Training & Nutrition - Help with working out at the gym and heart rates

I've been off the bike for about 3 months because of a broken clavicle, and haven't done much as far as riding on the trainer. Today I went to the gym with my girlfriend and after doing some spinning on a crappy lemond brand bike-ish thing that had no data output except cadence, I saw that they had a bike thing with a screen in the front, that simulates various routes and lets you steer. I set it to a "difficut" climbing route and ended up averaging 175bpm over around 45 minutes and a little over 100 watts apparently. I don't feel like this was very good, but I'm pretty heavy (180lbs 6'2") and I've always been terrible at climbing.

I was wondering what I should be doing on this machine. I had my heart rate up to 195 at one point so I think my max is probably somewhere a little bit above that. Is pushing 175 too much? I know my performance has dropped a lot because I've been off the bike for so long, and partaking in less than healthy activities. What kind of wattage/ heart rate numbers should I be shooting for? I don't know if it matters but I wasn't breathing hard or even trying particularly hard throughout the whole thing. I didn't even need to breathe through my mouth. I'm just a bit concerned about my heart rate since the person next to me never broke 100bpm and their average power was similar to mine (their peak power was a lot lower though).

Was your heart rate measured from a monitor you were wearing or the bike? My old gym had bikes that measured your heart rate through your hands. Very inaccurate.

Items of note:
1) Everyone's max heart rate is different. Comparing your results to another rider is not the best idea.
2) Training in different zones has different benefits. Reading up on some basic heart rate training would be helpful.

Was your heart rate measured from a monitor you were wearing or the bike? My old gym had bikes that measured your heart rate through your hands. Very inaccurate.

Items of note:
1) Everyone's max heart rate is different. Comparing your results to another rider is not the best idea.
2) Training in different zones has different benefits. Reading up on some basic heart rate training would be helpful.
It was the hands kind.

I've been off the bike for about 3 months because of a broken clavicle, and haven't done much as far as riding on the trainer. Today I went to the gym with my girlfriend and after doing some spinning on a crappy lemond brand bike-ish thing that had no data output except cadence, I saw that they had a bike thing with a screen in the front, that simulates various routes and lets you steer. I set it to a "difficut" climbing route and ended up averaging 175bpm over around 45 minutes and a little over 100 watts apparently. I don't feel like this was very good, but I'm pretty heavy (180lbs 6'2") and I've always been terrible at climbing.

I was wondering what I should be doing on this machine. I had my heart rate up to 195 at one point so I think my max is probably somewhere a little bit above that. Is pushing 175 too much? I know my performance has dropped a lot because I've been off the bike for so long, and partaking in less than healthy activities. What kind of wattage/ heart rate numbers should I be shooting for? I don't know if it matters but I wasn't breathing hard or even trying particularly hard throughout the whole thing. I didn't even need to breathe through my mouth. I'm just a bit concerned about my heart rate since the person next to me never broke 100bpm and their average power was similar to mine (their peak power was a lot lower though).

I doubt you averaged only 100w. Are you sure it wasn't displaying torque (inch-lbs) and not power? Also your weight and climbing ability affect speed, not power output.

On the other hand, if it felt that easy maybe the heart rate reading was off.

What is it you want to accomplish.

I doubt you averaged only 100w. Are you sure it wasn't displaying torque (inch-lbs) and not power? Also your weight and climbing ability affect speed, not power output.

On the other hand, if it felt that easy maybe the heart rate reading was off.

It didn't specify what unit the power output was being displayed in, I guess I just figured it was in watts. It sounds like the machine just isn't reliable as far as measurements. I'd think if my heart rate was that high I'd be breathing hard and I wasn't. I'm going to try a different one next time and see what kind of variation there is.

What is it you want to accomplish.I was just asking about figures and you guys confirmed what I was thinking, that the machine is probably wrong.