69chevy

I asked questions before about my heartrate.

Since I started measuring it, I have gotten faster, but I don't know if it's a good or bad thing.

It seems like my extra speed is coming from me adapting to work at a higher effort level, not because I am getting more fit.

Would you be concerned if your heartrate was this high during a 20 mile ride?

If I can tolerate this level of punishment, is it ok to do so?

Thanks for your input.

joejack951

Assuming you don't have any underlying heart conditions, I've never read anything suggesting that you can harm your heart by pushing it hard for a few hours a day. You clearly have a higher max heart rate than myself but not as high as a relative of mine. I recall running with her with my heart rate at 140-150 and hers at 190-200 for at least 45 minutes. Myself, I've done plenty of hour plus rides averaging near 170bpm while the max I have ever seen is 188bpm (seeing stars at that point so near my true max). Longer rides (2+ hours) are more like 150-160bpm average.

Clipped_in

That's pretty high by most peoples standards. Not that it's anything to necessarily worry about, but I'd definitely talk about it with your doctor to see if there is something you should be doing about it.

Seattle Forrest

If you have any serious concerns, talk to your doctor and not a bunch of idiots online.

I'm going to assume you don't have any medical complications (that you know of) and that you're more or less normal.

Your heart gets stronger when you stress it, like all muscles. You should do a ride like the one you showed us occasionally, maybe as often as once a week (but that depends on your condition). Most of your riding should be at lower intensity though, and you should definitely rest enough after pushing yourself like that. Over time, you should be able to do the same ride at the same pace with a lower HR (ignoring things like wind).

Mind if I ask how long the ride took? I'm curious because the calories are insane. Also, it's freaking hard to average 180 bpm!

HazeT

Why not ask your doctor? He will probably order one of those cardio stress tests and tell you with if you should pace yourself or ride like you stole it.

joejack951

With a true max likely at 200+, 180bpm becomes a lot easier. I can run for ~30 minutes at 180bpm if I really feel like hurting myself. Been a while since I've cared to do that though!

chasm54

I wouldn't worry about the HR specifically, no. But if your intention is to get fit, don't ride at this sort of intensity all the time. Work on training your aerobic system by riding for longer at much lower heartrates. Over time, you'll find that the power you put out at a given HR will increase. Save these 20 mile hammerfests for once a week or so, or better still get into some systematic interval training. And schedule yourself some recovery time.

WalksOn2Wheels

That looks pretty identical to what I see when I do a long effort at a hard intensity. I've seen as high as 192 or 193 hitting the top of a hill, so I know my max is probably higher.

But basically, what everybody else said. I think I remember your earlier post and it all came down to trying to nail down your HR zones and doing some longer zone 2 rides based on that. Doing 1-2 really hard rides a week all the time is not going to help. Lots of base miles make you faster at every level of intensity.

Seattle Forrest

Copays are getting more expensive, and you have to take a couple hours off work to spend ten minutes talking to somebody who isn't a specialist and doesn't really know. Like you said, maybe they refer you to some more time off work and a better answer. But for a lot of questions, you can get about as good an answer from other people who've gone through the same thing as you can from a nurse practitioner. At least that's my guess about why.

Agent Cooper

+1000000000000000000

I will never, ever understand threads like these. It's bad enough when people ask for medical advice from the 41 (FROM THE 41 !!????!!) about stuff like back pain.

Your HEART?

For the love of heaven, SEE. A. DOCTOR. -- TODAY!!

greenlight149

wolf-parkinson-white syndrome can lead to very fast heartrates, but its pretty rare.

not to scare you, and not saying you have it, but just go to a doctor to make sure everything is ok.

whats your resting heart rate?

EDIT: turns out its not that rare, about 1/450

69chevy

No medical conditions. The main reason I haven't gone to the doctor to ask is because in the five years I've lived here, I haven't gone to see a doctor unless I had to. (Appendix rupture, boat trailer fell on my foot). I don't even know the "family doctor" my wife and kids visit.

I don't have any history of heart disease in my family.

I used to run the 400m as a teen fast enough that I had D1 college scholarship offers, but I have no idea what I pushed my heart rate to back then.

Ten years ago I raced TTs (no HR monitor), but like I said, I took a 10 year vacation. I've been back on the bike for 4 months now. Maybe I'm trying too hard to ride like I used to, but I feel fine even at this high HR. I can conversate with other riders, I don't get very lightheaded, and my breathing isn't panicky.

The ride was 1:11. About 21 mph pace on the flats and about 14 mph climbing. 17.3 mph overall. I think the massive calorie burn is from the high heart rate and my 195lb weight. I'm 6'3" and about 18% body fat.

FLvector

I was wondering the same. Also, what is your HR while in Zone 1 (easy mode). Since there's a lot of variation in individual HR's, your average might be very different from mine. My max is around 180 and my resting HR is about 48 last time I checked. This isn't the best place to be getting HR advice, so as mentioned, see your doctor soon, preferably one that's familiar with sports/exercise.

69chevy

Thanks for all of the input.

I was asking more for comparison/training advice, but it seems many feel as if this is a medical concern.

I will take that concern to a doctor and see what they recommend.

My resting HR is in the 70-80 range.

DonBjr

About 19 minutes on an uphill grade, gravel dust, full suspension mountain bike. My max HR is probably 197. I'm 51. I was trying for a PR. From strava:






[TABLE="class: spans8 unstyled"]
[TR]
[TH][/TH]
[TH]AVG[/TH]
[TH]MAX[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Speed[/TH]
[TD]14.9mi/h[/TD]
[TD]18.6mi/h
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Cadence[/TH]
[TD]95[/TD]
[TD]109[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Heart Rate[/TH]
[TD] 183 bpm [/TD]
[TD] 186 bpm [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH] Est Power [/TH]
[TD] 260W [/TD]
[TD] — [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]Elev Gain[/TH]
[TD]501ft[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


A more reasonable HR for a long ride is in the 150's. It starts feeling difficult in the low 170's. The above was the start of a 3 hour ride where I averaged 160bpm.

gsa103

It really depends on your max heart rate. For my age (35), my estimate max heart is about 185, which agrees with my personal results.

Having said that, I can spend about 90 min at 160-170 (zone 4) without any effect. Once I start going above 175, I'm burning matches. Your heart seems a little high, but nothing overly concerning especially if you're under 30. If you're over 40, then yes, that would be concerning.

69chevy

Resting is mid 70s but I haven't been athletically active in years.

I haven't really ridden in "zone 1" since I got the HRM. I may go for a leisurely ride this weekend. My neighborhood is very hilly, and my surrounding area is as well. I may drive out to our local "pancake" course just to do an easy ride and get a better baseline.

69chevy

I am also 35.

greenlight149

mid 70s resting heart rate isnt low, so that can contribute to the higher heartrate during exercise, simply because your heart has to work harder.

However, if your resting heart rate doesnt drop with regular exercise, it could be a sign that something else is up.

personally, my resting is around 43, and the max is 183 from a vo2max test.

if you dont mind me asking, whats your height, weight and body fat %?

69chevy

6'3", 190-195lbs, 17-18%

I also have only been cycling regularly for 4 months now. I took a long break (10 years).

chasm54

this is much more revealing than a high HR on a hard 20-mile ride, imo. If you've been riding for a while and still have a resting HR that high, I'd say that reinforces the need to do more low-intensity aerobic work. ypu've been training your anaerobic rather than aerobic systems.

greenlight149

4 months of riding should yield some cardiovascular benefit, so that your resting heart rate wouldnt be in the mid 70s in my opinion.

i personally know of someone with wolf-parkinson-white syndrome, and one of the charateristics is high resting heart rate, and very high exercise heart rate.

bottom line, get your heart checked out, just in case.

therhodeo

I'm 29 and thats not too much higher than mine is normally.

grolby

A heart rate that high is not necessarily cause for concern. For a hard sustained effort, you would fall well within normal parameters, albeit higher than average. I run pretty high myself - about three weeks ago, I did a cyclocross race where my average heart rate was 190 BPM for 40 minutes. Which is in the normal range for my heart rate in a maximum aerobic effort. At threshold, I am typically around 185-190, so there you go. My most recent races have had averages more around 185 or 188, probably due to fatigue. FWIW I am 30 years old; but age is not really a factor to consider here.

If you are running such a high heart rate while not making at least a fairly significant effort, that would be even more unusual, but still plausible. My max HR is somewhere in the vicinity of 205. Which is high, but there are people out there with maxes pushing 220 or more who are perfectly healthy. Basically, if you FEEL fine, you probably ARE fine. If you don't feel fine, that warrants more concern.

caloso

How, or rather what time, are you measuring resting HR? First thing in the morning before arising? That's what I use for resting, rather than sitting at my desk which can be 20 beats higher.