"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - How much training does it take to drop your heartbeat by 10 bpm?

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Sincitycycler
02-24-06, 02:17 AM
I am astounded at the graphics of the cyclists in the T of CA with alot of them having resting heartbeats of 40 bpm ( I read that Indurain's was 29 :eek:).

I've been riding for a year and I have gotten faster, but I don't think my heartrate is any different.

How do those pros get their heartbeats freaklishly low? Is it long hours in the saddle, pushing to your lactic threshold, or both? :(

DrWJODonnell
02-24-06, 08:20 AM
Primarily long saddle hours. Though all training helps. Lower heartrate indicates more pump (heart/blood) efficiency. Some are naturally low (mine was 50 prior to lowering it to 38) but typically years of training and adaptation to the stresses placed upon it lower the HR.

I would not worry about getting a freakishly low heartrate as it does little to tell you of your race performance. However, if you are using HR training and your resting HR is still upwards of 80 (and you are not a child) you may need to rethink your training program. Overtraining can elevate the resting HR (though in most cases not by more than 10-15%.)
Sincitycycler
02-24-06, 08:53 PM
Primarily long saddle hours. Though all training helps. Lower heartrate indicates more pump (heart/blood) efficiency. Some are naturally low (mine was 50 prior to lowering it to 38) but typically years of training and adaptation to the stresses placed upon it lower the HR.

I would not worry about getting a freakishly low heartrate as it does little to tell you of your race performance. However, if you are using HR training and your resting HR is still upwards of 80 (and you are not a child) you may need to rethink your training program. Overtraining can elevate the resting HR (though in most cases not by more than 10-15%.)

I'm about 60-65 bpm (resting) at 45 years of age (6'2' 195 lbs). Blood pressure was 105/70 last year before I started excercising and weighed 210 (pretty good for a guy who was out-of shape?) A non-smoker my whole life.

I'm looking forward to training a little harder this summer and losing another 10-15 lbs. :D