FPSDavid

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/200723057 or https://app.strava.com/activities/13787776 (same ride)

First time using my Garmin 500. When I first started riding it shortly warned me that my HR was too high (I think it was over 185bpm) and then I moved the sensor a very small amount to the left and it dropped like 10-15bpm...do my rates look normal? Not sure on what is normal vs. high vs. low...

Velo Gator

IME, HR on the 500 can be wonky sometimes, but your HR doesn't look abnormal.

jpdwyer

What is your resting heart rate? How hard were you pushing? 196bpm is pretty high, that is going to be near the high end for almost anyone.
One good test to see if the HRM is working correctly would be to take your pulse manually while stopped and compare it to your Garmin reading to see if it is in line.
I have had some high readings before (220bpm when I was actually around 150-160bpm) from the heart rate strap before it gets nice and sweaty. You can fix this by moistening the electrode pads with water before you begin riding.

jmX

The HR spikes towards the very beginning of a ride are pretty common with the garmin soft straps, a little less common if you're using their hard plastic strap. Once you get a bit "moist" the readings should be reliable. I'd ignore the 188 at the start of the ride.

I only use the cheaper Garmin strap now, the "deluxe" soft straps gave me too many spikes in the first 10 minutes.

Other than that, your HR looks pretty high in general (and I do trust the garmin here). I'm not so sure that's normal for that effort level, unless you were hopped up on coke. Seriously tho, wow! I know everybodies heart is different, bit 170bpm for an hour @ 16mph seems crazy to me.

FPSDavid

Dunno!

Beaker

There's not much weird about the trace. Everyone's numbers are different, but more important is how did the ride feel to you? Was your perceived exertion high? An avg of 170 sounds like it should at least be a moderate to hard effort. 196bpm as a max is possible, but unlikely if you weren't pushing hard. Does that match your experience on the ride?

FPSDavid

I was pushing pretty hard trying to keep my average @ 17mph. I just put it on ~3 hours later and it said about 90bpm.

jmX

Now that you have a heart rate monitor, something to try tomorrow if you want to know what your resting HR is:
Put the HR strap next to your bed, along with the garmin. Before you get outta bed tomorrow, strap it on, turn the garmin on (cancel out of the satellite screen) and see what it says. Or you could use a clock and feel your pulse, but I say you should use your gadgets

bikerjp

How old are you and how fit? I'm 45 and did a 30 mile recovery ride the other day with a 16.9mph average. My average HR was 137. On rides where I'm riding fairly hard my average is around 155. If you are younger but a bit out of shape and your perceived effort was high then an average of 170 isn't out of line. If you are older, I'd find a way to check the unit or see a doctor.

Beaker

There you go - entirely normal HR trace for you, I'll bet.


3hrs later has no relevance to your ride.

FPSDavid

I'm 22. 17mph average fast for me! Before today's hard ride, my highest average over 20 miles was 15.7mph, now it's 16.7.

3 hours later I'd hope I'd be back at resting HR?

bikerjp

At your age and riding hard a 170 HR is within what I'd expect (disclaimer: I am not a doctor (of medicine)).


Nope. Can take quite a while to get back to resting after a hard ride. Probably 6-12 hours or maybe not till the next morning unless you are really fit.

gregf83 

Next time when you're riding stick your finger on your neck and count your pulse for 10 seconds. If your manually measured HR matches what your Garmin is reading then that's your HR. Younger people often have higher heart rates. As you get fitter it will likely come down somewhat.

Beaker

What were you doing when you took your HR? Sitting down? Standing? Had you been walking around? Drunk any coffee? Too many variables. First thing in the morning is probably your best bet as noted above.

simonaway427

That 1st spike is from a dry monitor and a flapping jersey.

tntyz

I'm 55. My max measured heart rate this year is 189. I do plenty of rides averaging 170. Resting HR is in the low 50's. Normal covers a wide range and it is best to understand what your numbers are.

hhnngg1

Sounds about right given your high resting HR of 90.

My resting is 40bpm and my max is 180, but I do a hard effort lactate-threshold type workout at 140-150bpm. So pretty similar to you, but you're shifted up about 50bpm. It'll come down with more fitness as well, but you might just be with high HR as the guy above.

When you start training regularly with pretty good volume (like 100 mpw on the bike at least), your numbers will start to look more like the Maffetone rough guidelines, which is 180 - age for your upper limit aerobic threshold, and that number minus 10 to 20 for the main aerobic training range. So for me, age 37, 180-37 = 143, which happens to be exactly what the upper limit of my aerobic threshold is based upon my threshold tests with a HRM. I try and train mostly at 130HR-143HR now that I'm in shape. When I'm out of shape, those numbers are significantly higher (but I go significantly slower since the legs are the limiter.)

merlinextraligh

Formula is total crap. My personal example that would put my aerobic threshold at 127, and my aerobic training range at 107-117. When in fact, as determined both by lactate tests in the lab, and field tests with a HRM and a power meter, my lactate threshold HR is 165. So the formula is only off by 38bpm.

The results from any age base calculation are going to vary so much by individual that they're worthless to use as training metrics.

To the OP, if you want to do anything useful with your HR information, you need to establish your lactate threshold HR, or put another way, your HR at the power output you can maintain for an hour.

You can do this by a field test. In a 20 minute field test, after warming up, you go as hard as you can maintain for 20 minutes, 95% of that number is your threshold HR. Then you can use that number to establish your HR zones for various workouts.

Buying a book on training with HR would be helpful.