JTGraphics

Ok I just got me a Garmin Edge 305 and wanted to get a max heart rate to enter into it, this was a rainy day here is So. Cal so during a short break in the rain I went outside and did 1.25mi. with an Cadence avg. of 99 rpm. so I was spinning pretty good for that distance. It got up to 159 bpm. Can I use this number or should I wait and hit some hills next week to get this max heart rate. I’m 52 and 160lb. does this sound about right?

Pablo.

You need to take a max HR test like the one described here: https://www.cptips.com/hrmntr.htm

FWIW, my max HR is 221.

tntyz

Sure, sounds about right. You can always change the settings once you get more info.

You may not want to undergo a self-induced stress test, depending on your overall health and the presence of other risk factors.

Congrats on the new 305. I love mine and have not had any problems with it. Thought I'd get that in before all the vultures arrive.

slimvela

There is actually a generic calculation the 305 does for you. You just have to find it in the user manual and set it up. Other than that, have a max-heart-rate done for/on yourself and use those calculations/results.

is not that in the heart-attack-inducing range? I know everyone is different but...

umd

Exactly

yogi13

In my mid-40's they stuck me on a treadmill for a stress test after I had an anomalous automated EKG during a routine physical. After about 20 minutes of gradually increasing speed I finally hit 221 and maintained it for a couple of minutes. The tech was pretty freaked out.

Turned out I had an anomalously good heart.

Everybody is different.

Busta Quad

MHR is very exercise dependent. On the bike it is affected by position, too. Most people will see about 5 BPM difference in an aero position (lower MHR) than when sitting and on the tops.

Carbon Unit

I don't follow the recommended max heart range because in my experience as your fitness improves, your max heart rate will increase. I am 51 and have been riding for about 2.5 years. When I first started riding, I would completely fail if my heart rate hit 163 and I would come to a stop as I was breathing so hard that I couldn't go any further.

Last summer, I hit 191 before I completely failed. I can now ride for hours in the in the 165 - 175 range. Although, as I approach 170, I typically back off my effort to let my heart rate drop down a little.

I think you will quickly figure out what a comfortable range is for you.

slimvela

pretty sure we can all agree that heart rate is different for every individual, and is determined on a multitude of factors. for those of us that have delved in endurance sports for some time (life long marathon/cross-country runner, semi-pro paintballer for a short stint, and everyday average Marine) we all know one of the big factors is fitness level. And we each have a particular range we find to be optimum maintenance level for our particular level of activity.

But I have honestly never heard of someone maintaining 221 as Yogi did. That's bad-ass-amazing, I bet the tech was a little-freaked out. I bet you are that "one guy" they tell stories about now-a-days.

Road Fan

The most common formula for ESTIMATING max heart rate is 220-age. I emphasize that because it's wrong for almost everyone. For me (55 yo) it predicts 165. Last year I had a test to estimate my LT, and it came out with my LT at 162, then we continued and I couldn't go higher than 180. So while the formula predicts 165, I have seen at least 180.

If you're just getting started, use that formula. It's better than a wild-assed guess, even though it can be improved on with a test.

aham23

uh no. your max is you max. meaning your max heart is the max your little heart can reach. now, you may only reach certain levels while doing certain things, but your max is you max. later.

JTGraphics

Thanks for all the comments and will check into it more as I chart my personal performance. After several years of not really pushing my body to work hard I did when I was much younger.
I started cycling because a friend got me going now I can't stop! I have been riding for 2 years now average about 248mi a month I commute at a moderate pace 5 days and do a more aggressive 40 mile ride once every weekend, combo of hills rollers and flats I'm in pretty good health. But checking my heart rate is all new, I don't plan on racing but figure since I'm hooked on riding now I may as well make the best of it and try to get as much as I can out of it, pain is good!!!...
Thanks for the info and well see what happens now.

Road Fan

+1

umd

As has been said many times, your max is your max but fitness can affect your ability or willingness to reach your max.

JTGraphics

Yes I do plan on seeing where I can take this at 52 now I certainly don't fill it!!! 30 some odd years ago I was in pretty good shape, as I raced 250cc motocross in the Pro division when Carlsbad and Saddleback were around those were my good old days now it hitting the road with pedal power and I really like wish I started much earlier because I would of taken up racing I’m sure.

Carbon Unit

I will be 52 in a few months and I really don't have the desire or the ability to race, but I have been interested in doing century rides. I am also intersted in getting faster and I train as if I were preparing for a race.

I sent 15 years studying martial arts and have lifted weights since my teens; but, cycling is the most difficult physical activity I have ever been involved with. With martial arts and weight lifting, you will get a break to let your heart rate come down. With cycling, if you are climbing a hill and your heart rate maxes out, you just have to push through it and keep going.

tntyz

Just find yourself some other challenging goal, then. Ride a century, or ride it faster than you have before. Ride more miles than last year. Go on group rides. Plenty of ways to take it further w/o getting into the race scene.

kensuf

I'm 40. My max is 204. I saw 202 last weekend in a race. I'll probably see that again today.

Spiduhman

Your max will find you; you will find your max.

"A few" years ago 235-240.

Now, age 51 (oMG! 51), sometimes hit 200-210 on the last few repeats of a short interval set. I don't know what my absoute max is (I'm afraid I don't care so much either). I am interested in resting rate each day, and what zone I'm training in, as well as how my recovery rate is doing.

What I'd like to see is real time lactate metering.

Bantam

My max, on a bike, is 196 and I'm 22. That was observed during a crit last summer. Everyone's different.

chuckb

I think the way to find your max HR is to just ride for a while (6-12 months). The biggest HR number you ever record on that Garmin is your max HR. I'm 54 with a MHR of 185; this hasn't changed in 2 years of training. Resting HR has fallen considerably, MHR is unchanged.

BarracksSi

Thanks for the link; nice and clear without the commercialized BS that I was finding while googling for heart rate info.

I've got less than 40 bpm to catch up with you..

Dago

I'm 20 and hit 206 on a trainer about a week ago.

mike9903

Max is also in the high 220's, freaked my friend out and said that it was not possible and must of been a glitch in my HRM.

Busta Quad

You are correct. I should have been more clear in my statement and used the term effective or realized maximum, vis-a-vis real maximum.

Also, MHR is not a primary indicator of performance. Just as there are bigger/slower-turning and smaller/faster-turning engines there are bigger/slower-beating and smaller/faster-turning beating hearts. All that matters is how much blood can be pumped in a given amount of time.

As far as determining your MHR, if you are going so hard that you are afraid you are going to die, then you probably haven't hit your max. You will be near your max will be when you start being afraid you are not going die.