terrymorse 

The Garmin 830 head unit (I don't know about the other models) lets you specify heart rate zones based on percentage of LT heart rate.

MagnaRota

I don't worry about my heart. Never had a heart problem- and if I die I die. What am I going to do, live life worrying about dying? All that worrying is bad for your heart.
But one small thing I do is always carry a couple of aspirin with me. Easy to do even when riding. If you think you're copping a heart attack, ingesting those right away cuts risk of death by 50%.

indyfabz

I came very close to dying at the end of 2022 due to sepsis that attacked my heart. If it weren’t for an an astute neighbor, I wouldn’t be typing this. I’ve either been in the hospital or in rehab since 12/31/22 after having my mitral valve and part of my ascending aorta replaced. I didn’t get up on my feet for about 2 months and still need a walker to get around safely. I ate my first food of 2023 on 3/26. I have taken two showers this year. Stair lift being installed at home on Thursday. Hope to be out of here soon. Miss my kitty very much. He’s been staying with friends. Thankfully, I have great health insurance through work and have been getting paid while out.

I am having a hard time imagining ever being able to do the type of bike touring I routinely engaged in before all this.

While you shouldn’t live life worrying about dying, I wouldn’t be so blasé about the things that can go wrong with your heart.

peterws

It's a good idea to keep track of your hr. It varies depending on what or when you eat, the time of day (higher in the afternoon) and with the elderly it can fluctuate wildly, as I found out today.
I usually take bp/hr around 10am Sat morning, with the wife. Our little ritual; she's on meds, I'm not. Rates for my age, mid seventies, not bad; 118/60/52.. But I had a routine health check this afternoon, and bp had shot up to 147. I'd had a curry for lunch, followed by chocolate to which I have an adiction. Now and again I go a little mad with cherry bakewells and ice cream thrown in and it's become a bad habit.
I don't think you can hang onto bad habits in your 70s.
A slight discomfort in the L of my chest during spinning class has given me some resolve. I hope it's enough (the medic has arranged for an ECG) but I have my aspirins ready!

Artmo 

Take look at this on GCN/YouTube https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com...for-your-heart

blakcloud

I had a heart attack on my bike but it certainly wasn't like the movies. What I experienced is light headiness on and off during the ride but was more pronounced on the last small climb. Came home and felt really tired and slept. Got up the next day and I didn't feel like riding my bike and this was the deciding factor of going to the hospital. End result was a stent with two other inclusions that are being monitored.

Yes, I worry every time I am on my bike of having another heart attack. I think one of the worst things about a heart attack has nothing to do with the heart but about the psychology of it. What it does to a person's mind is something that is rarely discussed.

peterws

I've had a surge in varicose veins, and spots/sores in the lower leg which could be something or nothing. The doctors give you cream and tablets to treat them but the heart? Nothing, until I get a thrombosis or a stroke.
I've started taking a half aspirin daily, ground up and scattered in my food. Compression socks, Fexofenadine for the itchy leg spots and sores and Bicarb for anything else I might have; so far, so good. BP wildly fluctuates at times, but that could be weather or spicy food . . .
The joys being old! . . I've stopped the red wine, and palpitations/missed beats no longer occur (beer's ok lol) I have elbow pads on my jacket, a sit up and beg riding position but . . I'm still here and doing stuff.
Home remedies are becoming very popular now since it's getting harder to see a doctor in my little country.
Maybe we should share some . . .

MoAlpha

Stroke is pretty unlikely from a venous thrombosis. There has to be a high pulmonary artery pressure and a big enough hole in the heart for the clot to cross from the right side to the left. It happens, but rarely enough to be interesting. Clots from veins tend to go to the lung, where they can be asymptomatic, bad, or one of the fastest natural deaths available, depending on their size.

terrymorse 

A fast natural death is something we all can wish for.

My wife's dad died from a pulmonary embolism, the lucky bastard.

MoAlpha

I'm pretty scared of dying, even fast.

pdlamb

Sure beats a slow highly medicated death.

MoAlpha

Which, in turn, beats a slow, inadequately medicated death.

Bully4

Thumbs up on that one! My BP is always close. I tried pills, but they seem to make me lightheaded. I threw them away and started riding again. I'll keep riding till the bitter end. It seems to make the difference for me. Doctors seem to like exploiting the human trait of wanting fast, easy solutions. I guess I'm hard headed.

Best of luck

peterws

Bloody cheerful lot you are! I was thinking on lookng good in a spin class of (much younger) women . . . .

Carbonfiberboy 

That sounds familiar. My experience suggests that the ECG won't show anything though you might have a partially blocked cardiac artery or arteries My cardiologist(s) only found my problem with an angiogram. My issue was bad enough that I passed out on the bike, still no clinical evidence found over a period of months and various exams before that potentially expensive and invasive exam and its bonus, 2 stents. Hope you have decent health insurance. During that long period between my initial syncope and the stents, while 2 cardiologists couldn't find their butts with both hands, I think my heart sustained permanent damage. I suggest finding a sports cardiologist now.

My numbers were as good as yours or better. I only had deposits in coronary arteries, everything else was good. For more fun with BP, see: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1...ha.107.487439#

rsbob 

I find it interesting how my 830 gives suggested recovery times based on effort - presumably heart rate in various zones. I typically cut them short if its totally outrageous, like today’s 56 hours. But I will take a couple of days off none the less since it was a tough day. I have entered HR zones as well.

No longer do I run my HR up to redline - 190 - and find that 180 runs me out of breath quickly enough, so what’s the point of potential scaring?

peterws

That is useful info, thanks for that. I just had my last called for check up (stops after mid 70s) and an unusually high bp set the thing in motion. It could have been due to the annoying little brat of an older kid, playing his games loudly. Remonstrations would only have brought trouble, so i sat in out. But I'm also left wondering if Fexofendine antihistamines play a part.
Happy days!

Carbonfiberboy 

I've been taking that for a bad cough, didn't seem to help, but also didn't affect BP. You have a BP monitor? I'm using an Omron, seems to be real reliable. I take mine in the morning, after coffee, before breakfast, when It's quiet in the house. Systolic 115 if I'm taking Lisinopril, 123 if I'm not. I stopped it because it made my cough worse, will pick it up again when this thing goes away.

rsbob 

As a youngster, I had the sadistic pleasure of constantly running my HR way up on runs, intense climbing hikes and even cycling. If I wasn’t working hard and felt my heart pounding, it just wasn’t fun. My hikes were deemed ‘death marches’ by my friends whom participated. Even to this day, I enjoy running my heart hard and lungs hard. Still at 68 I have a max HR of 191 - ;but then I am gasping for air, so I try to stay below 180. As a result, or maybe not, I have occasional AF (not the current popular meaning of AF). Tonight I did a one hour and 20 minute Zwift with an average HR of 153 with a max of 180. Until recently, suffering from chronic anxiety, running myself at intense levels is a way of burning it out and reaching a place of relative calm. Its a hard habit to break. An EKG and a week long halter study showed no ill effects, so I am officially not worried. If I have an MI doing a hill climb for a PR, it would be a good way to go.

MagnaRota

This may be unusual but I have never been able to get my heart rate up over 155, on any kind of stationary equipment I have used with a heart monitor. My legs will run out of steam first. Resting I am normally under 60 BPM and normal blood pressure. This may be just individual physiology or it may be due to my powerlifting background where you train your circulatory system to deliver a lot of energy but for only a short period of time.

rsbob 

Yes it is about individual physiology. In my 20s and 30s I could run my heart up to 210-215 and resting HR in the low 50s. Now my resting is varies around 65.

Bearhawker

Indeed. I'm 55, resting HR low 50s and it's rare that I don't hit 200 on any given ride. I can average high 100's for hours, day after day. My HR can go way over 100 just suiting up and taking my bike out of the house.

Dr has no concerns as I show/feel no problematic symptoms and my HR drops pretty fast as soon as the effort is over.

Where things have gone off the rails for me is when too hot and possibly under hydrated.

Calsun

A group of senior cyclists who had been going on long distance multi day tours together for decades were studied and the researchers remarked that they had the physiology of people 30 years younger. Many studies show how the duration of strenuous physical activity is most effective in determing the outcome for an individual's health.

The marketing though is to appeal to people who lack the time to exercise and so want a program that can be done in 30 minutes or less. And then there are those who want a pill or injection to fix things.

As I age I know I need to be more cautious about getting dehydrated and thickening my blood and I take copious amounts of fish oil for the same reason. Many people admitted to the ER after a heart attack have low levels of magnesium and first responders often check for this and make this the first step for treatment. People on low salt diets have are less likely to have a heart attack and it is believed that it is simply because the salt substitutes have potassium chloride as an ingredient.

Doctors in the USA are clueless about nutrition and they still treat the numbers and not the patient. The numbers they rely upon provide a "normal" range and so the optimum level is never considered, especially as it relates to older individuals.

oldbobcat

Last month I found out I'd had a heart attack somewhere in my past. Don't know where or when, but there's scar tissue and a leaky aortic valve to show for it. My cardiologist says the scarring diminishes my heart function but isn't serious. And the valve regurgitation is probably not why I'm feeling breathless during and after every aerobic exertion. But one of the side effects of atorvastatin (for mild plaque on the arteries) is muscular weakness, so on his recommendation I've gone off of that for a few weeks. We'll see what happens. But my orders are to push as hard as my breath holds out.

peterws

I'm on 20mg atorvastatin for 3 months for the same reason. Diet'd probably do the trick but both together should put things right (!)
A week into it.and no probs except for a bit of exhaustion now and again (nothing new there).
Have been advised to limit output; Exercise and statins are strange bedfellows it seems.