Originally Posted by
davethelefty
Wow - a lot of good and useful information from everyone. Thank you!
To answer several questions posed of me, I’m a 67 yo rider who primarily does road riding. I recently bought an Apple Watch and several times I’ve gotten HR readings in the 175 range during a ride. I’m not doing anything heroic, no intervals, no climbing. Worst case is trying to maintain a 15-16 mph pace into a headwind.
Using the 220 - age equation my max HR should be 153. Are those 175 readings real? I just thought I should better understand what my HR is doing, and then look into a systematic training plan that focuses on HR to build stamina.
It is possible that 175 was a bit of atrial flutter. You have to have the number on your handlebars. If it climbs gradually, fine, If it jumps from 135 to175, not fine, see a doctor.
It's best to set your zones off your lactate threshold HR (LTHR), not max HR. Max HR is not good to seek out as we get older. No need to punish our hearts anymore than is necessary to get good results. The "easy" way to find LTHR is to warm up well on a ride, then tackle a long steep-ish climb. Take your effort up to VT2, stay there for a bit, note HR, drop the effort down a bit so that you stop panting, note HR, then take it back up again, note HR. Your HR just below VT2 will be close enough to your LTHR.