mr_reality

After a 5 year hiatus I am back on the road bike and trying to lose weight and gain fitness. I have a goal to ride a century next spring. I am 42 years old and about 60 pounds overweight. I have been riding about a 80 miles a week for the last 2 weeks. Today I did a hard effort for 21 miles on a windy day (15.6mph). I felt really good at the end of the ride and felt like I still had pretty fresh legs. My heart rate seems higher than I would like and on this ride. My average heart rate was 155. The ride lasted 1:15 and I averaged 15.6mph. I still get really gassed on inclines but feel fine in the flats or into the wind. Plan on riding 3 20's next week and one 30 mile ride. Anyone have any advice?

Black wallnut 

Wind along with hills will raise your heart rate. Keep pedaling. If you think your HR is due to a medical condition speak with a Dr. There are a number of things that can impact your heart rate from day to day.

dagray

My doc told me when I asked her for the heart rate range she wants me in to try and keep it between 150 and 160, but if I am exerting and hit high 170s for a bit not to worry as long as it comes back down quick when resting.

I ride with a Mio Go on my wrist paired to my bike computer (Cateye Stealth 50). I am 44 years old, 370-380 pounds, and 6' 3" tall.

chasm54

Yes, plenty. But be warned, this may be tedious.

The first thing to understand is that HR varies considerably between healthy individuals. The usual formula for max HR - 220 minus your age - is a crude average and tells you nothing about yourself. The average male height is about 5'10", but itis perfectly normal and healthy to be 6'4". HR works the same way.

Having said that, as you get fitter you will be able to put out more power for a given HR. Your heart's stroke volume - the amount of blood it pumps with each beat - will increase as will your muscles' ability to take up oxygen. So if you keep training, you may find that in six months the same ride, in similar weather, may be completed in the same time with an average HR of 145 rather than 155. All good.

If you want to use HR more scientifically to track your progress you need to determine your lactate threshold HR and structure HR "zones" on that basis. If that is something you want to explore, there are lots of threads in the training and nutrition forum that will help.

TL;DR version. There is nothing unusual in an average HR of 155 on a spirited but not exhausting ride. If you want to know whether the data is meaningful, you'll have to go into the subject in rather more depth.

Jarrett2

I've been wondering about this for the last couple of months since I got my HRM. Prior to that, I had no idea what my heart was doing on rides. No idea what normal is. Here's what I'm seeing on my last several rides with the HRM:

[TABLE="width: 120"]
[TR]
[TD]AvgHR[/TD]
[TD]MaxHR[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]136[/TD]
[TD]178[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]141
[/TD]
[TD]175[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]117[/TD]
[TD]172[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]127[/TD]
[TD]172[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]146[/TD]
[TD]171[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]123[/TD]
[TD]168[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]127[/TD]
[TD]173[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]124[/TD]
[TD]165[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]128[/TD]
[TD]167[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]109[/TD]
[TD]155[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]136[/TD]
[TD]172[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]121[/TD]
[TD]160[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]121[/TD]
[TD]167[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]115[/TD]
[TD]159[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]115[/TD]
[TD]159[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]120[/TD]
[TD]168[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]133[/TD]
[TD]156[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]128[/TD]
[TD]168[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]86[/TD]
[TD]111[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]145[/TD]
[TD]170[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]133[/TD]
[TD]168[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]137[/TD]
[TD]171[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]147[/TD]
[TD]180[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]148[/TD]
[TD]166[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]94[/TD]
[TD]131[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]125[/TD]
[TD]151[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]104[/TD]
[TD]134[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]133[/TD]
[TD]171[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]137[/TD]
[TD]163[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]141[/TD]
[TD]166[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]146[/TD]
[TD]165[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]131[/TD]
[TD]178[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]124[/TD]
[TD]173[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

According to the crude formula, my max should be 177, but I go over that periodically.

scrming

Yep, Heart Rate Recovery Rate! This is a very good indicator. Do a search on tow minute heart rate recovery... lots of articles and studies out there...

jsigone

heart rate will be high coming back into any activity, You're outta fitness, lungs working more to get oxygen to the blood. As you get more in shape, you will see lower heart rate averages. Later on you will only spend time at 80+% HR when you want to be up there

Ride as long as you can, as often as you can. You will see a change in the matter of weeks or months pending riding dosage

Willbird

Another benchmark you can record is how high you can get your HR by walking, at first you will really be able to crank it up there ,but a few months cycling and in my case anyway on flat ground it will not go much past 120 walking .

gpo1956

Very interesting thread.