Billy Bones

1. A little context. The Edwards and Reed book has an informative list (page 42) describing what Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) is and is not. One of the list's items is MHR "does not predict athletic performance". As an "owner" of an MHR in the low part of the range I find that statement counter-intuitive. It seems to me that a high MHR (and the athletic ability to get "up there") translates directly to higher blood volume available for exertion and therefore better athletic potential. Can it be right that a low MHR does not condemn its "owner" to low performance?

2. A little more context. There are prescriptions out there one may use to determine individual MHR. Those seem to me redundant for folks who regularly get into "painful" anaerobic zones during sprint intervals, hard hill climbs, etc. Could a valid individual MHR be determined by glancing down and noting the heart rates at these times? Certainly, after several dozen times in the anaerobic range one gets a good estimate of ones MHR. I'll add that try as I might, there are numbers above which I simply cannot achieve.

Grazie mille.

ottsville

1. MHR does not necessarily = greater volume of blood flow compared to other people. Volume of blood per heartbeat comes into play for that...and is different for everybody.
The ability to do MORE WORK(power output) at LOWER HEARTRATES is more important than the ability to hit maxHR.

2. Going anearobic does not necessarily equal maxHR.

You are better off determining LT and using that to set training zones.

oldmtngoat

I am not a very strong rider, yet I have a high MHR. I'm in my 50's and this past Saturday I hit a heart rate of 180 and still had something left in the tank. Several years ago I hit 184 and thought this was my max. I no longer think 184 is my max. Its something higher.
My lactate threshold is around 166-167 and that's what I've been using to base my training on.

BTW, Edwards book got me started on learning how to train better.

Billy Bones

1+ on the Edwards book. It has provided me another outlook on training, some insight on the physiology of fitness, and a gratefully accepted solution to the boredom/burnout issue.

Thanks folks. Looks like I have some work to do on my MHR measurement.