Originally Posted by
Robert A
I'm trying to establish my maximum HR so I can determine the 5 heart rate zones. I'm 62, 141 pounds and in good shape. Standard methods such as 220-age don't seem to work for me. I hit 171 on a treadmill test at a local clinic with HR and blood pressure monitors attached .
If you can get a graph of that, supposedly you can spot the inflection point where the lactate threshold starts. Probably Golden Cheetah can give you the same thing. I haven't analyzed that personally but it makes sense since that's practically the definition of the threshold.
I agree that it's more logical to base zones on the threshold than on maximum. Consider that if the two methods produce different zones, then there's something off in at least one of them. Since the threshold itself defines a zone boundary, that would be more accurate in at least a region than a (possibly wrong) maximum number that doesn't define any zone.