Originally Posted by
mr_pedro
Well, now is only 1 year later since I started cycling so I am still only 36yr old and max of 182 I have seen during short hard efforts is close to 220-age. I have never tried a max heart rate test as I understand that requires somebody with a gun behind you.
So I assume that when people talk about the heart slowing down with age it is for comparable efforts? So is the oxygen consumption then still the same and can older people somehow bring more oxygen to the muscles with less blood?
Watts at LT goes down with age. That's why we have age classes for sports. MHR goes down even if one continues to exercise strenuously. At 55, I could hit 184 during an attack. At 68, I attack at ~160. LT at 55 was ~162, now ~149. Nothing to do with mentality. It just goes down as we age. However, a lifetime commitment to training will slow the drop-off, possibly to about 1 beat/year.
MHR and LTHR also vary with training state. Once one is highly trained, training stress will reduce both numbers. Laying off for a few days will increase both. Watts won't vary as much as HR with training stress.
Effort is not the same as result.