Max Heart Rate
 

Just curious, what was your highest heart rate ever while cycling? 181 for me.

I hit 195 once. Just about the time I nearly passed out. I think that must be my max. I was seeing black just after I saw the number on the HR monitor.

Yeah, I wasn't too comfortable at 181 either. :)

I have never had a heart rate monitor on the bike so I can't comment about that, in the gym I did reach 185 once. I seem pretty comfortable at 170, but I start backing off at that point.

I am 45 and the highest I hit on the bike was a nasty short hill at the Lake of the Ozarks and I hit 199. Thought I was toast, but I did finish the climb.

I think I hit 200+ before I got the hrm equipped cyclocomputer..... :innocent:

no blackout, but plenty of things misfiring upstairs..... :D

I now try to stay away from 195 and since getting the reader and using it, my max has been 191 (195 is my red line to use an auto racing term). :)

Your theoretical max heart rate is 220 minus your age...
I'm in shape and 35 and I know that when I hit the 170s I start felling the burn really bad
I would probably recommend anyone over 45 to see a cardiologist before pushing max heart rates to make sure the ole coronaries are nice and clear of debris

these days , im sucking bass by the time my polar says 188 and im shot
20 years ago it was 224.
i figure its about 200 right now and im 35

Well, the 220-age thing doesn't work well for me. At close to 60 that'd put my max heart rate at 160! While it's been a year since I've checked, last summer I would hit into the high 180s when maxing out. When I look at LSD riding (@ 75%), I should be riding with a heart rate of about 120. My heart gets going 120 just getting my gear on let alone spinning a pedal.

Now I do know that if I ride regular my heart rate will come down somewhat but still, unless I'm hitting at least the 150s I'm hardly starting to sweat.

So, either this heart rate max thing is way over-rated (based upon age) or my physiology is just plain screwed up (which it could be). Oh and I have been Cardiac tested a number of times but only stress tested once and that wasn't all that stressful. I've never done a "pedal till you drop" measuring heart rate and I supposed VO2Max. I think that'd be interesting.

220-age is a "rough" estimate only.

I'm 43 and hit 205 on Easter Sunday -- usually don't see much over 175, but had an adrenaline rush car chase going on.

I am 34 and I have hit 195 and 196 several times. I am not sure if that is my max or not but it has to be close.

I am 54, and regularly hit the low to mid 170's when backpacking up hill or when trying to catch bikers that I should never be trying to catch. I asked my doctor about this, and he said that as long as I am not out or breath, feeling no chest pain, not starting to pass out, and can otherwise function normally, heart rate is not that important. What bothers me is when I hit the upper 180's and then stop - stopping makes me feel a bit light headed, but as long as I keep moving I am fine.

My resting HR is in the upper 40's to low 50's depending, (which is pretty cool for an old fat guy!), and my BP is 110/70 on its high days, so I feel less inclned to pay that much attention to heart rate these days. I wear my monitor to track what I do, not when to slow down.

I can hit 195 regularly during intervals, and once or twice I've hit 199. I'm only 24 years old though, so I'm not really worried about the absolute numbers too much, just about consistency. I can keep it at 195 for 2-3 minutes, and 188 for about 8 if I am so inclined.

Just got my HRM for the first time, and I did a standing sprint up a hill near my house. HR hit 207. Oh man it was rough. Fun though.

High heart rates do not cause me concern. What bothers me is when my heart rate goes from 150 to 140 to 100 to 50 to 30 and then to zero and stay there! First couple of times this happened it was, well, scary. Found out I was not dead/dying, but it was from radio transmitters :lol:

the 220-age in some articles i have read are a base of what to expect for someone of a sedimentary nature not active. a buddie of mine, its been almost ten years since high school and his max heart rate hasnt changed. i have watched him pin it at 210 consistantly.

my max is 190. i can pin it at 180 for extended lengths of time. 170 is very comfortable and 180 is a hard effort. anything beyond 180 for any length of time i require a good amount of recovery time.

unrelated to cycling. when i run i am also comfortable at 170 and during sprints i will pin it at 190.

I don't have a HR monitor, so I can only go from gym equipment and manually checking pulse. Generally I think my max is about ~190-200. Typcial aerobic threshold seems to be at 170-180. And most of my cycling/distance jogging I am at 150-160.

Hmm my garmin 705 said that I was up to 205 last year when I was trying a new way home from work. The temperature was more than I was used to, the hill was steep, and I was very out of shape. Oh ya, I am also over 40... When I push it on my commute it is not uncommon for me to be in the 180-185 range. As the year went on I was still in the 180s when I was pushing it but I would drop much lower and faster when I was waiting at the traffic lights.



Stuart.

Funny you should ask...I had a threshold test done while participating in a spin prgram designed for tri-athlets and cyclists. I am not sure of the formula used but my age is 44, resting heart rate is 49, I max'd out at 283 watts with a 177 heart rate. I am a very new cyclist and I have not participated in any tri events, may explain why I saw Jesus. Not as tall as I thought he would be. Definately not a Clydesdale.

No HR monitors, I just ride my bike!:D

194 bpm - 39 years

Heart rate is a matter of genetics and age. This is why you must test to find HR zones. When I write training programs HR zones are based on average HR from a 10 mile time trial. I set hr zones based on the average not the max.