Training & Nutrition - what is the vest way to lower heart rate

i never was fat, but when i measure my active hr it gets to 170-175 easy i can hold this hr for a long time but find it difficult to slow my hr down any tips

Well, the simple answer is "don't ride as hard".

The complex answer is that different people have different heart rate ranges. If you do the field test in the forum and tell us what number you get from that, we can suggest where you should try to be.

It would also help to know what kind of riding you are doing. How far, how long, how hilly, how fast...

Have you ever had a treadmill test? Depending on your conditioning, a cardiologist may ratchet up the speed of the treadmill till it gets to your 175, then the doctor will get you off the treadmill and start measuring how much time it takes to get the heart down in increments. That part of the test is an indicator.

I have never done a systematic study of maximum heart rate. But friends of mine and I used to compare our max heart rates at the same part of the ride. We knew how we ranked in relative strength as cyclists. But the maximum heart rate that each of us could achieve seemed unrelated to our relative physical fitness. That is the strongest rider did not have the highest maximum heart rate.

Generally, the strongest rider would have the lowest heart rate at any given time. The reason for that was that the strongest rider was farthest from their maximum rate of exertion and required a lower heart rate to maintain the effort at the moment.

So how do you lower your heart rate? As suggested above, you can just back off a bit on the intensity of your exercise. If you are riding a group, that could mean being dropped. Our you can go out and get into better aerobic shape and then your heart rate at a given rate of intensity of riding should decrease. The thing is there is no easy way out here.

If the vest is really tight (I mean really tight), the constriction will limit the hearts ability to pump. That would be the "vest" way IMO

I have never done a systematic study of maximum heart rate. But friends of mine and I used to compare our max heart rates at the same part of the ride. We knew how we ranked in relative strength as cyclists. But the maximum heart rate that each of us could achieve seemed unrelated to our relative physical fitness. That is the strongest rider did not have the highest maximum heart rate.

Correct


Generally, the strongest rider would have the lowest heart rate at any given time. The reason for that was that the strongest rider was farthest from their maximum rate of exertion and required a lower heart rate to maintain the effort at the moment.

You are very close. The strongest rider will be a lower % of their maximum rate, but if their maximum rate is much higher the HR of the stronger rider may still be the same or higher.


So how do you lower your heart rate? As suggested above, you can just back off a bit on the intensity of your exercise. If you are riding a group, that could mean being dropped. Our you can go out and get into better aerobic shape and then your heart rate at a given rate of intensity of riding should decrease. The thing is there is no easy way out here.

A better question is why does the OP think he needs to lower his heart rate?

I believe he means he wants to lower the rate at rest... not when exercising.

Ride more. It will come down with time.

try yoga, seriously it works

I just finished responding to another fellas post about the same thing.
I cannot begin to reccomend a cardio/pulmonary stress test to anyone who is getting in or back in to strenuous exercise.
This is from MY experience only ok?
I'd been a competitive cyclist well into my mid 40s.
Dropped out of the exercise scene untill my late 50s.
I was having some oxygen problems resulting in lactic acid buildups (big time)
The docs were not happy with the recovery times after strenuous exercise .
Furthur tests showed two partially blocked arteries and an aneurosim.
The blocked arteries (as explained to me by the surgeons) was what was causing the problem in the HR recovery time.