Road Cycling - Heart Rate Monitoring

Just had a few questions in reference to heart rates.
I am 20 years old and typically average between 150-180 during my workouts, this includes biking, running, blading and spinning classes. I am wondering what is to high, the other day I averaged 85% of my maximum during a spin class. Is this to high for such an extended period of timel. Thanks for any advice.

Hi bjess,
If you were in a spin class then the instructor should have told you exactly where to keep your heart rate and why. I teach spinning at a spinning certified club. We always explain what we are doing for the ride and where we want your heart rate to be ( recovery ride, endurance, strength, interval or race day). 85% for an entire class would be considered a race day for us.
Talk to your spin instructor. If they are "Johnny G" certified they can answer all of your questions.
Ride On,
Yvonne

Yvonne, What does it usualy cost to take a spin class? How long do classes last?

I'm going to take one this winter / fall, my lungs dong like cold air. ;)

Originally posted by bjess
Just had a few questions in reference to heart rates.
I am 20 years old and typically average between 150-180 during my workouts, this includes biking, running, blading and spinning classes. I am wondering what is to high, the other day I averaged 85% of my maximum during a spin class. Is this to high for such an extended period of timel. Thanks for any advice.

You don't say what your maximum HR is (180?), so averaging between 150-180 could be okay or could be doing you no good whatsoever. I'm making the assumption that each different type of workout is done in a tight band (staying within say 5% of a target # for example) inside of the 150-180 BPM range.

During hard aerobic workouts I maintain 85 - 90% of max for 75 minutes. Warm up / cool down, interval, basic aerobic and recovery efforts are all done at other target heartrates.

If your instructor isn't guiding you, start reading, everybody has a different opinion and your indiviual fitness / conditioning level needs to be considered. "The Heartrate Monitor Book" by S. Edwards is one I often see recomended.

On Lance Armstrong's web site his coach states that LA rides time trials at 87 - 92% of max, so 85% obviously isn't out of line for some.

Bjess:

At the risk of sounding redundant, I'll refer you to a thread we've been working on under the training and nutrition topic: http://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11318

Give that a read. It may help.

As far as your heart rates, are you aware that heart rates are sport specific? So, your heart rate is higher when you are running, than when you are cycling, and lower when you are swimming than when you are cycling (for instance). So, what you will need to do is find your maximum heart rate and your anaerobic threshold, and if you can- your VO2 max by getting tested. If you are concerned about all these sports, then get tested for each sport individually. It will cost you some serious bling-bling, but hey... it's worth it in that rat race we call exercise. Once you know what these values are for your heart rates for the different sports, you'll be able to understand better what you're doing when you're working out, then you can tailor your program to fit your needs.

It is true that we don't know your heart rates, so we can't really comment on the numbers. If you haven't checked out that link I put in this post, please do so once you've finished reading this post. I hopefully explained why it's important to know what your heart rates are and how you can figure out those numbers on your own if you can't get to a testing facility.

Also, what I'm wondering is what your objectives are. Why do you work out at 85- 90% max heart rate (if those numbers are accurate)? What are your fitness goals? Once you've determined your heart rate numbers, reply to the post and let us know what your fitness goals are for each sport you participate in. We can help you with your questions a lot better that with these juicy tidbits. There's a lot of intelligent folks here on the forum that can help you with your questions.

As far as your spin class, Yvonne is correct- your instructor should always set the parameters for the class with regards to heart rate, and they should always inform the students what the objective of the class is (for instance- we're going to work on hills today, and we're going to keep these hills between 70- 90% heart rate max) and they should let you know at what point in the class you should be at a specific heart rate. Then they should let you know the profile at the beginning of the class and where you should be heart rate wise for that particular terrain in the profile. If they're not doing that, ask them before the class to please specify these parameters for you (and the rest of the class) so you can work on whatever it is you're training for effectively. Then go find an instructor that does these things. It can be any instructor that teaches any indoor cycling class. You'll be able to tell if they're knowledgeable because when you ask them to do the things I outlined, if they look glazed in the eyes and/or slack-jawed, run fast in the opposite direction. But if they begin talking to you intelligently and can answer your questions and make some sense, then you are in the right place. Stay put and report back to us.


Koffee

Hi Joe- Sorry it took so long to reply! The cost of a spin class depends on the gym you belong to. At our club it is included in the membership price. So I guess I'm not much help. Class is 40 minutes long. It is a wonderful way to enhance your riding ability as you can really concentrate on your form, breathing, etc.. without wondering if that motorist at the corner will see you or not. You should try it. I'll bet you'll like it :D !
Yvonne