Maximum heart rate vs. age... the results
Hi all: Okay, as promised, here's a summary of the results of my little non-scientific study of maximum heart rate vs. age for BF50+ers. The plot shows all the reported values that appeared to be valid. I left out one individual who said he was on beta blockers, which reduce max HR, and one who suspected a glitch in his data. For some who responded with Max HR but not age I grabbed the age value from the rogues gallery! Also shown on the plot is the oft-cited 220-age line. A few things pop out:
1) As several have noted, 220-age is not a particularly good predictor.
2) Interestingly, essentially all of the reported values are at or above the 220-age line. Even though 220-age is a poor predictor overall, this could perhaps be an indication that the population here has a somewhat higher max HR on average than the general population does in our age group.
3) There's quite a bit of scatter in the data. This surely reflects a combination of factors, including both real variations from individual to individual and variations in the way the measurement was made.
4) There appears to be a weakly-expressed trend of decreasing max HR with increasing age, but it is small in these data compared to the scatter.
Overall interesting stuff, and I thank you for indulging my curiosity. Keep 'em beating!