Sojodave

Just because someone is a Doctor doesn't mean they are an expert in all aspects of health. If I wasn't a cyclist, I would probably weigh 50 lbs more and have a bigger problem with my heart.

GhostRider62

Some years ago, I asked my family doctor to order a stress test because I was going to do a 250 mile ride. He asked what was my longest ride so far. I said I did 186 miles the other day. He asked my heart rate max? I said I hit 180 a couple of times. He said, you already had your stress test. Puzzled, I asked what do you mean? He said, you are alive and sitting right there.

vane171

Up till now, I did my rides without any monitoring devise, so no idea what HRs I might have, but at 63 I keep speed at which I am mildly sweating and heart rate is in some moderate and stable range, some bigger hills that would require too much laboring, exertion, I dismount and walk a bit, ride a bit... no use to torture myself.

One reason for not tackling bigger hills is also my gearing, the old bike I rode up to now has 40x23 lowest gear which is pretty steep I think but soon I will have much better bike with easier gears.

52/40 & 13/14/15/17/19/21/23 with the last sprocket 26 but can't shift to it, the RD begins to hit wheel spokes when I shift to it, so I never use it.

big john

r.i.p.

Bald Paul

69 years old, had a heart attack at 42. I was in good shape, but I inherited an issue with high bad cholesterol that killed my father in his early 50s.

My cardiologist loves the fact that I ride, but warns me not to push my heart rate above a certain level. I ride with a HRM and my Garmin is programmed to yell at me (okay, it beeps) if my heart rate gets too high. I'm no where near as fast nor can I ride as far as when I was in my 20s and raced, although I tell those I ride with my bike is like a Ferrari with a Briggs & Stratton engine (I do look fast at rest stops, though! ) I do my best to keep my heart rate in the "beneficial exercise" zone prescribed by my doctor, and if my recovery time from any effort (i.e.: hills) starts to slow, I know I have to back off and take it easy.

To those of you who say "If I'm going to have a heart attack, I'd rather have it on my bike!" - no, no you wouldn't. Not all heart attacks are lethal, but they can cause enough damage to your heart muscle to prevent you from doing a lot of the things you loved to do beforehand. And, they can hurt - a lot. Trust me on that. The faster you can get to the hospital, the better your chances of recovering or at least limiting the damage to your heart.

Climb14er

I'm 68, GF is a cardiac surgical RN, she says my resting HR of 49-51 and my diet and exercise after all these years... she wants and expects at least... another twenty years solid with me. . She's a keeper!

terrymorse 

Have you asked your cardiologist what science they are relying on for placing an upper limit on your heart rate?

If you don't get a straight answer, maybe try asking them to read this:

Bald Paul

Excerpts from Master Endurance Athletes and Cardiovascular Controversies, Current Sports Medicine Reports, 2020:

improved mortality has been documented in the highest-level endurance athletes

41% lower mortality was observed among elite cyclists compared with the general male population.

[T]here continues to be no definitive data to support practitioners advice against high-level exercise for healthy individuals who choose to engage in high levels of physical activity.

Now, what part about "I had a heart attack" makes you think I fit into any of these groups? I think I would rather listen to two highly trained and experienced cardiologists than one internet forum poster when it comes to matters that may mean life or death to me. No offense.

terrymorse 

Maybe this article from the American College of Cardiology is more appropriate to your post-MI situation:

The Master Endurance Athlete Post-Myocardial Infarction: Return to Play and Shared-Decision Making

Bald Paul

If I were a Master Endurance Athlete, perhaps it would. (HINT: I'm not a Master Endurance Athlete, nor have I ever been one.) Now, please stop trying to give me medical advice you find on Dr. Google I'm not going to listen to. Thank you.

rumrunn6

personally, I've backed off excessive intensity. there was a time, where I felt no self restraint. I'd rather not die alone in the woods from a heart attack. but I suppose I wouldn't mind dying from a heart attack, biking, in a more populace area, where my body could be retrieved before the animals got to me ;-)

terrymorse 

As you wish.

But please keep in mind, doctors are humans that are no smarter than you are. They make mistakes, and they often make decisions based on outdated or controversial research.

I'm an educated and intelligent person. I assume you are, also. The research articles are publicly available, and they're easy to comprehend.

terrymorse 

What has led you to suspect that high intensity exercise can lead to a heart attack?

Seriously. Did someone tell you that, or did you read it somewhere?

I regularly do above-LT intervals, VO2max efforts, and max effort sprints (all high intensity stuff) on my rides. Am I putting myself at risk of death?

rumrunn6

wow that sounds great, whatever all that means. I won't get into the details of my personal health records here, but no my Doc hasn't told me to back off anything but I can tell from my breathing that my current conditioning at 62 isn't what is was at 20 or even 50. the covid lock downs & lack of gym visits has really hampered my current fitness level. sounds like you are in touch with your fitness level & exercise accordingly. well done!

rsbob 

it solely has to do with the individual’s physiology and diet. For a small percentage, they sustain micro-tears and then scarring of the heart which is cumulative, which can lead to a coronary incident. This has been documented in medical journals. For a larger percentage, they will live longer than average, have less serious conditions and then die more quickly. I am shooting for the latter. Where you fall, only your cardiologist might be able to tell through as series of tests. In the meantime, unless you have irregular heart rhythms or any of the classic symptoms of an MI, keep it up. (I still push myself on climbs to the 180s but like to keep myself normally in what I deem a safe range 150-low 170s.

terrymorse 

Thanks. I'm also 62 and was completely out of shape during this COVID thing.

Ten weeks ago, after getting essentially no exercise for a year, I starting doing easy and short rides, adding more distance and effort very gradually.

I'm now up to 12-14 hours per week of riding, and I feel great. Lots of energy, improved mental attitude.

BTW, about all that "VO2Max, threshold, etc." jargon. Those are the effort zones that Strava displays when you have a power meter. Each "zone" emphasizes a different aspect of training:



Strava's power zone distribution graph

terrymorse 

Thanks. Yours is essentially my strategy after the cardiologist did a bunch of (expensive) tests and could find no problems.

rsbob 

Used to live in Menlo Park and would bike around “Paly”, Woodside, Redwood City and west to the Santa Cruz mountains. Traffic was a lot more sensible back in the 70s. Great area though.

terrymorse 

The riding is still quite good around here, especially if you can ride weekdays and outside of commute times. Most of the traffic is on the freeways and expressways, not the good cycling routes.

rumrunn6

sweet, very cool. I need to get back on the horse! :-)

PeteHski

That just sounds like normal pacing to me i.e. if you are hitting 180s when pushing yourself, then you will naturally not be able to sustain that level for very long anyway before blowing up. Your HR numbers just happen to be very similar to mine. 180 is around my LHTR (or threshold power) and 150-low 170s covers my endurance to tempo range. I can ride all day at 150, but once I get above 170 I know I can't go for more than a couple of hours. At 180 I can go for maybe 30-40 mins max (basically an all-out FTP test). My max HR is 190. Down maybe 10 beats from what it was in my mid 20s (I'm 53 now). I usually only hit my max HR on all-out fitness tests or intense race sprints.

I don't put any artificial limits on my HR. I just let my brain decide when my body has had enough!

PeteHski

The first sniff of BS here is "anyone above age 55" as if that's some sort of binary cut-off point. 55 years is plenty of time for differing genetics and lifestyle to make any 2 people of that age totally incomparable. But if we take this advice literally, I can still flog myself for another couple of years and then I'm done. Sunday morning coffee rides only for the rest of my life. Meanwhile there are riders in their late 50s, 60s and 70s still putting down impressive century times while not dropping dead like flies on the road.

So my advice (not a medic) is to ride as hard or as moderately as you feel like (presuming you don't have any heart issues, although maybe you do if you are seeing a cardiologist?). I follow a structured training regime which includes a mixture of low, medium and high intensity sessions (I don't see them as being mutually exclusive). I take my recovery seriously too, as that's when you actually improve your performance.

Marylander

That's good news and I was operating as if I already knew that anyway. I'm in the group of long time aerobic exercisers who has a lot of calcification. I had a CTA 3D heart scan done last year as my cardiologist was concerned with my calcium score. The heart scan gives a clear picture of the calcified stuff versus the loose stuff like fat, cholesterol, etc in the arteries (the stuff that "causes" heart attacks being loose). My scan showed a fair bit of calcium but very little of the loose stuff, "diffuse, mostly calcified coronary atherosclerotic disease without significant lumen narrowing". My visceral fat in a DEXA scan a coupe years ago was estimated at less than 1 lb so I don't really have the so called heart attack fat around my belly even though I'm not the slimmest around. So, I'm going to continue doing what I'm doing.

spelger

since we are throwing out free advice here's mine... do not take any medical advice from anyone on any forum (this one included). most mean well but most are not doctors. if you don't like the advice of your doctor or are not in agreement with what he says and the articles put forth then get a second or third opinion. as others have said here, doctors can be wrong...but they can also be right.

fwiw, i ride as hard as i can as often as i can.

PeteHski

I'm amazed how many of you guys on here have a cardiologist and heart scans etc. Is that standard practice (like having a GP) or because of a history of heart conditions? I'm not aware of anyone seeing a cardiologist in the UK unless they are referred by their GP with heart problems.