I May Have Accidentally Found My Max Heart Rate
#1
Spin Meister
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I May Have Accidentally Found My Max Heart Rate
Saturday afternoon, after riding up a local favorite cyclists' route, Nichols Canyon, in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, I rode a little higher, up the short but very steep Montcalm Ave. The road reaches a 20+% grade for a few pedal stokes.
I'd noticed on my last few rides that, despite what I thought was a high level of exertion, my heart rate monitor showed otherwise. It was no different coming up Nichols. On Montcalm, I decided to try very hard to get the rate up. I wasn't moving at the speed of a fit 25-year old rider, but I was working hard. Even so, I was only reaching the high 150s.
So at the top of Montcalm, I stopped and took my pulse manually. It was 192 beats per minute. I'm fairly fit, and I've gotten my heart up to 180+bpm very briefly a few times in the past few years, but at 68 years of age, I don't ever want to hit 192 again. It think its time for a new heart rate monitor.
I'd noticed on my last few rides that, despite what I thought was a high level of exertion, my heart rate monitor showed otherwise. It was no different coming up Nichols. On Montcalm, I decided to try very hard to get the rate up. I wasn't moving at the speed of a fit 25-year old rider, but I was working hard. Even so, I was only reaching the high 150s.
So at the top of Montcalm, I stopped and took my pulse manually. It was 192 beats per minute. I'm fairly fit, and I've gotten my heart up to 180+bpm very briefly a few times in the past few years, but at 68 years of age, I don't ever want to hit 192 again. It think its time for a new heart rate monitor.
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Last edited by icyclist; 03-27-16 at 01:41 AM.
#2
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I think I found mine after taking a hard pull into the wind. Made a move around the paceline and kept out front after opening a gap until a right turn was made where I backed off, a self imposed sprint zone. HR on Garmin showed 182 and I felt like puking. Found my resting HR when I was having a prostate cancer pre-op procedure one year ago next month. 32bpm was showing after the nurse hooked up the EKG so that gives me a 150 bpm span. Not sure if it means anything other than at almost 65 at the time it did feel cool getting the reaction from the 2 nurses in the room after being hooked up.
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I'm also suspicious of a malfunction whenever my Garmin tells me my heart rate has gone above 175. It's not impossible, but I doubt it.
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^^^ It certainly happens that a HRM can give an erroneous spike, but evaluating it in the context of the effort and the broader data can usually indicate whether it's valid or not, if the HR data as a function of time is recorded and can be examined, like it is with Garmin devices.
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The spikes on Garmin devices were discussed here, not doubting icyclist fitness at all. Might be something to check into.
Bill
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Last edited by qcpmsame; 03-28-16 at 06:24 AM.
#6
Spin Meister
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Except my Garmin was stuck 30 beats slower than I was actually experiencing. I'm going to try a different monitor and I'm going to check whatever I'm wearing once in a while against manually taking the heart rate.
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Best of luck on the check out of your system, Icy, I cannot get comfortable wearing a strap for my HR monitor, (a Polar cyclocomputer that his the HRM built in,) just some quirk for me I guess. If you would, please continue this thread with a report on what you find out. I am betting on your being fit enough to carry that MHR, from what I have read about your riding, here.
Bill
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I determined my max heart rate, or close to it, on a stationary bike by increasing the resistance every five minutes. I used a strap and Garmin as well as the hand contacts built into the bike. Using this method I thought my max was in the high 180s. A couple of years later I was trying to complete a step mill workout assigned by my trainer and was in the zone and not paying attention to my heart rate. When I increased the speed on schedule I grabbed the contacts out of habit and noticed I was clicking up through the 180s pretty quickly. I dropped the speed down a couple of levels but my HR still climbed into the low 190s and I got light headed. I shut the machine down and went and sat in the corner with my head between my knees and prayed I wouldn't upchuck.
I use a HR monitor hiking sometimes to keep me from overdoing it. It doesn't take long at an elevated HR to ruin the rest of your day in the woods. What I would really like is a strap with an earpiece that would call out each time I went up or down 5 BPM or every five minutes or so just to remind me. It would also be handy for intervals.
I use a HR monitor hiking sometimes to keep me from overdoing it. It doesn't take long at an elevated HR to ruin the rest of your day in the woods. What I would really like is a strap with an earpiece that would call out each time I went up or down 5 BPM or every five minutes or so just to remind me. It would also be handy for intervals.
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Smartphone apps, e.g., the Polar one, which is compatible is their Bluetooth HR monitor, will give you audio HR cues at frequencies of 60 sec or so.
Incidentally, athletes don't train to fractions of max HR anymore, but to an estimate of lactate threshold HR, which is easier to measure and a physiologically more meaningful parameter.
Incidentally, athletes don't train to fractions of max HR anymore, but to an estimate of lactate threshold HR, which is easier to measure and a physiologically more meaningful parameter.
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Smartphone apps, e.g., the Polar one, which is compatible is their Bluetooth HR monitor, will give you audio HR cues at frequencies of 60 sec or so.
Incidentally, athletes don't train to fractions of max HR anymore, but to an estimate of lactate threshold HR, which is easier to measure and a physiologically more meaningful parameter.
Incidentally, athletes don't train to fractions of max HR anymore, but to an estimate of lactate threshold HR, which is easier to measure and a physiologically more meaningful parameter.
I did find an earpiece that measures the heart rate in your ear but it can't tell you what it is without another device.
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Looks like the Mio Fuse will do what I want. Display changes color based on heart rate range and it vibrates when you go from one range to the other. I don't hike with a smartphone and with the fuse I can ditch the GPS and my chest strap. Also, I could override the zones once I find my lactate threshold heart rate. I usually do peaks so 6-7 hours should cover the ascent and I don't need to monitor on the way down.
I did find an earpiece that measures the heart rate in your ear but it can't tell you what it is without another device.
I did find an earpiece that measures the heart rate in your ear but it can't tell you what it is without another device.
I do indoor interval workouts in the winter and use a monitor, but by Spring, I seem to be calibrated and am happy not burden my rides with additional technology.
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