Originally Posted by
Robert A
I'm 62, and my theoretical max of 158 bpm is well within a sustainable range where I can converse with fellow cyclists and ride for an extended period. I was recently tested at 171 bpm in a hospital lab, and though I was significantly winded, I can only guess that my max was possibly 5-10 bpm more. But what is max anyway? A fuzzy line of exhaustion?
Basically yes. It's the heart rate you reach when you cannot push yourself any further. It's a moving target because it decreases with age and can vary based on fatigue, humidity, indoor/outdoor, level of perceived effort (you thought you were maxing yourself out, but were you?), etc. There are plenty of tests you can do that put you in the ballpark, here's one I found-
This test requires a Heart Rate Monitor and a turbo trainer. It may be helpful to have someone assist during the test, to encourage you when things get tough and to take the readings from your Heart Rate Monitor.
- Warm up for 10 to 15 minutes and then ride as hard as possible intensive time trial effort for the next ten minutes. Ride the last minute flat out (maximum effort), and sprint the last 20 to 30 seconds. It should now be possible to read the MHR on the Heart Rate Monitor.
- Do not stop immediately but keep pedalling and warm down gradually for the next ten minutes.
- Repeat the test two or three more times, with a couple of days between each test, to establish your true maximum
The point of knowing it is to set your heart rate "zones" based around your lactate threshold HR and max HR (there are different tests for your threshold HR, it's basically the average HR of a 20-30 minute all-out time trial effort, something you can sustain for that length of time at a steady but hard effort) so you can do targeted training.
It sounds like you want to be able to do super hard efforts on climbs and then still be able to hold a high pace on the subsequent flats. You're just trying to increase your threshold power while also improving your recovery (how quickly you can get back to "normal" after a beyond-threshold effort). Plenty of training plains out there for that sort of goal, just do some googling.