thomspins

Hey I didn't have time to ride today. So in between exams today I went and ran.. I tried out my new cheap $40 wal-mart timex hr monitor.... I was running along and keeping my hr around 160 and came to a hill.. I decided to sprint the thing to see where my max hr landed. well since this crappy monitor doesnt record max hr.. I kept looking down. First look; 200, 2nd; 210, 3rd; 230...?? and then it stopped for a couple of seconds and showed zero..? then went back to like around 200... and i slowed down. What does that say?? can you have a max hr of more than 220? Or was it this thing glitching and once it read 230 it freaked out and cut off momentarily? help.......

MtnBikerChk

either you are REALLY stressed out over exams, or that thing ain't to accurate.....

but to be fair, there could be a number of USER errors.

big things to check:
was the chest band wet?
was the chest band in the right spot?

thomspins

was wet and in the right spot. not really stressed, i was pushing it pretty hard though ..?

Xavier

Cheap HRMs can be very inaccurate and can pick up much junk from the air. Where there power lines near?

You can go with the 'generic' formulas to determine max HR but best to actually visit an expert if you are really serious.

If just playing around with the HRM just go with the generic formula to determine percentages.

In time you will learn your body.

threadend

Did you have the sensation of running down a long dark tunnel with a light at the end?

pgreene

230 is a bit scary.

although i remember during the tour this past year someone (want to say stuart o'grady) had their heart get "stuck" up at 230 something for about an hour or so. that'd be more than a little bit unnerving.

Jeepbikerun

I'm picturing the ghost of a student sitting at a computer.... his unfinished business and reason for not crossing over................ He's just gotta post on the bike forum!

thomspins

hehe that was pretty good, jeep. I don't know what happened oh well... is 230 even possible? if so then why is the standard thing supposedly 220-age? That in itself says 220 is the highest possible...hmm perhaps a flaw in the formula. heheh

pgreene

i think 2 things (well i think lots of things, but just two about this subject): 1) your heart probably got up a little too high and b) your heart rate monitor is not so good.
since you're still alive, 1 didn't turn out to be a big problem. you can fix b, though, by buying a polar.

fubar5

A Sigma Sport PC-3 would be a good buy. Not very many functions, good price, and quality. I use a Sigma PC-14 and have no problems with it.

DnvrFox

Maybe those were metric beats, not US units beats?

You know, metric would be about 1/3 more beats per minute than US, so perhaps that is the problem. Your actual HR was probably closer to 165 or so.

I love my Nashbar HRM, but I am always careful to put it in the US units mode.

Using US units, and a t 63 yo, I easily get my HR to about 140-145 while just "cruising" on my trainer. At that rate, I feel absolutely no discomfort, can talk normally and easily.

So, check the US Units/metric option and make sure it is set correctly.

If it WAS set on US units and got to 230 - well, WOW!! I don't think I ever heard of this. My max I have seen was bout 165-170 2 years ago.

oxologic

Is there really metric beats and US units beats? Shouldn't HR be a universal thing? Don't tell me that people in different parts of the world have different hearts?

DnvrFox

Gotcha!!

Phatman

you had me going...

greywolf

i love it when you do that

DnvrFox

I was real curious if anyone would bite, or what kind of responses I might get.

Thanks.

oxologic

HAHA, I knew you were trying to get me.

thomspins

bahhhhahahh metric heartbeats. mmm

DnvrFox

and I knew you knew!!

Sitting here on my trainer this am thinking devilish thoughts.

roadbuzz

The bad news is... take a look at what KoffeeBrown has to say about Timex HR monitors in this thread.

The good news is... Wal-Mart's return policy.

thomspins

wow; yeah wal-mart's return policy rocks...... I took that bastard back and am using the returned monies to buy a polar. No more 230 crap for me! hah...