wondering if anyone has any tricks to lower your heart rate after intense bursts, increases in pace, settling into a climb?

for instance, after sprinting from a corner or such and my HR spike 10 beats, given the same speed, cadence, etc i find i can drop 3-4 beats just by concentrating on keeping my grip loose(r). thats a little over a 2% drop at 180 beats, which i think is benefitial.

anyone else?

I haven't actually tried this, but I suspect I could drop from numbers approaching MHR to zero simply by swerving in front of an oncoming semi.

NICE! do it....

There aren't any tricks and you aren't seeing what you think. First, you have to realize that HR lags effort by up to 30 seconds or so, so when you "sprint" out of a corner your hr is going to continue to rise even after you are done, and then eventually start to fall again for no apparent change in effort. Second, when you go around a corner you can lose a lot of momentum and spend a lot more effort than you realize getting back up to speed, or even keeping your speed. So again even though you are saying "for the same speed," it's nreally not the same effort, and that's what really matters.

Finally, if you want to lower your HR, just ride easier, or at least more consistently. Don't sprint up hills and out of corners, just focus on your breathing and keeping a steady effort. Ultimately, if you want a lower HR for a given speed/power, you just need to improve your fitness.

No can do -- I haven't been riding enough lately, so I need to focus on cardio work to improve my base.

For settling into a climb, I'd definitely focus on finding your cadence sweet spot and keeping your breathing rate controlled - deeper, slower rather than panting.

Not to be unkind, but this is a really silly question. Faster HR recovery in general is a sign of better fitness, but lowering your HR after a fast burst is not really important per se.

That said, if you REALLY want to drop your heart rate, do a "vagal" maneuver, like pushing hard on your carotid body (side of your neck) - that will cause a reflex drop in heart rate.

I don't know about tricks, but you can get drugs that will do that.

As for just controling the heart beat, with proper meditation and concentration you would be able to lower your heartrate. I freaked out the nurse at my Dr.'s office at a check up once when she was taking my pulse, I told her I could lower it to 65, which I did. then I told her I could lower it to 60, which i did. She was amazed. It's really not difficult. Control you breathing, relax, focus, done!

Go to sleep.

My heart rate has dropped. My doctor put me on Beta Blockers to lower my resting heart rate. It has also lowered it on my rides too. However, I wouldn't recommend it unless you get it from your doctor.

I would NOT recommend an active cyclist be placed on beta blockers unless absolutely necessary, it will lower your max HR. Seriously.

Very true. The highest HR I can achieve on Beta Blockers is a measly 138bpm...man, hypertension sucks!

Dilberto, if you are taking a beta blocker just for blood pressure, ask your doctor about other options. OTOH if you need them for coronary artery disease or arrhythmias like a-fib then you may be stuck.

I haven't ridden enough since being on beta blockers to know what the effect will be. I asked my doc and he didn't think it would cause a problem, but then he isn't a cyclist.

The doc said that I should be able to eliminate the beta blockers eventually. I hope so because I don't like to take any type of drugs.

I can do the lowering the HR by thinking about it trick too. I used that to pass my firefighting step test when I was not in very good shape. But it's useless for cycling, because you can hold it down only for so long (about 10-15 seconds for me). Then it comes up higher than when you started, because your body needs a certain blood flow rate and its got to make up for the lack when you held it down.

Relaxing the upper body on climbs can lower your HR for the same power output. Not a huge amount, but for long climbs it's worth a bit. Gripping the bars too tight causes you to clench a lot of muscles in your arms and even your shoulders, so relaxing your grip is a good way to relax those muscles. Sometimes I rest my hands on the tops of the bars rather than gripping them. Having a power meter and HRM makes it easy to see the effect.

But most of HR recovery after an effort is genetic- some people just recover faster than others- and you can improve it through training.

Look at a "neeked" picture of Sally Struthers before climbing.Everything will go dormant.

Put less weight on your hands; stabilize yourself through your seat. Work on core exercises.

Consult your physician and ask about a prescription for a beta blocker. Of course, once you do that your heart rate won't go as high as it used to so you'll be sucking wheel for the rest of your cycling life.

Less sodium, more riding.

+1

Do you ever post anything useful?