Fifty Plus (50+) - Restarting a very old thread

Restarting a very old thread. (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/232841-Heart-Recovery-Rate?highlight=heart+rate+recovery)

It has been five years since I started the thread noted above. So, for the heck of it, I checked my "Heart Rate Recovery" again on my ride yesterday.

I was pushing as hard as I could, and got the ticker up to 138 bpm. One minute later it was 107, a drop of 31 bpm.

So, how about you?

Heart rate recovery is one of the best indicators of cardiac fitness. Of course, there are many, many other indicators and techniques, but this is simple and easy.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_good_Recovery_heart_rate_level

"1. Accelerate your heartrate through running, biking, or other method to an anerobic level (a pace you can do for only 20-30 seconds... such as a full sprint)
2. Measure the heart rate with a monitor at the end of the sprint.
3. Recover for 60 seconds by walking or biking slowly (do not stop moving!)
4. Measure the heart rate after 60 seconds and subtract that number from the peak.

The key:
POOR less than 12 Beats Per Minute (BPM) recovery
FAIR 12-20
Good 20-30
Excellent 30-40
Over 40 is outstanding.
The recovery rate is important because this is a measure of the soundness of our cardiovascular system and not just our heart health.

A recovery rate of greater than 35 BPM indicates almost no risk of sudden death from heart disease!

12 or less increases the risk dramatically. People with this issue need to consult with their Doctor before exercising!"

I make my measurements on a treadmill or spin bike at the gym and I regularly drop 25 or more bpm. I have done as high as low 30's. At age 65.

Don't feel I am fit enough right now to do the check but yesterdays ride and I had 120 just before I took a break for coffee. As I got the coffee it had dropped to 78 but no idea how long that took but could not have been more than two minutes. So next decent ride and I will check again.

Hadn't tried this before, but I was doing a threshold workout this morning and looked at it out of interest. At the end of the workout I was at 160, which is nowhere near my max, so maybe that invalidates the test. Anyway, one minute later my HR was 128, and one minute after that it was 108. I conclude that I may not drop dead this week. Not from sudden cardiac death, anyway.

Last week I peaked at 177 BPM and was back to 141 BPM in 30 seconds. Later in the same ride, I went from 154 BPM to 120 BPM in a minute.

Dnvr, I know you "detest tracking anything such as mileage, etc" (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/804654-DnvrFox-has-some-stats-no-kidding-Check-for-yourself?highlight=), but I can check this with my Garmin history that I save on my computer. I can just locate the peak heart rate on the graph, and then see the rate a minute later.

In the middle of a recent brisk group ride, I was at 159 bpm, then at 135 a minute later, after a long downhill. That's 24 bpm in a minute.

I would think the difference should be a percentage of the max, since there's such a big variation in maximum heart rates.

Dnvr, I know you "detest tracking anything such as mileage, etc" (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/804654-DnvrFox-has-some-stats-no-kidding-Check-for-yourself?highlight=), but I can check this with my Garmin history that I save on my computer. I can just locate the peak heart rate on the graph, and then see the rate a minute later.

In the middle of a recent brisk group ride, I was at 159 bpm, then at 135 a minute later, after a long downhill. That's 24 bpm in a minute.

I would think the difference should be a percentage of the max, since there's such a big variation in maximum heart rates.

I do not believe one needs to be at max heart rate to have a valid test. A good exertion, as I understand it, will do. It is the difference that makes the difference, so to speak!!

Here are the rules:

"1. Accelerate your heartrate through running, biking, or other method to an anerobic level (a pace you can do for only 20-30 seconds... such as a full sprint)
2. Measure the heart rate with a monitor at the end of the sprint.
3. Recover for 60 seconds by walking or biking slowly (do not stop moving!)
4. Measure the heart rate after 60 seconds and subtract that number from the peak.

An anaerobic level would not have to be a max level.

Whoa!! I work out with a group of triathletes Tuesday and Thursday mornings. They always have some set of intervals planned. 2 weeks ago we did 5x30 sec sprints, 3 sets. Provided a good record.

HR hit 147 on the 5th interval. The 3 min rest before the next set of 5 was a perfect record to look back on. After 1 min the HR dropped 20 beats to 127. Kinda disappointed. Thought it would have been better. 2 min was down to 116. 3 min saw 107.

Resting HR is 48, max is about 160 at last check.

Guess I need to work a little harder.

FYI - Looked back on a ride from when I started in '09. 153 HR max, 1 min later it was 146. At least there's some good improvement over the past few years!

I was pushing as hard as I could, and got the ticker up to 138 bpm.

Any idea what kind of power you're putting out when you hit 138bpm?

I don't measure mine but can tell after 1.5 years of riding it recovers much better than it did when I first started ;)

On my Timex HR monitor there is a "Recovery" mode that starts as soon as you stop the watch. Mine is set for 2 minutes. At one time I did some research and the 2 min time frame seemed to be the thing at the time. This morning, for example, I was at 154 at the end of the ride on the bike trainer (I always sprint like hell to finish) and 2 min later it beeped and it was 93 for a 61 beat difference.

So...yep...I do pay attention to that recovery number as it is an indicator of C/V fitness/health.

Any idea what kind of power you're putting out when you hit 138bpm?

You are asking the wrong person. Not a clue!!

Since I stopped racing in 2008, I've been reluctant to really push hard. I think that once fully warmed up, it's OK to let the HR get up to high levels in a natural and flowing way, but I guess I'm becoming more cautious of really loading up the system. It's not like I'm in my 30's or 40's. I think that moderation at this age (61) is likely to be the best approach. So I'm more into endurance events rather than super-hard race efforts. But I haven't read any of the science about how rugged our cardio systems are past age 60, so I guess I'm just being cautious.

Luis

Any idea what kind of power you're putting out when you hit 138bpm?

"1.8 Gigawatts of power!" M. McFly.

Well, I feel better about this today. As part of the ride today I actually did a specific test as described by the OP, rather than looking back on similar sprints and trying to infer the test results.

In a 30 second all out sprint I got the HR up to 135. A min later it was down to 97. That's 38 bpm. I'll repeat this on rides over the next few days, and add a periodic test every few months to see were I'm at.