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Getting Heart Rate Up not overly high

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Getting Heart Rate Up not overly high

Old 06-23-20, 01:13 PM
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deacon mark
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Getting Heart Rate Up not overly high

I have been a life long runner and cyclist and my resting HR usually is around 40 in the calm. I am 58 and I find rarely can I every get my heart rate above 140. If I get to 140 I am working extremely hard and probably trying go up a climb or sprint. I just wonder if anyone else has the same sort of stats. I see guys my age running heart rates in training of 125-150. I have been riding a lot lately about 250-300 miles a week and I go about 50 mile rides at say 17-19 mph solo. Mostly I live in flatland's but on these my ride will have 108 bpm average. This puts me according to numbers in the lower end of training intensity.

I am familiar with the science and HR is very individual but wonder if anyone else has same similar stats. I would like to think that it is because my rest rate is low and I just cannot get up beyond a certain level regardless of what the max HR is supposed to be. Mine would be around 162 and that seems pretty high to me. Running naturally gets my HR up higher but my issue with that is I have runner's dystonia and I cannot always run as such. I sort of walk fast then sprint a bit and regroup. My brain has forgot how to run correct but that has nothing to do with my post as such. Although I would like know I anyone might have that********** while i am at it.
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Old 06-23-20, 01:48 PM
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My numbers are not like your numbers. My RHR is around 50 these days.

I find I settle at around 110-130bpm for a steady 15-20 mph cruise.
140-150 for a motivated effort (300-350 watts) 20-25 mph
and maybe 170 for short high intensity (400-500 watt) bits like a steep hill 10-20% climb or 25+mph mile or 3 then it immediatly drops back to some nominal level at the next stop light & makes the average look terrible.

I'd like to get back to the days where I could achieve a 95% HR intensity on a bicycle, outside of a controlled environment, but I just don't think my legs can put that kind of draw on my cardio system anymore 'cause my cardio system adapted & something always interrupts the effort. 5-10 hours a week of 80-90% intensity on a fluid trainer building strength & capacity over the winter will do that.

I find that over training jello legs makes it difficult to put a decent load on your system as well. Give it 2 or 3 days then go out & give it a good motivated effort & see how your heart responds. My guess is you'll be able to make it work harder, but still not reach super high intensities.

Big cardio is nice. Also as a runner, you probably have well conditioned & engaged core muscles your riding partners may not & tons of mitochondrial adaption throughout your body to withstand the high intensity of running many of your riding partners may not.

What is their VO2 max? What is yours? I'll bet you take in bunches more oxygen at a lower intensity effort a whole lot easier than they do.

I wouldn't think too much of it. Your RHR is definitly on the low end, but you can still get a solid 100 point spread out of the activity.

Congrats, in my book, you are very, very fit.
(and I should probably go back to running 5-10 miles a week for the intensity. )








(Stand by for a post about statins, or some other medication coming soon.)

Last edited by base2; 06-23-20 at 02:02 PM.
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Old 06-23-20, 01:54 PM
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I think it might be due to the flat terrain you ride on as you're a super efficient rider on the flats.

I'm similar to you as I'm age 59 and have a resting BPM of around 48 (according to my Fitbit). I ride solo 5-6 times per week. Each ride is around 19-22 miles with about 1800 feet of climbing and my average MPH is 18-19. My average BPM is always around 130 but maxes at around 180 when I'm doing the steep climbs. I'm also a lightweight as I weigh 130 lbs so usually do 95% of my climbs in the saddle. I ran track in high school, biked in my 20s, started running again in my 30s and 40s when I had kids, then started riding again when I turned 50. I also swim at the beach for around 25 mins during the summer months.
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Old 06-23-20, 02:03 PM
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The sinoatrial node seems to lose its responsiveness to beta adrenergic stimulation with age. I’m nearly 64 with resting rates in the 50s and go up into the mid 170s with big efforts, but I could still hit 200 in my 40s. Different old hearts for different old farts.
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Old 06-23-20, 02:10 PM
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My 5 sec : 5 min power ratio is around 4.45. But a 50th percentile rider according to this chart would be around 2.66. Which means it’s way easier for me to hit my max HR than a typical rider. I suspect you’d have a much lower 5sec:5min ratio.

More here: https://www.cyclinganalytics.com/blo...output-compare

Very fit runners will find it difficult to max out their HR on the bike. It’s not as demanding. Your max HR is very personal and is best determined by running on an incline treadmill.

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Old 06-23-20, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by MoAlpha
The sinoatrial node seems to lose its responsiveness to beta adrenergic stimulation with age. I’m nearly 64 with resting rates in the 50s and go up into the mid 170s with big efforts, but I could still hit 200 in my 40s. Different old hearts for different old farts.
I don't know if this applies, but I'm 69, had a pacemaker put in about 8 months ago due to too slow heart rate (mid 30's). Then had an ablation to cure atrial flutter. Now I can ride at a pretty good pace, for me, at around 130bpm, but as soon as I reach a hard climb, it drops to high 90's low 100's. Kind of kills any group rides. I don't know if it's the heart or the pacemaker doing that.
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Old 06-23-20, 02:53 PM
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Originally Posted by smashndash

Very fit runners will find it difficult to max out their HR on the bike. It’s not as demanding. Your max HR is very personal and is best determined by running on an incline treadmill.
that is me mostly, long history of running 30-35 mpw. Up to 55 mpw maximum.
Never been what I'd call particularly fast but I'd generally beat 80-90 percent of the people in races I ran

On a bike my legs run out of muscle way before I run out of cardio. Hr maxes around 160 on the bike. I always look at zwift race results and wonder what people think about my 130 bpm average over a race which is almost always way lower than others
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Old 06-23-20, 03:48 PM
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Ya'll make me feel like a freak. I normally cross 200 bpm a couple times per ride on climbs... my average on a 30 mile ride is about 165.
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Old 06-23-20, 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by jbell_64
Ya'll make me feel like a freak. I normally cross 200 bpm a couple times per ride on climbs... my average on a 30 mile ride is about 165.
It’s pretty personal/normal. Some people just have hummingbird hearts. I personally hit 110bpm just getting on the bike. I’ll average 180+ in a race and hit 195 in a sprint.
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Old 06-23-20, 04:29 PM
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I remember Strava following both Searvogel during his HAMR effort, and Coker during hers. They would click out 200 miles @ 20mph with an average heart rate barely over a hundred. I recall 300km rides by Searvogel with average heart rate in the double digits. At the same time, I've seen pros in road races average 170bpm for 3 hours, with sprints above 200bpm. There is no "normal" or "average." A typical effort for my old fatness will end with my average HR in the 130-140 area. If I ride with my wife, I might do two hours at an average of 95bpm.

Oh, and resting HR has nothing to do with HR during activity. I know distance runners with resting heart rates around 85. As mentioned, hummingbird hearts.
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Old 06-23-20, 04:35 PM
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In my prime 30 years ago as a runner I could run a 39 minute 10K and my marathon PR is 3:06. I am not super faster runner the fastest mile I ever ran was 5:41. I do have endurance as I can keep it up for long time. The point is that once in my prime I wore a persons heart rate monitor, back then they were just getting started with using them and I never did. Well I remember even then at age 30 the highest I could get my HR was in the around 185.

As I mention my running is messed up with runner's dystonia so I cannot run all out for a mile or so. If I hold on to treadmill rails and push I can get my heart rate to maybe around 150 but to me it is like I am trying to run an all out mile. I think on the bike the thing I seemed to do is I can keep going back and pushing. I have no trouble riding with riders much younger than me, unless of course they are the local race studs. This morning I rode 54 miles in 2:57 miles and my HR was 106 average and I hit 142 on a steep hill. Todays ride had 1214 ft elevation according to Garmin. I don't know how that works but a bit more hills in this ride than normally.
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Old 06-23-20, 07:33 PM
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Originally Posted by smashndash
It’s pretty personal/normal. Some people just have hummingbird hearts. I personally hit 110bpm just getting on the bike. I’ll average 180+ in a race and hit 195 in a sprint.
I was discussing this with a guy I ride with of similar cycling ability. In the 160's, I can carry on a conversation while he is huffing and puffing in the 160's. Over the same ride I average about 25 bpm higher than he does at about equivalent perceived exertion and speed.
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Old 06-23-20, 09:22 PM
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75 y.o. here, resting HR ~46, standing astride the bike, ready to go, ~58, cruising ~115, LTHR ~135, 143 is about when things are not OK anymore and I'd black out if I went any harder. I start to pant ~138. It's just having a big old heart. Normal or at least certainly not abnormal. A rider 4 years older than I with whom I used to ride was about the same, which also rather amazed me at the time.
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