Heart Rate question.

Luxxis

Morning all,

Was out on the bike first time yesterday for 3 months. I tend to take a few months off during the winter.

Same as last year, I noticed my heart rate max'd out at 181/2 BPM. Now towards the end of last year it never was more the about 172/3. So I was wondering does anyone know the physiology going on here. Obviously its due to the break/rest for the few months. But why when I ramp up the training does it drop by about 10 BPM once I get into the training (2-3 months) and never see it above that number? I did google it but really found nothing.

Just wondering that's all

cheers.

Taxuser1

Luxxis wrote: »

Morning all,

Was out on the bike first time yesterday for 3 months. I tend to take a few months off during the winter.

Same as last year, I noticed my heart rate max'd out at 181/2 BPM. Now towards the end of last year it never was more the about 172/3. So I was wondering does anyone know the physiology going on here. Obviously its due to the break/rest for the few months. But why when I ramp up the training does it drop by about 10 BPM once I get into the training (2-3 months) and never see it above that number? I did google it but really found nothing.

Just wondering that's all

cheers.

no answers to that but my heart rate hit 255 last week from a usual max in the 180s. i hope to god it's a dodgy hrm because no strava records came close to being broken on cruagh road.

last year i was on consistent anti histamine treatment and it dropped my max heart rate by 11-12 beats no matter how hard i exerted myself. i went off that type of treatment post surgical treatment for the issue and my heart rate max increased by 20 beats through last summer. i was able to train better post surgery so it accounted for some of the increased score possibly.

there's always dips for cold, winter training, less exertion, so maybe you'll see yours increasing in better weather, more miles in after your winter break.

HowItsMade

Could be the battery on the HRM, they tend to give a weaker reading as the battery dies out.

JimmiesRustled

Generally the fitter you get the lower your maximum heart rate will be. I wouldn't be worried its pretty normal to have a higher heart rate after a couple weeks off. Should settle down once you get a bit of fitness back up.

rivermansteve

I'm the same. Usually max heart rate is 184. Took a few months off and now I'm back it goes as high as 190

seamus

Depends on the effort level. After a bit of a break, your body has lost some conditioning, so your heart needs to work harder to get the same output. It rolls back in pretty quickly though, within 3-4 weeks, in my experience.

Your max hasn't actually changed - if you were to go out and destroy yourself, balls-out, riding as hard as you can for ten minutes - then you will hit the same max every time. But you're probably noticing that when you climb a particular hill or do a particular route, your heart is hitting a higher max than it usually would.

Your actual maximum hasn't changed at all, it can't.

07Lapierre

seamus wrote: »

Depends on the effort level. After a bit of a break, your body has lost some conditioning, so your heart needs to work harder to get the same output. It rolls back in pretty quickly though, within 3-4 weeks, in my experience.

Your max hasn't actually changed - if you were to go out and destroy yourself, balls-out, riding as hard as you can for ten minutes - then you will hit the same max every time. But you're probably noticing that when you climb a particular hill or do a particular route, your heart is hitting a higher max than it usually would.

Your actual maximum hasn't changed at all, it can't.

Your Max HR gets lower as you get older?

seamus

07Lapierre wrote: »

Your Max HR gets lower as you get older?

Sssh! I'm trying to keep it simple!

So it can't go up.

Although my max hasn't changed in ten years, so I don't know.

Luxxis

seamus wrote: »

Depends on the effort level. After a bit of a break, your body has lost some conditioning, so your heart needs to work harder to get the same output. It rolls back in pretty quickly though, within 3-4 weeks, in my experience.

Your max hasn't actually changed - if you were to go out and destroy yourself, balls-out, riding as hard as you can for ten minutes - then you will hit the same max every time. But you're probably noticing that when you climb a particular hill or do a particular route, your heart is hitting a higher max than it usually would.

Your actual maximum hasn't changed at all, it can't.

Yeah, last year it took about 6 weeks to get back to normal.



Thanks all,

i just found it interesting

C3PO

JimmiesRustled wrote: »

Generally the fitter you get the lower your maximum heart rate will be

Sorry, but pretty sure that is not the case! Your resting heart rate will be lower as you get fitter and, as stated above, your maximum HR will usually be lower as you get older but I don't believe that your fitness level will affect max HR!
How are you testing your max HR OP?

Luxxis

C3PO wrote: »

Sorry, but pretty sure that is not the case! Your resting heart rate will be lower as you get fitter and, as stated above, your maximum HR will usually be lower as you get older but I don't believe that your fitness level will affect max HR!
How are you testing your max HR OP?

I have a Garmin HRM with a new battery.

Just on the climbs. Putting the hammer down .

Mockba

Taxuser1 wrote: »

no answers to that but my heart rate hit 255 last week from a usual max in the 180s. i hope to god it's a dodgy hrm because no strava records came close to being broken on cruagh road.

l.

Not trying to alarm you or anything but....
Last year i thought I had a dodgy HRM as my heart hit 205 from a Max Of 170.
It turns out I had an irregular heart beat and needed to get a zap of the defibulator to knock it back into shape. This lead to me getting a stent in the heart also as I had a blockage in my artery..
So unless you are sure your HRM is broken my advice is to get it checked out.
Maybe your heart is telling you something.

JimmiesRustled

C3PO wrote: »

Sorry, but pretty sure that is not the case! Your resting heart rate will be lower as you get fitter and, as stated above, your maximum HR will usually be lower as you get older but I don't believe that your fitness level will affect max HR!
How are you testing your max HR OP?

I don’t know why you’re talking about resting heart rates when I didn’t mention resting heart rates and neither did the op. Your max hr will lower the fitter you get.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/06/max-heart-rate-and-fitness.html

tunney

The only thing better than the cycling board discussing power is the cycling board discussing heart rate.............

JimmiesRustled

tunney wrote: »

The only thing better than the cycling board discussing power is the cycling board discussing heart rate.............

Wonder if they do a single sided hr monitor. Only measures one side of the two sides of your heart. Bound to be cheaper and as good.

Taxuser1

Mockba wrote: »

Not trying to alarm you or anything but....
Last year i thought I had a dodgy HRM as my heart hit 205 from a Max Of 170.
It turns out I had an irregular heart beat and needed to get a zap of the defibulator to knock it back into shape. This lead to me getting a stent in the heart also as I had a blockage in my artery..
So unless you are sure your HRM is broken my advice is to get it checked out.
Maybe your heart is telling you something.

i have a broken heart from this particular garmin hrm. its always on the blink. its an old one but my flashy new one bought last year won't work for some reason. separate thread for how some garmin hrm are not working post garmin unit software updates!?

iwillhtfu

C3PO wrote: »

Sorry, but pretty sure that is not the case! Your resting heart rate will be lower as you get fitter and, as stated above, your maximum HR will usually be lower as you get older but I don't believe that your fitness level will affect max HR!
How are you testing your max HR OP?

I'd agree with this. Your max heart rate for a given power output will obviously drop the fitter you are but I don't see how your total max heart rate would be affected other than perhaps being a bit more difficult to reach.

JimmiesRustled

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I'd agree with this. Your max heart rate for a given power output will obviously drop the fitter you are but I don't see how your total max heart rate would be affected other than perhaps being a bit more difficult to reach.

I've linked an article above which goes through the reasoning behind your max heart rate lowering.

iwillhtfu

JimmiesRustled wrote: »

I've linked an article above which goes through the reasoning behind your max heart rate lowering.

I read your link and the word probably was used which automatically rules it out as a given in my book. Their theory is that your heart becomes more efficient there by satisfying your bodies needs with fewer beats. I still find it hard to believe that this somehow reduces the max output of your heart.

Luxxis

tunney wrote: »

The only thing better than the cycling board discussing power is the cycling board discussing heart rate.............

I swear i didn't know. Honestly.

Beasty

Only time I get a heart-stopping moment is when it drops below 1 - However the fact I can still see it then suggests to me it's probably something to do with the technology....

Luxxis

Beasty wrote: »

Only time I get a heart-stopping moment is when it drops below 1 - However the fact I can still see it then suggests to me it's probably something to do with the technology....

You could be a zombie. Something to think about! :eek:

transylman

Luxxis wrote: »

Morning all,

Was out on the bike first time yesterday for 3 months. I tend to take a few months off during the winter.

Same as last year, I noticed my heart rate max'd out at 181/2 BPM. Now towards the end of last year it never was more the about 172/3. So I was wondering does anyone know the physiology going on here. Obviously its due to the break/rest for the few months. But why when I ramp up the training does it drop by about 10 BPM once I get into the training (2-3 months) and never see it above that number? I did google it but really found nothing.

Just wondering that's all

cheers.

Quite simply, fatigue. When you are rested a given heart rate zone will require less perceived effort and it will be easier to get your heart rate into the higher zones. As fatigue accumulates perceived effort will increase and it becomes increasingly difficult to reach the upper limits of your max heart rate (which is relatively consistent).

It shouldn't be a constant thing though. Are you taking easy weeks every 4 to 6 weeks? If it is consistent over a long period then it sounds like you are overtraining.

Beasty

Luxxis wrote: »

You could be a zombie. Something to think about! :eek:

There are a few from around here who may well be supportive of that conclusion!

On one of my rides I managed to go from 160+ to 100- in less than a minute. 5 mins later it was down to zero but returned to just under 100 about 80s later (anyway all that's detailed in another thread:pac:)

Mellor

JimmiesRustled wrote: »

I've linked an article above which goes through the reasoning behind your max heart rate lowering.

You linked to and article that mentioned a study/review. But didn't go into any details.
If you actually read the study, it is describing short term HR max fluctuation over the course of a macro cycle, which is not the same as MHR decreasing with fitness. It also includes studies that show MHR increasing as atlhetes taper for comp.

For anyone that is interested;
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12627831_Evidence_and_Possible_Mechanisms_of_Altered_Maximum_Heart_Rate_With_Endurance_Training_and_Tapering