Average heart rate - shame yourself!

jon1981

Right, I've started using my heart monitor lately when on the bike and I'm ashamed at what it's telling me!

Today commute home : 7.5km , 25m elevation, 21kph - Ave HR 165BPM
Short morning cycle: 20km , 133m elevation, 27kph - Ave HR 181 BPM (like wtf)

I commute everyday in and out of work and do a couple of cycles on the weekend averaging 26-30kph over 30-40km. How do i get this average hear rate down? Just keep at it?

Indricotherium

jon1981 wrote: »

Right, I've started using my heart monitor lately when on the bike and I'm ashamed at what it's telling me!

Today commute home : 7.5km , 25m elevation, 21kph - Ave HR 165BPM
Short morning cycle: 20km , 133m elevation, 27kph - Ave HR 181 BPM (like wtf)

I commute everyday in and out of work and do a couple of cycles on the weekend averaging 26-30kph over 30-40km. How do i get this average hear rate down? Just keep at it?

You need to be thinking in %'s of max, and thresholds rather than just a number on your watch.

Get yourself a vo2 test and work out your lactic threshold to identify where you need to train.

Buying a heart monitor and just thinking lower is better is nonsense.

RST

Do you know what your max HR is. Without this any other figure is meaningless.

jon1981

Max has been measure as 189BPM...that's the highest it's hit.

Orion

Wear the hrm at night or get the sleepcycle app and use that to work out your resting heart rate. That's a better indicator than your average during exercise. Too many factors come into play for exercise - tiredness level, diet, stress, etc which can all vary day to day.

Beasty

jon1981 wrote: »

Max has been measure as 189BPM...that's the highest it's hit.

You mean the highest you have recorded? How long have you been checking? I hit my highest ever recorded a few weeks ago. That was in a race when I was (almost literally) busting a gut. My previous highest was set maybe 3-4 years ago. Typically the highest I record in a non-race situation will be less than 90% of the maximum I've recorded. I suspect my "real max" is even higher still

jon1981

Beasty wrote: »

You mean the highest you have recorded? How long have you been checking? I hit my highest ever recorded a few weeks ago. That was in a race when I was (almost literally) busting a gut. My previous highest was set maybe 3-4 years ago. Typically the highest I record in a non-race situation will be less than 90% of the maximum I've recorded. I suspect my "real max" is even higher still

hmmmm good point. So I've had the monitor on my body only 6-7 times now and highest has been 189 that I have recorded, i was busting myself during that section. Perhaps there is more to go on tougher cycles.

Indricotherium

jon1981 wrote: »

hmmmm good point. So I've had the monitor on my body only 6-7 times now and highest has been 189 that I have recorded, i was busting myself during that section. Perhaps there is more to go on tougher cycles.

Certainly for me, cycling a real bike on a real road, I have never gotten to max HR.

Maybe for a proper cyclist that would be possible, but for me, there are too many variables, such as the hill ending, or falling off your bike.

Take it inside onto a static machine and push in watt steps, that will reveal your max a lot more reliably than whatever the highest you hit on a random cycle.

RST

Check out GCN on YouTube, they have a video showing how to establish your heart rate zones. A turbo or wattbike are probably the best to use. Remember that getting your heart rate in the correct zone is the objective, not getting it as high as you can .

RobFowl

Here we go again !
We're talking short cycles and commutes and you're advising VO2 max testing, threseholds etc...

First make sure you're wearing it right. Too much upper body movement on a cheaper or badly positioned HR strap will give an incorrect reading.
Secondly get your max, as a rough guide 220 minus your age, going flat out on a 8-10 minute climb will usually get you a max reading.
Get used to checking resting pulse in the morning, five minutes or so after you wake is the best time.

Average will go down as you get fitter or you will go faster ..

And most of all keep cycling and enjoy yourself....

tunney

I love the cycling forum.
The board that just keeps giving.

Any advice on the best energy gels to use for my 10km ride to work? My coach says I don't need them but my PM says I'm expending kilojoules. Any thoughts?

lennymc

7

cython

tunney wrote: »

I love the cycling forum.
The board that just keeps giving.

Any advice on the best energy gels to use for my 10km ride to work? My coach says I don't need them but my PM says I'm expending kilojoules. Any thoughts?

Switch off your power meter? I've heard it claimed that if it's not on Strava it didn't happen, after all! :pac:

Borderfox

My max is 201 and average the other day was 168 @32kmph average

Crocked

I generally average between 170-180 and will hit 200 at some stage on a spin in the hills. Think the max I've hit on the bike is 205.

It's not really about how yours compares to anyone else's. Its knowing what your norms/max are and what level you can maintain without going into the red, or how hard you can push at a given bpm for.

Once you get to know your rates it makes the hills etc easier to pace.

Indricotherium

RobFowl wrote: »

Here we go again !
We're talking short cycles and commutes and you're advising VO2 max testing, threseholds etc...

Yeah you're dead right. Just keep looking at the number on the watch and hope something happens.

stecleary

For something as simple as commutes and short weekend spins is a hrm even needed. I got caught up in the numbers game, forgot to charge my Garmin and went for a spin with out it. Best cycle I ever had!

If you really want to know your zones etc and don't know.How to work them out use training peaks, it will work them out, mail you when they change and work off that. A random pie in the sky number means feck all really

zl1whqvjs75cdy

It is nice to have numbers to work towards I find, whether its max distance or average speed or average heart rate or whatever. Helps keep the motivation up, for me anyway. ALthough it has been a long while since I've been on the bike. Damn work.

Lusk_Doyle

Borderfox wrote: »

My max is 201 and average the other day was 168 @32kmph average

What's your min?

TheBlaaMan

ME:

Resting 58-62bpm
Max ever recorded 184bpm (25 minute ramp test under medicical supervision in a lab)
'Sweet-spot' 160-165bpm - rate at which I can relatively easily sustain a constant, toughish effort for 30-45minutes
"red zone" - anything more than 5 minutes is unsustainable - over 175bpm
point at which I stop pushing on the bike, c182bpm

I'm guessing that this means my threshold heart rate is around 170bpm.........

BUT.....

The minute I throw my leg over the bike and pedal away, my HR is around 120-130 and it NEVER falls below 115bpm on a spin, never ever. So, my zones are all over the place, and I now know that other peoples figures and stats are useless in determining any relevance to myself. It is only after a few years of self monitoring, testing etc that I've reach a point where I know what my own figures mean for me and the relevance that they are when it comes to judging effort, exertion and judging my fitness. The figure that I concentrate on most is the sweet-spot, keep below that and I can go pretty much forever. Keeping up on group spins etc. and pushing into the pain zone for short times and recovering afterwards is relatively easy to judge as a result.

tommy_tucker

was your jersey flapping and creating static by any chance? this causes mine to go bananas, highest ive ever recorded with that was around 290, which clearly was just wrong.

either that or it was a mild heart attack

not yet

A rough guide is 220 less your age as a max. You should be aiming for 80%ish of your max on a regular basis.

Or just go out and enjoy the cycle.

lennymc

My absolute maximum ever reached on the bike was 162. my minimum was 36. resting is low 50's. HR is really unique to an individual.

not yet

Highest: 179

Lowest: 61

Beasty

lennymc wrote: »

My absolute maximum ever reached on the bike was 162.

Christ you must be old!! - maybe 58 by that 220-age calculation


:pac:

Max I had reached was 186 maybe 3-4 years ago. Then 2 weeks ago I hit 187 when racing (and winning;)) at Sundrive, making me now 5 years younger than I "should" be, at 33 .....



(BTW the Fitbit estimates my resting HR at around 57-60, although I can easily get it down to less than 50, and if I've been off the bike a few days 45 or less)

jinkypolly

The 220 less your age is absolutely useless, according to that I should be 22 years younger.

Beasty

jinkypolly wrote: »

The 220 less your age is absolutely useless, according to that I should be 22 years younger.

I know it's useless - it's only given me 21 years back


:pac:

benneca1

220 less your age is a guide but unless you are a pro racer it is as close as you need.

My rule if I am banjaxed I am going too hard for an easy spin if it is too easy then I am not going hard enough for a tempo spin. Lot of codlogy about this which only applies to professionals and to be honest I don't thing the pros log onto boards to get advice

Thats my tuppence ha'penny worth. HRM is handy when cycling into headwind tho when you have no idea if the wind is doing your head in or if it really is hard.

RobFowl

My max is 202
Resting about 50

I'm not 18....

seamus

benneca1 wrote: »

220 less your age is a guide but unless you are a pro racer it is as close as you need.

Actually I disagree completely with this statement. Even for someone who doesn't race, but enjoys beating personal goals up hills and through long spins, if you want to train to HR zones, you need to know your correct max HR.

If I went by the 220-age calculation, I would be working off a max HR of 187. Consequently what an online calculator tells me is my stamina/LT zone would be my recovery zone. I would doing all sorts of training in this zone and wondering why I'm still struggling on the long hills.

In fact, my 1-hour sustainable HR (~185bpm) is just 2bpm shy of the "theoretical" max for me.

Anecdotes don't make for evidence, but the calculation is way off for me. Anyone who's using a HRM for the purposes of HR-based training needs something better than this calculation otherwise you're wasting your time. Doesn't mean you have to go do a full test, but getting out and doing some of the things mentioned here (usually involves about ten minutes of horrendous suffering) will get you a much better estimation of max HR.

benneca1

seamus wrote: »

Actually I disagree completely with this statement. Even for someone who doesn't race, but enjoys beating personal goals up hills and through long spins, if you want to train to HR zones, you need to know your correct max HR.

If I went by the 220-age calculation, I would be working off a max HR of 187. Consequently what an online calculator tells me is my stamina/LT zone would be my recovery zone. I would doing all sorts of training in this zone and wondering why I'm still struggling on the long hills.

In fact, my 1-hour sustainable HR (~185bpm) is just 2bpm shy of the "theoretical" max for me.

Anecdotes don't make for evidence, but the calculation is way off for me. Anyone who's using a HRM for the purposes of HR-based training needs something better than this calculation otherwise you're wasting your time. Doesn't mean you have to go do a full test, but getting out and doing some of the things mentioned here (usually involves about ten minutes of horrendous suffering) will get you a much better estimation of max HR.

Feck boy sounds like you are enjoying your leisure cycling. Since I stopped racing the only use for my HRM is as described above but I suppose if you want to get to the top of the hill faster than yesterday or last week then sure whatever floats your boat is grand but all I am saying is don't sweat it there are a lot of things to get right first. Anyhow technically your maximum heart rate is that rate just before valvular incompetence ie the rate at which your heart is beating so fast the valves don't function and if you ever reach that youll probalbly know. Or whoever picks you up will know you reached it