160) when the battery was low.

Finally, a mate (in his late 40s) kept getting very high HRs from his Garmin. Turned out he had an arrythmia and his chest strap didn't know what to make of the irregular pattern so just kept posting up 200-240bpm for an hour or so at a time.

Yeah, on that last part, when I had afib every device I had was all over the shop with readings from no reading, just above normal to north of 200.