Training & Nutrition - Raised Heart Rate

I had a hard commute home last night. near freezing conditions with a wind from the north which hit me head on for the last mile or two.

I'm just back on the bike after an enforced 3 week layoff (ice and having a cold), and must admit I felt every mile last night. Legs arms shoulders all sore.

Also felt I wasn't breathing as well as usual.

My heart rate was raised slightly all evening. My normal resting pulse is about 50 - 53 (not bad for a 42 year old I think), but it was elevated to about 70 last night.

Anyone have any idea why this was? Did I just overdo it? My trip home took 7 minutes longer than usual over the 13 miles, which shows was suffering.

Could it just be the hangover from the cold?

Pulse feels normal now 55-60, but I didn't ride in because of icy conditions.

Hi Chewa-

A couple of months ago, I attended a seminar given by a physiologist who talked about heart rates. Basically, he was saying that it only takes 3 weeks off for your body's fitness level to decrease. Of course, with 3 weeks, it's not a big decline, but if your body hasn't worked out for that long of a time, you'll notice when you get back into things that your heart rate is off. If you're someone that is always training, and your body is used to training, it doesn't take that long for you to bounce back as you get back into your training routine.

I'm thinking it may be a combination of overdoing it coming back from a short haitus. I bet your heart rate will be close to normal within a few days of getting back into your regular routine.

K B

I don't focus on heartrate levels but agree that you need to build back up to your previous milage level a little more gradually but this should be able to be done fairly quickly.I am facing a similar situation as I have done less frequent shorter rides for the last month but am going to start ramping my milage back up as I plan to start doing some weekend touring.I have noticed with the shorter rides my endurance level is down but know I'll quickly be able to restore it .

remember- an elevated resting heart rate can be a sign of physical stress put on the body during the course of your entire life, not just your daily workout.

Related question...

I've heard an elevated resting heart (taken in the morning, just after awakening) is an indicator of overtraining, or impending sickness. How "elevated" does it need to be, to indicate overtraining or sickness. My RHR is b*tt-low, around 35bpm, but sometimes is up around 38. That only 3 bpm, which seems insignificant, but it's about 9% above average. What % is enough to indicate problems?

i have read in john douillard's book body, mind and sport that an elevated resting heart rate of 10 bpm indicates overtraining and/or that the body is sick. you should wait until your resting heart rate is back to normal before normal workouts again. sorry, but i've seen nothing in the literature about % above resting heart rate.

Hey Roadbuzz-

I've read on the average that when the resting heart rate is consistently over 5 beats, there may be a problem. There are some other tests you can do also to determine what kind of problem you are having, but resting heart rate is a big indicator that you may need a day or two off (or longer depending on the severity of the problem) before resuming physical activity.

Koffee

chronic dehydration can cause elevated levels as well. in the upper midwest, where humidity levels are routinely under 50% your water taken in through respiration can take a hit. a recent study suggests that 75% of all emergency room admissions are dehydrated. wintertime can produce dehydration at higher frequencies than during summertime when we are more conscious of it.
life is an interval (hey..that's a bumper sticker) and we interact with the environment each day.

My resting heart rate taken in the morning is like 53, just after I wake up. However, it doesn't goes down to that low at any other time of the day, over 60 all the time. How about that, is that normal? I consume lots of water, dehydration is not possible.

chewa,

hey, sounds all pretty normal to me.

training is work and stress on the body. then the body has to work hard to repair the damage and in the process you get stronger and more fit.

thus, if you were off the bike a few weeks, then your fitness/strength probably dropped a little as your body no longer faced the stress so didn't build itself up stronger. so then you surprized your body with what used to be a normal workout but now was a HARD workout b/c of the less training.

i have never solidly tracked my heartrate (i am not that anal, yet) but i think i have experienced this before.

---> so your body just needs time to recover. this means try and make everything right: eat well, drink, sleep well, reduce other stresses, etc--- and then either train very lightly or don't train at all (i think taking a day off was a good decision) and then start back slowly. should be no problem as long as it doesn't continue or you continue to be weak or whatever (overtraining, lack of recovery)

Originally posted by RiPHRaPH
chronic dehydration can cause elevated levels as well. in the upper midwest, where humidity levels are routinely under 50% your water taken in through respiration can take a hit. a recent study suggests that 75% of all emergency room admissions are dehydrated.

Dehydration is not usually a problem here in Scotland :) except in summer, but when I think about it I hadn't had my usual litre of water during the day.

I think that, and the fact that I was still slightly carrying a cold may have led to me overdoing it.

But tell me, does anyone ever cycle at a level less than their hardest?

I can drop down a bit if I'm with my wife or a friend and we are talking, but if on my own go at my usual rate (maybe 80% of as hard as I can when commuting) even if I've been off the bike for a week or two.

At the moment the high winds here are conspiring to keep me off (I have to cross a bridge over a river and the bridge closes to bikes above a certain wind speed) so I've only done 5 commutes in January. I'm sure it was the same last year. It's frustrating

John..... When you mention the bridge closes because of high winds, does the Ferry still operate as an alternative?

Hey oxologic-

I got an answer for you. Boy, I've been waiting to for this question from anyone for a while now. No one ever questions me about this phenomenon, which leads me to believe that they are not really measuring their heartrates in the morning when they get up (my participants, that is). Anyway, resting heart rate is a technical term- really, what chewa should be saying is that his ambient heart rate is higher than normal, as well as his recovery heart rate being higher as well. Ambient heart rate is the heart rate taken while seated quietly and checking heart rate. Resting heart rate is the heart rate you take at the beginning of the day when you first wake up. Recovery heart rate is the body's ability to recover to it's original ambient heart rate, or the heart rate you normally maintain before exercising.

Resting heart rate is best measured when you first wake up because you are fully rested. At night (normally), heart rate will slow down while you sleep. Your lowest readings will be when you first wake up. If you are startled out of your sleep from an alarm clock, you may not get your lowest readings. The clock may startle you to the point that your heart rate becomes elevated, so you should check your resting heart rate when you have the opportunity to wake up naturally (on days you are not working, for instance or days when you come in to work at a later time). If you can't do that, it may be better to get a downloadable heart rate monitor (highly recommended) and wear it to bed at night. In the morning, you can simply download the data onto your computer. Using the program from your watch, you can closely monitor your heart rate over time. If you can't get a monitor, you can also take a pulse manually on the wrist. The most accurate way to measure it is by counting it for a longer length of time, but if you don't have the time, you can: do a 10 second count and multiply that number by 6, a 15 second count and multiply that number by 4, or a 30 second count, and multiply that number by 2. If you have the full minute to count, and you can lay quietly and take your reading, count for the full 60 seconds to get the number for your resting heart rate.

If you have to get to work (like most regular working joes), and you have to use that alarm to wake up, all is not lost. Make sure your alarm is close enough to you so you can turn it off without having to get up and walk. When you wake up, turn off the alarm, then allow yourself a few minutes to lay there and breathe quietly and deeply. Once a few minutes of relaxation have passed, you can take your resting heart rate reading. It may not be as accurate as having the downloadable heart rate monitor that will pinpoint the exact time when you woke up, but it will be pretty accurate.

Ambient heart rate is the heart rate you maintain while sitting quietly during the day or when you are inactive. It varies, but generally, if your numbers are varying a lot (ie... if your numbers are ranging between 50 and 85, like mine was back when I was feeling very stressed and not getting a lot of sleep), that's a big indicator that there is something wrong. You'll want to watch your heart rate over the daytime, and take at least 6- 8 readings throughout the day. You should keep a log book of your readings and compute a daily average so you can measure them from month to month. Initially, when you first begin doing this, you may tend to take these readings more often, but as you get more comfortable and used to taking your readings, you will become more efficient at it and not have to take as many readings over the day. These kinds of readings are best done when you are wearing a downloadable heart rate monitor, because of course, you just download the information over a 24 hour period, and the program will chart your heart rate so you can track your changes more easily.

Recovery heart rate is the heart rate taken post exercise. Generally, the harder you work out, the longer it takes for your heart to recover. There are several ways to measure recovery heart rate. The most common way people measure recovery heart rate is during exercise- the interval workout is a great example. If you are doing your intervals, and you can't bring your heart rate down sufficiently during the rest period, it's a good indication that you may be overtrained. You will need to take your training to a lower intensity for the rest of the training session, and then take time off of your training until you've sufficiently recovered. When do you know you've sufficiently recovered? When your ambient heart rate stablilizes and/or when your resting heart rate returns to normal ranges (within 5 beats of your normal resting heart rate).

Another way to measure recovery heart rate is after your training session ends. Again, the longer it takes for you to recover after your training sessions, the more of an indication that you are overtrained, stressed, etc. I give my students this rule of thumb- within 2 minutes of the end of the workout, I want to see them at 65% heart rate or less. I give them a light spinning with no resistance on the bike. If they're not recovering, I'm very concerned. I'll monitor them over time and if it's a consistency, I tell them to go see their doctor. Seriously. The last time I had a participant not recover properly, he went to the hospital after class, and had a heart attack. He was not working out hard, BUT he had a hard time breathing and he couldn't get his heart rate down quite enough. He was also a lard ass who's idea of a good breakfast was IHOP's all you can eat special. He had a big girth and a lot of abdominal fat. He was in his late 50's also and didn't do much for exercise beyond my class once a week. So I was really glad I'd been forcing him to wear a monitor.

Yet another way to measure recovery heart rate is after your exercise, but using your resting heart rate. On the morning after your exercise, take your resting heart rate. If it hasn't recovered to within 5 beats of your normal resting heart rate, it is a signal that have not recovered adequately yet. You'll want to train lighter that day, or take the day off... rest day!


Lack of rest, stress, poor nutrition, and medication (among other things) can influence your resting heart rate, ambient heart rate and recovery heart rate. By becoming aware of these heart rate factors, you can monitor how your body is reacting to different stimulus. I know for a lot of people, this may seem extreme if you're new to the concept, but for the serious trainer, biofeedback measurement is just part of the training program. I bet most, if not all of the elite athletes know all their numbers for all the heart rate measurements, and more... and that's part of what makes them elite.

A long post, but it's the only was I could see to explain fully what you're looking for.

Koffee

Originally posted by willic
John..... When you mention the bridge closes because of high winds, does the Ferry still operate as an alternative?

There's no ferry, Willic. Used to be one across, but I think that stopped when the Road Bridgeopened in the 60's.

There was a brief fling with a ferry from Burntisland to Granton in the 80's but that fizzled out too.

They close the bridge to pedestrians, cycles, high siders and motorbikes much more often now, as I think the volume of traffic puts it under much more of a strain.

I've been the first motorbike over it when the wind has dropped enough to allow it, and it's no fun on a VFR 750 being moved sideways over a lane's width by the wind.

Koffee - thanks for the post - very informative.

Good one Koffee! You always have very long post for questions regarding heart rates. It's really comprehensive and elaborate, a good thing since it is a very long post. Anyway, do you have a book Koffee?

Hmmmmmm... a book. A good, basic college level biology book should be able to take you through the basics on physiology. I like Elaine Nicpon Marieb's book. That's something you can run into Border's and read right quick without buying. I also suggest Sally Edward's book called "The Heart Rate Monitor Book". She did that one a few years back, like in the early 90s.

I also recommend the books by the granddaddy of periodization programs- start with "Periodization Training for Sports".

It's a good start.

Koffee

Recovery heart rate is the heart rate taken post exercise......



Just wanted to say thanks to Koffee on this - a post that keeps on giving. I have been really worried about overtraining. I use my commute - 30k round trip - to do training; 2 x hard, 1 x interval, 1 x brisk and 1 x recovery rides. My heart rate avg is around 160 (zone 4 AT training) on the hard rides. On the weekends I do either a long group ride, 130k, or a hill group ride, 80k (the main hill is a 1 in 20 7km climb.) Interestingly, on the hill I was dropped, dropped and dropped again. Yet on the more undulating journey too and from the hill I was in the lead and could drop most of the others. I guess this makes sense given I am doing mostly sprint type work.

The reason this was important was that I really thought because of the high HR I ride at I was over training. But, whilst I back up a bit sore on a Monday, my HR recovery seem fine. Thanks for the tips.

HRM - 182