Heart rate

gramar

According to the usual rule of thumb measure my MHR is 183 (220-37)

I’m a very average runner doing 5-8km. My 5KM PB is about 22.30 and the last few weeks to
vary things I’ve ran a few miles in about 6:20.

I use a Polarflow and the last few days attached the heart monitor out of interest and
when running fairly hard towards the end of my run my HR peaked at 185 for the mile and 169 bpm average.

For a slow 5km run the avg is 146 bpm and for a fast (for me) 2.5km run it’s 165 bpm.

Would people consider that high given my relative level of fitness? Do people back off when they see their HR
at the max level or is it ok for short bursts say the last 100 metres when you give it everything?

adrian522

The first thing you should do is find your actual Max HR rather than using a formula. Doesn't have to be exact but based off a test rather than a formula.

If you are hitting 185 in a training run you can assume your max is a little higher than that.

If you could run a 5k race flat out you will usually hit your max (or close to it) towards the end of your race.

TFBubendorfer

gramar wrote: »

According to the usual rule of thumb measure my MHR is 183 (220-37)

According to the same rule my max HR would be 174. In reality it's about 190.
A friend of mine of almost the same age has a max HR of about 160. Funnily enough, our PBs almost match from 5k all the way to the marathon.

That HR rule of thumb is worthless. Like adrian522 said, you need to establish your actual max HR before you can train by HR.

jamule

Heart rates vary so much between people the formula is pointless. The 5km flat out should give you your max HR (esp if you kick/sprint at the end!)

aoboa

My max according to the calculators is ~175bpm.
My actual as measure at the end of a load of 5k races is 191bpm.

The Muppet

Mine By Calculator is 169,
173 when I measured it .

gramar

I did an easy 5km this morning then a 2 minute recovery before a fast 1km. Had the HR monitor on and max HR was up to 187 or 102%. Previous highest was 185 for what I would have perceived as a greater effort.

Does that mean I'm getting fitter or the opposite?

Firedance

Your max heart rate has no bearing on your fitness, your resting heart rate does however, it gets lower as fitness improves although a friend of mine who's far fitter than I has a higher RHR so I'm not sure how the science of that works! (take before you get out of bed/put a foot on the ground). Your max is set and doesn't change depending on fitness levels. Some good info here for you

As the others have said, do a max HR test, your watch readings mean nothing until you've done that.

dekbhoy

correct max heart rate doesnt change. but as the formula goes its accurate for me ,max recorded heart rate in a flat out 5k was 181 bpm. and i happen to be 39 yo.

gramar

I put on the heart monitor the other day in the afternoon watching a movie. The lowest I saw was 52 but mostly hovered around
54/55. First time I saw the resting HR so I've nothing to compare it to and I'll check again in a month or two although I don't expect any change given my level of training.

iAcesHigh

gramar wrote: »

I put on the heart monitor the other day in the afternoon watching a movie. The lowest I saw was 52 but mostly hovered around
54/55. First time I saw the resting HR so I've nothing to compare it to and I'll check again in a month or two although I don't expect any change given my level of training.

you'll get your real resting HR by measuring it first thing in the morning...

Ceepo

gramar wrote: »

I put on the heart monitor the other day in the afternoon watching a movie. The lowest I saw was 52 but mostly hovered around
54/55. First time I saw the resting HR so I've nothing to compare it to and I'll check again in a month or two although I don't expect any change given my level of training.

You should check your RHR 4/5 days per week.
This will give you a base line RHR to work from.
You can then use this as a guide to how you are recovering from sessions/runs.
If your Rhr is 10% -12% higher than base line I wouldn't do any hard session that day. Anything above 15% is definitely a rest day.
Higher rhr might also be an indication of sickness.

68 lost souls

Resting for me is 46 and Max is 209 approx. The 220-age gives 190 so it is not very accurate. I think you should test it properly and see that way.

Training off heart rate is very beneficial but needs to be done correctly. Dont want to to be pushing yourself too little or too much. My last two races I ran off heart rate alone and have been training religiously with hear rate the past year and it has made a massive difference to the two previous years training off time.

Mellor

Firedance wrote: »

Your max heart rate has no bearing on your fitness, your resting heart rate does however, it gets lower as fitness improves although a friend of mine who's far fitter than I has a higher RHR so I'm not sure how the science of that works!

It's a general rule, not an absolute measure of fitness.
You can have a low RHR and not be very fit at all, it's actually quite a health risk.

zulutango

My heart rate regularly drops into the mid-thirties, at rest. More often than not in a sedate situation such as sitting down it's in the low to mid forties. I wouldn't say I'm massively fit. I tend to be placing in the top 20% of most races I enter but these aren't super competitive. Not really convinced it's the best measure of fitness.

Ceepo

zulutango wrote: »

My heart rate regularly drops into the mid-thirties, at rest. More often than not in a sedate situation such as sitting down it's in the low to mid forties. I wouldn't say I'm massively fit. I tend to be placing in the top 20% of most races I enter but these aren't super competitive. Not really convinced it's the best measure of fitness.

I would agree that's it not a measure of fitness, saying that there is usually a correlation between been fit and having a low rhr, but that doesn't mean having a low rhr means someone is fit.
There are other variables like heart stroke volume that play a factor on heart rate bpm.

If you were taking rhr over the course of a few months you might find that your rhr has decrease as you were getting fitter.

Mellor

zulutango wrote: »

My heart rate regularly drops into the mid-thirties, at rest. More often than not in a sedate situation such as sitting down it's in the low to mid forties. I wouldn't say I'm massively fit. I tend to be placing in the top 20% of most races I enter but these aren't super competitive. Not really convinced it's the best measure of fitness.

A RHR that low would probably be a concern for a doctor if the serson wasnt somewhat fit . Bradycardia is a abnormally slow heartrate.