Originally Posted by
stapfam
If you take a guideline- then 220 less your age is a good place to start. If you want to get serious- then a stress test should be the next step after consultation with the doctor or medical experts.
I had a bypass 10 years ago and Had a stress test a year later. This was as near as dammit- the same as the 220-age. I treat my max as 160 at 63 now and occasionally reach it but that has to be after a lot of exertion and a very good reason to do it. I also have to be in peak fitness to get there so after a long winter- I will not be hitting it shortly.
But there is a good Non-Technical way to see how hard you are working. If you are breathing hard and can only get out short sentences to a rider by the side of you- Then you are probably about 75 to 80% of your max. IF Those---Sentences--- have to---be broken---for breaths, then you are probably around 85 to 90% of your max. And if you have to get off the bike and lie down before you fall down- Then you have gone over the top.
If you are starting to train and you have nothing else, 220 -age is IMO useful because if you do base training zones on that and follow a training protocol, you are learning to follow a training protocol. If you want to go harder, I would suggest getting a medical test to assess your ticker's health, and give a doc a chance to say "whoa, hold up there!" if it should be said. I just had my second stress test today, and as before, these docs are going to tell me if I have a problem or if cautions or near term re-testing are in order. They are not going to tell my my MAXHR or my LT. They use (220-age)*0.95 to set the max for testing, because that's what the testing protocol tells them to do in order to use standard guidelines to interpret the data. They don't think that is actually 95% of my actual max.
Then go get an athletic expert to test your LT to get the better baseline. You should be able to follow it because of the disciplines already learned. There are several ways to measure the lactate threshold, from which training zones can be calculated. Friel shows you how to do that in the Cyclists' Training Bible. I think, and Friel also stated as much, that there can be risks in looking for the max, and even if a person has minimal risk, it IS a hard thing to do. Lactate threshold testing is much easier on the rider and can still be used to establish reasonable workout guidelines.