Originally Posted by
Reynolds
I'm 60 and have strange, very high numbers. My MHR is 192, RHR 52, LT172 based on the 2x20 test - in fact I can do 3x20 at this pace. Recovery from max about 45bpm in 1 min. Sounds good, I consider myself in good shape. But still I'm slow - not among the slowest at races, but far from the top in my age group. Seems I lack power. Tried weight training, it didn't improve my speed. What do you think?
Wow! You have vastly different numbers than I do (age 66).
I last measured it almost a year ago, but that's after 7K miles of riding and I doubt it's changed much). I don't race but I ride hard, do intervals occasionally, etc. My resting HR is around 65, my max HR observed is 160, and my LT HR is 148 (I doubt it's changed much). My HR (I have a Garmin 705) only drops about 10% after one minute (about 15% after two minutes). And that's true today, after about 11K miles over 22 months (18 months of riding - I lost some months to snow/ice and surgery).
Maybe my numbers will improve as I ride more years?
The original post is seriously flawed, however, because it's using HR drop by beats per minute, not percentage. A 30 BPM drop is very different from a max of 210 (14%) than it is from 150 (20%). That said, however, I will admit that my 17-19 BPM drop is "Fair" which seems about right. At 66, I have found recovery to be slower by all measures.