I Just Blew the Theory!
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Originally Posted by pastorbobnlnh
Denver, I'm amazed at how many didn't get your sarcasim!
Big Paulie? Digital Gee?
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Originally Posted by DnvrFox
I think I can pretty accurately state that the average age of 52 year-old males in Missouri is 52.
I can do pedantic!
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I've actually found my "real" maximum heart rate -- well, geeze, close enough! -- in two separate tests in a lab. Not a fun test. Anyway, here's a formula that really works. It came out within one beat for me.
211.415 minus half your age minus 5 percent of your body weight in pounds, plus 4 for men (zero for women.)
My number came out 179.4. My tested max: 181.
211.415 minus half your age minus 5 percent of your body weight in pounds, plus 4 for men (zero for women.)
My number came out 179.4. My tested max: 181.
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Originally Posted by DnvrFox
Yes, I need a term for "humor impaired."
Big Paulie? Digital Gee?
Big Paulie? Digital Gee?
Anyway, I am on beta blockers and managed to hit 151 bpms on a hill route this summer. That is my all time highest.
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Originally Posted by NOS88
I've always relied more on my recovery rate as a measure of fitness. That is, how long after a difficult ride does it take me to get back to my normal resting heart rate (as measured first thing in the morning before getting out of bed.) I do this becasue I've found that stress, illness or other normal factors that seem to show up throughout the year can have an impact on max heart rate. So, while riding, I monitor my heart rate at the start of the season to keep me from pushing too hard, too fast, but by July I've stopped wearing the heart rate monitor. Then I take a post ride pulse and check it with the resting pulse the next day.
You can put out lower amounts of power over shorter periods of time and recover rapidly from that without being "fit" in the manner I'm speaking.
And of course "lower amounts of power" is relative.
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Originally Posted by DnvrFox
Yes, I need a term for "humor impaired."
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The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
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Originally Posted by stonecrd
Actually I think the humor section of 50+ is well represented. Some of us have to stay serious just balance things out and to make sure people realize this is a bike forum not comedy central
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Dauphin, your maximum heart rate probably is close to 180. Climbing a hill, even a tough one, and seeing that your highest BPM is 165 is almost certainly not your "maximum heart rate." Why?
The maximum means just that -- it's really pushed to the absolute limit. When they do this test in a lab, by the end of it your eyes are bugging out, you're sucking air in huge painful gasps and you are one second frm falling off the stationary trainer. Assistants are yelling "Go! Go! Hang on! One more!" Fade to black. As I said, it's not a fun test. But it can be a useful one if you use a heart monitor for training, as I do.
But because this new formula appears to be so much better than the old 220-minus-your-age, why not use that instead of spending bucks and straining yourself in a lab?
The maximum means just that -- it's really pushed to the absolute limit. When they do this test in a lab, by the end of it your eyes are bugging out, you're sucking air in huge painful gasps and you are one second frm falling off the stationary trainer. Assistants are yelling "Go! Go! Hang on! One more!" Fade to black. As I said, it's not a fun test. But it can be a useful one if you use a heart monitor for training, as I do.
But because this new formula appears to be so much better than the old 220-minus-your-age, why not use that instead of spending bucks and straining yourself in a lab?
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Originally Posted by stonecrd
Actually I think the humor section of 50+ is well represented. Some of us have to stay serious just balance things out and to make sure people realize this is a bike forum not comedy central
Last edited by Big Paulie; 09-07-06 at 11:13 PM.
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By the way, I want to add that there are several ways to test yourself for maximum heat rate that are well below your real max, and very safe to do as well as accurate. They won't have you falling down and gasping. Email if you want more info.
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Originally Posted by Hwy 40 Blue
By the way, I want to add that there are several ways to test yourself for maximum heat rate that are well below your real max, and very safe to do as well as accurate. They won't have you falling down and gasping. Email if you want more info.
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OK. Here's a couple. Find a hill and do 3-4 sprints up it on a day that you are well rested. One after the other, bam bam bam. Make each effort harder than the last. Make the last one as hard as you can go. Take your pulse or wear a monitor, and your last biggest number is very close to your heart rate max.
Here's another: On a stationary bike, warm up for five minutes at 100 BPM. Increase bike tension until heart rate hits 110, maintain that for two minutes. Now record your Perceived Level of Exertion
1 -- very easy
2 -- very comfortable
3 -- no prob
4 -- could keep this up for a long time
5 -- somewhat comfortable
6 -- kind of challenging
7 -- tough, I have to push myself
8 -- breathing deep and rapid; this is hard
9 -- uncomfortable
10 -- ready to stop
Now increase heart level to 120 BPM for two minutes and record your Perceved Level of Exertion. Go to 130 BPM for two minutes, etc. Continue up the levels until you reach Level 7 -- tough. That BPM will be 80 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, so do the math.
These are good tests, but not perfect.
Here's another: On a stationary bike, warm up for five minutes at 100 BPM. Increase bike tension until heart rate hits 110, maintain that for two minutes. Now record your Perceived Level of Exertion
1 -- very easy
2 -- very comfortable
3 -- no prob
4 -- could keep this up for a long time
5 -- somewhat comfortable
6 -- kind of challenging
7 -- tough, I have to push myself
8 -- breathing deep and rapid; this is hard
9 -- uncomfortable
10 -- ready to stop
Now increase heart level to 120 BPM for two minutes and record your Perceved Level of Exertion. Go to 130 BPM for two minutes, etc. Continue up the levels until you reach Level 7 -- tough. That BPM will be 80 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, so do the math.
These are good tests, but not perfect.
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I would add that while your MHR may be nice to know it is really not used in training other than its realtionship to Lactate Threshold. You really need to do some of the tests out there for Lactate Threshold such as those described by Friel. I know that for me 80% MHR is 100% LTH. This means I should be able to ride without fatigue at this level for long periods. Hard work above 100% of LTH will move your LTH closer to your MHR thus giving you more endurance and power. That is the point of interval training, push your LTH, rest, repeat. If your not into training then %MHR can be used to monitor your bodies condition as in most cases when you start to fatigue your HR will start to climb for a fixed effort. So say when you are rested and riding at 18mph your HR is 75% MHR if you start to fatigue you may see your HR climb to 85% for the same effort. This is indication that things are going to get bad.
Now enough of the serious stuff isn't there a Kildare Diego to give us the medical pespective.
Now enough of the serious stuff isn't there a Kildare Diego to give us the medical pespective.
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The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
Last edited by stonecrd; 09-08-06 at 09:33 AM.
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Originally Posted by stonecrd
I would add that while your MHR may be nice to know it is really not used in training other than its realtionship to Lactate Threshold.
Now enough of the serious stuff isn't there a Kildare Diego to give us the medical pespective.
Now enough of the serious stuff isn't there a Kildare Diego to give us the medical pespective.
LT is the IN thing.
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Hey to be a real biker you have to discuss LT, VO2max wear bibs and ride an eyetalian bike. Don't you read the Road Forum
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The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
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Originally Posted by stonecrd
Hey to be a real biker you have to discuss LT, VO2max wear bibs and ride an eyetalian bike. Don't you read the Road Forum
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Take your choice (am I funny yet?)
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The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard and the shallow end is much too large
2013 Noah RS
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It's good to know your MHR -- if want to do that stuff, that is -- so you can have a pretty good idea how hard your heart is working and not waste time "just doing cardio," which many people do.
I also just enjoy riding my bike! But I have to confess, I spent a year in 2002 going from a middle-aged blob to getting lean and fit and writing about it in a series for the Denver Post, and I got to have all these whizbang lab tests for free. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had them.
I also just enjoy riding my bike! But I have to confess, I spent a year in 2002 going from a middle-aged blob to getting lean and fit and writing about it in a series for the Denver Post, and I got to have all these whizbang lab tests for free. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had them.
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Originally Posted by stonecrd
My computed is also 220-49 = 171 and I hit the 180s every day and the low 190's almost once a week and 196 once. The calc is total BS.
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Originally Posted by cyclintom
Here's some stuff for you to think about when you get that far:
1) Although that original method of determining max heart rate was set using non-athletic people it is in fact not a bad method. The more you exercise and obtain optimal fitness the more closely you'll find yourself meeting the numbers in that calculation.
2) People who have numbers significantly outside of those calculated have something WRONG with them, and not something right. If you're very slow to recover after an effort (say taking 10 minutes or longer for your heart rate to fall below 100 after you come to a stop) or if your heart rate is significantly above the calculation it means that the CAPACITY of your cardiovascular system is below what it should be.
Now that may not mean that anything is actually wrong with your health, but merely that you're below a fitness level. But it is something that you damn well better pay attention to.
3) Once you obtain the level of fitness you should have as an endurance athlete (and don't be afraid of thinking of yourself that way if you can ride a century) it is likely that your resting heart rate will be significantly lower than other people your age.
What this means is that IF you need to go to the emergency room FOR ANY REASON you MUST tell them that you are an athlete. Otherwise when they take your heart rate they will assume that you're suffering the early signs of a heart attack - slowed (and eventually stopped) heart rate.
You are the one responsible for your own health. It isn't some driver's fault if you fall into traffic and get run over. It isn't someone else's fault if you don't recognize the early signs of stroke or heart attack. And it isn't the hospital's fault if you don't inform your doctors and they have you on twenty machines before they discover that you're perfectly healthy and hand you a bill for $30,000.
1) Although that original method of determining max heart rate was set using non-athletic people it is in fact not a bad method. The more you exercise and obtain optimal fitness the more closely you'll find yourself meeting the numbers in that calculation.
2) People who have numbers significantly outside of those calculated have something WRONG with them, and not something right. If you're very slow to recover after an effort (say taking 10 minutes or longer for your heart rate to fall below 100 after you come to a stop) or if your heart rate is significantly above the calculation it means that the CAPACITY of your cardiovascular system is below what it should be.
Now that may not mean that anything is actually wrong with your health, but merely that you're below a fitness level. But it is something that you damn well better pay attention to.
3) Once you obtain the level of fitness you should have as an endurance athlete (and don't be afraid of thinking of yourself that way if you can ride a century) it is likely that your resting heart rate will be significantly lower than other people your age.
What this means is that IF you need to go to the emergency room FOR ANY REASON you MUST tell them that you are an athlete. Otherwise when they take your heart rate they will assume that you're suffering the early signs of a heart attack - slowed (and eventually stopped) heart rate.
You are the one responsible for your own health. It isn't some driver's fault if you fall into traffic and get run over. It isn't someone else's fault if you don't recognize the early signs of stroke or heart attack. And it isn't the hospital's fault if you don't inform your doctors and they have you on twenty machines before they discover that you're perfectly healthy and hand you a bill for $30,000.
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20 years ago I messed with this a little. I had a heart rate monitor and would go up a 6% hill at a pretty good effort. As I increased my effort my heart rate increased somewhat linearly until I reached one particular number, then it flattened. I was really hurting here but kept pushing and the heart rate barely budged. I repeated this experiment on different grade hills from flat to 20%’ers. My flatline was always within a few BPM of each other.
So, I concluded this was my maximum heart rate.
I never did the 220-age thing. That always seemed like too much work. (for those with their joke-meter too low, that was an attempt at a joke)
Anyway, these days, all I care about my heart rate is that it is greater than zero.
So, I concluded this was my maximum heart rate.
I never did the 220-age thing. That always seemed like too much work. (for those with their joke-meter too low, that was an attempt at a joke)
Anyway, these days, all I care about my heart rate is that it is greater than zero.