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Do you monitor heart rate?

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway
View Poll Results: Powermeter, HR, or nothing?
I constantly watch my power
11
11.00%
I monitor HR and do zone training
52
52.00%
Forget it, I just ride!
37
37.00%
Voters: 100. You may not vote on this poll

Do you monitor heart rate?

Old 07-24-13, 03:35 PM
  #26  
generalkdi
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No because I hate the strap, BUT, I chould receive my smart helmet in september, and then I will do!
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Old 07-24-13, 05:12 PM
  #27  
Carbonfiberboy 
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I do exactly what CDR advocates with HR in #7 . We just got back from a tandem tour. Comparing HR to RPE during the ride, I could tell exactly my state of fueling and hydration. Extremely helpful, probably more helpful than power only, since I was keeping power (speed) within a narrow range anyway. At present state of the art, power on a tandem is wish list only. Haven't looked at the Strava yet, but know it will be interesting.
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Old 07-24-13, 05:54 PM
  #28  
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I use a HR monitor, but just ride for fitness. I have no formal training plan, but I like to know how hard I'm working, so the HR info is helpful.
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Old 07-24-13, 09:47 PM
  #29  
Samfujiabq
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I had a colonoscopy recently and the nurses were amazed,Im bradycardic and my resting heart rate is 36bpm.So I've never been concerned about my Hr.
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Old 07-25-13, 10:19 AM
  #30  
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+1 on mvnsnd's perspective.

I rarely HR zone train per se, but certainly appreciate knowing what's up on the road and afterwards.
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Old 07-25-13, 10:40 AM
  #31  
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For me the HRM is the most important piece of equipment I have. I do not ride without it. I have had 5 heart surgeries in the last 2 years including a 4x bypass, a pacemaker, and a stent.


I go into heart block, I would be at 140 to 150 BPM and then I would go to 70. One night I went actually went to zero on the trainer. That is when I got the pacemaker, I told the doc and within a couple of days he did the implant.


Now when I get to a sustained HR rate of 140 or so going uphill (my heart rate is lower due to meds), I need to stop and rest. This is about when the pacemaker will kick in. The Cardio doc said the pacemaker is set to have a max HRM of 130 so continuing riding uphill is not something I can do, but within a minute or so I am good to go , my HR drops, the pacemaker is no longer firing, I am back to a normal sinus rhythm and I can continuing climbing.
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Old 07-25-13, 11:18 AM
  #32  
elcruxio
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As I'm aiming for ultra long endurance events (half triathlon in a year and ironman in two) I follow my HR readings like scripture. Basically I only do zone training to push my aerobic and lactate thresholds higher.
Also staying in a certain zone gives me great predictability about my blood glucose levels with refueling and hydration.

The zones are odd in different sports though.
When on my road bike my sustainable speed HR is up to 145bpm. Max is about 180ish or a bit more.
When running my sustainable is up to 155 and max is 190ish
When on my mountain bike sustainable is 125bpm and max is 160.

I have test my maxes again soon with some intervals. I'm a bit worried that my maxHR is a bit low for my age. 190 at 24. Then again I have a very low natural resting HR of 46/48(43 now with added excercise) so that might add to that as well
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Old 07-25-13, 11:50 AM
  #33  
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been using the HRM since they made their appearance.
first one I had was the 'CycleCoach' - was about the size of a large smartphone, could only do HR, and the chest strap was wired directly to it, and it was too large to wear so it was strapped to the bars...
I still use an HRM, primarily to keep my heart rate under a certain BPM point which would cause AFib; because I'm a recovering Heart attack victim due to a random blood clot in the Right Coronary artery.
I don;t really worry about zones much anymore, but I do regular work just under my current AT in an effort to keep it as high as possible. My AT being well below the point where the Afib might kick in.
It also helps alert me to when I nearing the Afib point, when I'm riding in the local wkend hammerfests. Without the HRM, my competitiveness would have me banging that ceiling way too often on those rides...
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Old 07-25-13, 11:59 AM
  #34  
Voodoo76
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Originally Posted by bikepro
Heart rate is just as important as power, perhaps more so if you're riding in high temperatures -- above 90 degrees. A higher than normal heart rate or a heart rate that won't recover when you are resting is a sign that you may be in trouble with the heat.

While I agree that power meters are better for monitoring your training efforts, monitoring your heart rate is still important. They go hand-in-hand. Your heart-rate to power ratio is a good indicator of fitness.
Ran into exactly this yesterday, it was HOT. Cut some interval work short because I could not get HR to come down as quick as it should.

One thing that HR is good for vs. nothing is keep some separation in your training. Most of us tent to go a little too hard on easy or long endurance rides, HR helps me keep easy rides in check so I recover quicker.

I put the HRM away for a while but now I've started using it with Strava as CDR suggested. Getting some interesting insight from that.
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