Training & Nutrition - Can't get my heart rate up

Clydesdale here, 265lbs, 6'2" if any of that matters. I ride a Cannondale mtn bike ( M300 ) with smooth tires (town and country tires). I ride during lunch. I am up to right at 10 miles during the lunch rides. The problem is that I can't seem to get my heart rate up. I've tried upping my spin rate but then I end up bouncing on the seat and switch gears. On these rides I get a great leg workout which is nice but I don't feel much cardio benefit.

Is this common?

What is up? Are you using a heart rate monitor?

It's very common that people don't push hard enough. It's uncomfortable, so the instinct is not to do it.

Otherwise, it might be best to head to the doc and get a stress test.

Az

Try standing out of the saddle... takes way more effort, at least I think so.

If you really want to beat yourself up... find some hills. Or, if you live in a place w/o hills... may-haps a parking garage? A few fast laps up and down that thing should have you sweating bullets.

I used to be at 275, and when I discovered I couldn't get my heart-rate up, or seemed to plateau... I ramped it up a notch. Out of the saddle pedaling really gave me a beast of a workout.

Seemed to work out well. Good luck.

Clydesdale here, 265lbs, 6'2" if any of that matters. I ride a Cannondale mtn bike ( M300 ) with smooth tires (town and country tires). I ride during lunch. I am up to right at 10 miles during the lunch rides. The problem is that I can't seem to get my heart rate up. I've tried upping my spin rate but then I end up bouncing on the seat and switch gears. On these rides I get a great leg workout which is nice but I don't feel much cardio benefit.

Is this common?

Switching gears is fine.

If you're not there already, try aiming for about a 80-90 rpm cadence. When you get there (or if you are there already) then try spinning faster while keeping yourself firmly rooted on the saddle. BTW - Are you using platform pedals?

You might try climbing hills too whenever possible. Hills bring my HR up!!

What is up? Are you using a heart rate monitor?

It's very common that people don't push hard enough. It's uncomfortable, so the instinct is not to do it.

Otherwise, it might be best to head to the doc and get a stress test.

Az

I'm not using a heart rate monitor but it doesn't *feel* up hardly at all. I don't breathe hard. All I can feel si the strain on my thighs when I push hard and that's where I like to keep it. When I go jogging I can feel my breath increasing, my heart rate going up, and so on. I don't expect it to be anywhere near what my jogging sessions are but I'd like to get SOME cardio out of the deal.

Try standing out of the saddle... takes way more effort, at least I think so.

If you really want to beat yourself up... find some hills. Or, if you live in a place w/o hills... may-haps a parking garage? A few fast laps up and down that thing should have you sweating bullets.

I used to be at 275, and when I discovered I couldn't get my heart-rate up, or seemed to plateau... I ramped it up a notch. Out of the saddle pedaling really gave me a beast of a workout.

Seemed to work out well. Good luck.

I'll try that. We have a parking garage. However I am pushing as hard as my legs allow. I get the nice deep burning going on and I try to maintain a certain amount of strain through my 10 miles. If it is too easy and I'm spinning so fast I'm bouncing I'll kick it up a gear. If my spin rate is too low I'll lower a gear, etc. I try to make it so that I really wipe myself out by the end of the ride.

Switching gears is fine.

If you're not there already, try aiming for about a 80-90 rpm cadence. When you get there (or if you are there already) then try spinning faster while keeping yourself firmly rooted on the saddle. BTW - Are you using platform pedals?

You might try climbing hills too whenever possible. Hills bring my HR up!!

I don't really know what my cadence is but I go the gear above where I would bounce. Maybe I should find the highest gear I bounce at and back off just a tad to keep the cadence high. My MPH won't be as high as I could go but that's not my goal.

I'm wondering if the fact that I have a mountain bike (although an ok one) plus I weight a ton if I get an anaerobic workout instead of an aerobic workout. I know my thighs are pumped when I am done and my legs are wasted for a day or so.

I'm not using a heart rate monitor but it doesn't *feel* up hardly at all. I don't breathe hard. All I can feel si the strain on my thighs when I push hard and that's where I like to keep it. When I go jogging I can feel my breath increasing, my heart rate going up, and so on. I don't expect it to be anywhere near what my jogging sessions are but I'd like to get SOME cardio out of the deal.

There's your answer. You can get the rate up jogging, but not riding? You're simply not trying hard enough. Go faster. Put it in a high gear and then try to get your cadence up. If the cadence comes up, shift into a higher gear and run it up again. Keep going until you run out of gears. Hold it for at least three minutes in your highest gear at 90 rpm. You'll be breathing hard.

Az

I don't really know what my cadence is but I go the gear above where I would bounce. Maybe I should find the highest gear I bounce at and back off just a tad to keep the cadence high. My MPH won't be as high as I could go but that's not my goal.

I'm wondering if the fact that I have a mountain bike (although an ok one) plus I weight a ton if I get an anaerobic workout instead of an aerobic workout. I know my thighs are pumped when I am done and my legs are wasted for a day or so.


Well, if you've got a timekeeping device of some sort, you can count your cadence per minute.
And with the same timekeeping device you can check your heart rate per minute.

Not bouncing at a higher cadence takes some practice. But as for speed, try finding a comfortable gear where you aren't bouncing, and riding all out, as fast as you can go for 30 seconds or a minute, then rest for a minute or so, then ride all out again ... and see if your heart rate increases.

There's your answer. You can get the rate up jogging, but not riding? You're simply not trying hard enough. Go faster. Put it in a high gear and then try to get your cadence up. If the cadence comes up, shift into a higher gear and run it up again. Keep going until you run out of gears. Hold it for at least three minutes in your highest gear at 90 rpm. You'll be breathing hard.

Az

I'm not sure this is revolving around effort. I work harder biking the 10 miles then I so with my slow, body friendly trot. When I run I just trot along and keep my effort level to where I can feel my heart working at the rate which feels right. I also trot to keep my still working knees .... still working. When I ride my bike I don't have to worry about impact so I push as hard as my muscle-burning pain will allow. Sure a person could always push harder but I'm up near the limit. I've only got a few gears left to what my bike has so I figure I'm cruising pretty good.

What I may have to do is get a heart monitor. I am trying to associate breathing heard to working heard and maybe with biking I just can't do that. Maybe my heart rate is up and I just can't feel it because I'm also thinking I should be breathing hard.

Or maybe not. Hell I don't know.

Sound like me. Im a lightweight, but my legs are just not up to par with my lungs. I can get my HR up to 198 on a group ride, and feel fine..steady breathing...but the legs are just screaming at me. So i believe my max HR is higher, but I can;t realize it because my legs arent strong enough to hold an hard enough effort that long...or at least thats what I think. I just started riding in january

Sound like me. Im a lightweight, but my legs are just not up to par with my lungs. I can get my HR up to 198 on a group ride, and feel fine..steady breathing...but the legs are just screaming at me. So i believe my max HR is higher, but I can;t realize it because my legs arent strong enough to hold an hard enough effort that long...or at least thats what I think. I just started riding in january

That could be me as well.

I'm not sure this is revolving around effort. I work harder biking the 10 miles then I so with my slow, body friendly trot. When I run I just trot along and keep my effort level to where I can feel my heart working at the rate which feels right. I also trot to keep my still working knees .... still working. When I ride my bike I don't have to worry about impact so I push as hard as my muscle-burning pain will allow. Sure a person could always push harder but I'm up near the limit. I've only got a few gears left to what my bike has so I figure I'm cruising pretty good.


All I can feel si the strain on my thighs when I push hard and that's where I like to keep it. When I go jogging I can feel my breath increasing, my heart rate going up, and so on.


It sounds like you need a point of reference. Get a HR monitor, take a stress test. Then you'll know exactly what perceived exertion means in terms of heart rate.

Az

I have a hard time getting my HR up as well, especially in just 10 miles, unless I'm climbing HARD (in which case, you'll want about a 5-10 mile warmup first anyways). I'm in great shape, a strong cyclist, at my ideal weight, and workout daily...still hard to really get the heart going or getting out of breath on the bike. When I run or swim, however, my heart rate picks right up. I've read quite a bit on this matter and have come to the conclusion that physiology allows some of us to get a better cardio workout doing different things.

Try riding longer (maybe after work) since it's staying light till 8:00 now. If I can get in two hours, I may still not get my HR as high as running, but this long between zone 2 & zone 3 leaves me feeling sufficiently worked. I'd recommend getting your breathing rhythm down perfectly, then ramping up the workout, and find some hills. An HR monitor can be useful, but if you've ever used one before, it's pretty easy to tell by how you feel what zone you're in without one.

Thanks for the advice and words of experience everybody. I think it's clear the first thing I need to do is get a heart monitor. I'm going to be surprised if it tells me anything different then what I think I feel already but I'm ok with being wrong.

As for riding after work, that won't pan out consistently. I coach, kids are involved, blah blah blah and going during lunch is working out great. If it turns out that I can't get my heart rate up in the time I have at an extended lunch then I'll have to be happy with the calories burned and jog on my off days.

A HRM is great, but do you know how to take your pulse? Ride for 30 minutes or so, and then, on a quiet stretch of road where you can concentrate, take your pulse. That'll give you some idea what you heart is doing.

A HRM is great, but do you know how to take your pulse? Ride for 30 minutes or so, and then, on a quiet stretch of road where you can concentrate, take your pulse. That'll give you some idea what you heart is doing.


That's true, I could take my pulse just like the pioneers did when riding their bikes!

That's true, I could take my pulse just like the pioneers did when riding their bikes!


Pioneers nothing!! I still take my pulse when I ride, and I have a HRM somewhere. It's just a pain to use it all the time.

Like I said before, get a basic timekeeping device of some sort and with it you can calculate your cadence and heart rate.

bouncing in the seat? is this a mountain bike with suspension?

perhaps you need to ride harder and longer. 10 miles is what- 30 minutes? do an hour.

ride some hills!

Pioneers nothing!! I still take my pulse when I ride, and I have a HRM somewhere. It's just a pain to use it all the time.

Like I said before, get a basic timekeeping device of some sort and with it you can calculate your cadence and heart rate.

I'll do that. It should be interesting.

bouncing in the seat? is this a mountain bike with suspension?

perhaps you need to ride harder and longer. 10 miles is what- 30 minutes? do an hour.

ride some hills!

When I am in the wrong gear and spinning too fast I bounce a bit. When I feel this starting I switch gears.

When I am in the wrong gear and spinning too fast I bounce a bit. When I feel this starting I switch gears.

Which is what you are supposed to do.

Which is what you are supposed to do.

OK, good. I thought by the other guy's post I was doing something wrong. I'm fairly new so I could be convinced of anything. Tell me I should be sitting backwards and pedaling with my hands? I'll do it!

Maybe your seat is too low so you're basically doing something like an anaerobic weightlifting squat. That could explain why your legs are shaky, why you are uncomfortable at high cadence, and why you can't raise your heart rate.

Depending on how much you normally ride, could be a case of your lungs being in much better shape than your legs. I run year round, and commute to work by bike when its nicer out. You work different muscles on the bike compared to running. When I jump on the bike, my lungs never get a workout because my quads tire out quicker than they do.

This thread is interesting to me, it seems I have a similar problem. I have recently started training with an HRM as well as running and getting on the trainer more. All signs point to my legs just not being strong enough (relative to my cardio at least). What is the best way to build up leg strength? Weights? Intervals? More time in the saddle at lower speeds?

I kinda get the same problem, but only on stationary bikes. (So I use the ones in the gym when there is bad weather OK). When I ride my real bike it seems that my legs are better than my lungs.

I also find I get the 'shaky legs' but only if I don't start off slow and do a little bit of a warm up.

Depending on how much you normally ride, could be a case of your lungs being in much better shape than your legs. I run year round, and commute to work by bike when its nicer out. You work different muscles on the bike compared to running. When I jump on the bike, my lungs never get a workout because my quads tire out quicker than they do.

I've been off biking for a while and recently came back to it. I thought I'd find some of my old threads.

The above poster hit upon what the root of this problem was and that is that my legs are/was behind my lungs in terms of fitness given the time I had to ride at lunch. Now that I am biking again I had the same issue except the fact I can ride longer when I go out is taking care of the issue. I can get out for 1.5 hrs now three/four times a week and I've also found a few small hills on my route. At first my legs would limit my riding and even though my legs are still behind my lungs I can, whenever I want, push it and get my breathing up. And therefore my heart rate. I have found that I can now gauge how far I have left on my ride and what sort of effort I have to give to get a great workout.

I appreciate all the advice I was given a few years ago.

There's often a difference between muscular (leg) fitness and cardio fitness. It's much easier to get your HR up while jogging because so many more muscles are involved. Cycling, only the legs and butt are really doing much of anything. The cardio effect depends on the muscle mass involved, and the fitness of that muscle mass. Very fit and experienced cyclists will be able to ride for very long periods at high HRs because their leg muscles are large and well conditioned.

IOW, your HR will come up as your legs get stronger. Just keep at it and make sure you enjoy what you are doing, so you will continue to do it. That's the most important part. Riding more distance, as you can, will do more for you than any other single thing. Of course pay attention to pedaling rather fast and keeping your HR reasonable. But mostly look for fun places to go and low traffic roads to ride on. If you see a hill, ride up it.

There's often a difference between muscular (leg) fitness and cardio fitness. It's much easier to get your HR up while jogging because so many more muscles are involved.

i always wondered why it was that i can go out on my bike for hours at a time, but a mile long jog just gets me absolutely exhausted. does jogging in any way benefit the muscles used for cycling? i like to mix up my workouts a bit and tend to train on an elliptical due to knee pains i get while jogging.

i've also had some nagging knee pain in my right knee cycling, i keep making saddle adjustments but every time i change my position on the bike, the pain goes away from one part of my right knee and moves to another. at first it was on the back side of my knee on the outside, made a few adjustments and the pain was right above my knee cap, made a few adjustments and now the pain is on top but toward the inside of my knee. i spent about an hour and a half on the trainer yesterday making adjustments to my saddle height and fore-aft position, as well as cleat alignment, and can't get rid of the pain.

i always wondered why it was that i can go out on my bike for hours at a time, but a mile long jog just gets me absolutely exhausted. does jogging in any way benefit the muscles used for cycling? i like to mix up my workouts a bit and tend to train on an elliptical due to knee pains i get while jogging.

i've also had some nagging knee pain in my right knee cycling, i keep making saddle adjustments but every time i change my position on the bike, the pain goes away from one part of my right knee and moves to another. at first it was on the back side of my knee on the outside, made a few adjustments and the pain was right above my knee cap, made a few adjustments and now the pain is on top but toward the inside of my knee. i spent about an hour and a half on the trainer yesterday making adjustments to my saddle height and fore-aft position, as well as cleat alignment, and can't get rid of the pain.Running doesn't do much for cycling and vice versa, which is why bi and triathlons are so hard. Each sport essentially takes away from the other sports by reducing the time spent at each, while not getting much complimentary return. However all cardio sports help those aspects of conditioning: stroke volume and energy systems for example.

The knee pain on the back and outside is probably illiotibial band syndrome. Usually lowering the saddle helps with that. Pain behind the kneecap is usually chrondomalacia. Raising the saddle usually helps with that. The pain near the top on the inside is probably some sort of tendonitis. Ibuprofen usually helps with that. Be sure you are using a nice high cadence and ease off on the effort for a while until it gets better.

My thoughts are also that your legs are playing out before you get your heartrate up.
If your bike muscles are relatively small, they won't make as much a demand on a well-developed cardio system.

+1 on getting a HRM. Mine lets me download the session to my computer to review at my leisure.

Standing climbing hills seems to get my heartrate going just fine.

Also, when I am very tired and stressed, or not fueled properly, I just don't have enough in the tank to hammer a short ride. If you're riding before lunch, look at what and when you're eating breakfast to make sure it has staying power to get you through your ride. Enough sleep the day before? How much rest since the last physical activity?

Shift into a harder gear than usual (sacrificing cadence) to build leg strength. Shift into an easier gear than usual (sacrificing power) to work on cadence. Stand up climbing to build your cardio. Mix it all up, working your technique keeps a routine interesting as you experiment and find out what works best and track how it all feels.

Clydesdale here, 265lbs, 6'2" if any of that matters. I ride a Cannondale mtn bike ( M300 ) with smooth tires (town and country tires). I ride during lunch. I am up to right at 10 miles during the lunch rides. The problem is that I can't seem to get my heart rate up. I've tried upping my spin rate but then I end up bouncing on the seat and switch gears. On these rides I get a great leg workout which is nice but I don't feel much cardio benefit.

Is this common?
Yeah, I would think your muscles aren't built up enough, or at least the right ones. If all the riding you are doing is what you say in your post, you are not riding enough. Bottom level racers easily do 8-10 hours a week consistently.