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I need some help. I searched to no avail.

Old 03-13-21, 05:00 AM
  #1  
gentrym76
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I need some help. I searched to no avail.

I searched here and on google. There is ALOT of info out there.

I am wanting to ride to increase my stamina. I suppose some form of aerobic training is what I need. I want to work torwards a healthier heart.

I figured I needed a heart rate monitor. I don't have alot of money so I need the cheapest route for now. I'm thinking some form of chest strap that I can use my smartphone with. I may be wrong though. Does anybody have any advice on this, which subform I should be looking at? Any decent websites or other forums? I like forums because they seem to have people with experience (and some good and bad opinions too). I just don't have the time to search all day and I'm not finding what I need.

I'm borrowing my uncle's bike (older Trek 7.5 FX), I'm 44 years old, and I want to do this correctly.

Eventually if I keep with it I'm going to get my own bike and accessories, but I gotta keep it rather cheap, close to sixty dollars for now.
Having tons of fun riding that Trek. Whatever kind of bike that is, it's cool and works out for me, for now.

Thank you,
Mark.

Last edited by gentrym76; 03-13-21 at 05:06 AM.
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Old 03-13-21, 05:18 AM
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See a Heart Doctor if you think your heart is Weak.
Other than That, just start riding and increase your miles every week.
Once you can ride 500 miles a week you will be there.
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Old 03-13-21, 05:22 AM
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Check you local Craigslist and get a used Road Bike.

I Started w a $15 used 25 y/o road bike.
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Old 03-13-21, 09:26 AM
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Assuming that you have a smart phone with Bluetooth, get a heart rate monitor with Bluetooth (some were only ANT+, but Bluetooth is fairly common now). Then find an app, preferably free, that can connect to the heart rate monitor and keep track of your exercise. Strava has been on again/off again with connecting to peripherals, but is worth checking out. I think that Ride With GPS also has this kind of functionality, too.
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Old 03-13-21, 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
See a Heart Doctor if you think your heart is Weak.
Other than That, just start riding and increase your miles every week.
Once you can ride 500 miles a week you will be there.
WHAT? Five-hundred miles a week is a ridiculous recommendation for this case. Yes, see a cardiologist. Yes begin slowly and increase sensibly. But you do NOT have to be able to ride 500 miles per week (avg 72 miles per day) to be heart healthy. If you can get to that level...great. But for now you should probably just concentrate on the medical community’s recommendation of 30 minutes per day of cardio/aerobic exercise (elevated heart rate), at least five days per week. As for an inexpensive heart rate monitor. Frequently checking it using two fingers at your carotid pulse or your radial pulse at your wrist, and your wrist watch is good.

Yes....500 miles per week is an outstanding goal. But you’ll likely be “heart healthy” long before that.

Good luck.

Dan
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Old 03-13-21, 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by _ForceD_
WHAT? Five-hundred miles a week is a ridiculous recommendation for this case. Yes, see a cardiologist. Yes begin slowly and increase sensibly. But you do NOT have to be able to ride 500 miles per week (avg 72 miles per day) to be heart healthy. If you can get to that level...great. But for now you should probably just concentrate on the medical community’s recommendation of 30 minutes per day of cardio/aerobic exercise (elevated heart rate), at least five days per week. As for an inexpensive heart rate monitor. Frequently checking it using two fingers at your carotid pulse or your radial pulse at your wrist, and your wrist watch is good.

Yes....500 miles per week is an outstanding goal. But you’ll likely be “heart healthy” long before that.

Good luck.

Dan
2000 mile month

Then you will be ready for a Tour
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Old 03-13-21, 10:36 AM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
2000 mile month

Then you will be ready for a Tour
I understand that you were fishing for an opportunity to be boastful, but that's neither helpful for nor putting a priority upon the needs of the OP, now is it?
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Old 03-13-21, 10:40 AM
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Don't overthink it. Continue to ride your uncle's bike as long as he'll let you. Don't compare yourself to the serious athletes on this forum and think you need to reach their level to "do it right". Anything is better than nothing. Forget about the heart rate monitor, it's not necessary for riding. If you are still riding in a year then repeat for the following year.

edit: revision. Do things that help motivate you to continue riding. If tracking heart rate or distance help motivate you then do that. Don't compare yourself with others. Learn how to do regular preventive maintenance on your bike - clean and lube the chain, etc.. Learn how to fix a flat and be able to do that while out biking. Good luck, report back with progress.

Several $59.95 heart rate monitor straps here:
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best...-rate-monitors

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Old 03-13-21, 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by WhyFi
I understand that you were fishing for an opportunity to be boastful, but that's neither helpful for nor putting a priority upon the needs of the OP, now is it?
I ride with group that each have over 200,000 miles on their legs.
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Old 03-13-21, 10:55 AM
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Stamina is not an overnight thing. Let's revisit this after you've ridden regularly for 3 maybe 5 years. Try to do at least 120 miles a week.

You might have to tailor some of your riding to areas where you want more stamina.

Stamina to climb steep long hills?

Stamina to ride far distances?

Stamina to ride for 90 minutes as fast as you can?

There are a lot of places you might build stamina but seem to have no comparable stamina for the other things. So think about where you want it.

If you need it all and you need it now, then get a coach or a very good training plan. Otherwise just ride often and do some long rides too.
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Old 03-13-21, 12:58 PM
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Originally Posted by gentrym76
I searched here and on google. There is ALOT of info out there.
I am wanting to ride to increase my stamina.
Thank you,
Mark.
Mark, I agree with several other posts but am offering a slightly different slant. If you want to increase stamina then focus on doing that and everything else is less important such as heart rate monitors and bike specifics. Increasing stamina involves expanding physical effort over an extended period. If you ride, lengthen your rides every few days or a week. If you ride for 30 minutes, add 5 minutes a week and you'll be at an hour in 6 weeks or so. Supplement that by increasing your pace from time to time. Before long you'll be doing 50 miles. From there it's mostly mental. That is, 50 or 60 or more mile barriers are in your head.

Last edited by Tony P.; 03-13-21 at 01:07 PM.
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Old 03-13-21, 01:22 PM
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Since you don't mention wanting to lose weight, I'll assume you're a reasonably healthy 44 year old male. In my 40s, I judged my stamina by how far and how fast I rode. I just started every year slow and kept adding miles to my rides. I enjoyed biking, so it was natural to ride faster and farther as the cycling season progressed. I rode with a Cateye bike computer, and every so often I'd stop and check my pulse against the Cateye's clock to make sure I was actually working, but I'd usually know by my respiration and the feelings in my body if I was working hard. I didn't need a(n) HRM when I was 44; in fact, there were no consumer HRMs available then.

Now I ride with a Wahoo Tickr Fit. I have to be careful about not letting my HR get too high early in a ride. I get exuberant on the bike, and sometime I use too much energy too early and have a rough time getting home. But I'm a lot older than you.

The Wahoo Tickr is $50 retail. It will communicate with a free Wahoo app. I expect the makers of most HRMs have free apps. If the Tickr Fit dies (and I'm afraid it will this year, because it showed evidence of doing so last year), I may go to a chest strap, because I've used the Tickr Fit for 3 years, and the one I have is a warranty replacement. I'd like to get more durability than that.

But my reco is similar to something that was written above: Start riding. Keep riding. Push yourself until you breathe fast and deep. You can check your HR but getting a watch or clock on your phone, finding your pulse, and counting beats against seconds. I used to count the beats in 10 seconds and multiply by 6. I used the pulse in my neck, but I placed very little pressure on the artery - I understand too much pressure ca cause fainiting....
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Old 03-13-21, 01:46 PM
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I started riding in 2005 to lose weigh and get in better shape. I started on a cheap hybrid, did not have a HR monitor and just put miles on my bike and had a very basic wired computer. Stamina will come with time. I eventually got a bike computer with HR but it was a year or so after I started riding and had lost some 45 pounds. Now days, it seems so many things have an HR monitoring in it. If you happen to have a smart watch, like Samsung or Apple, they have a HR monitor built in. I have a Samsung watch, and I found it is pretty close to the Wahoo Tickr chest strap I wear now.
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Old 03-13-21, 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
See a Heart Doctor if you think your heart is Weak.
Other than That, just start riding and increase your miles every week.
Once you can ride 500 miles a week you will be there.
Wow, just wow. This is just total nonsense. No 44 year old with a job and spouse/kids can devote 4 hours per day, 7 days per week to biking. Nor is it required to have a healthy heart.

I'm impressed that you can do that much, but to say it’s necessary to achieve a healthy cardio system is just wrong.
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Old 03-13-21, 02:25 PM
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Originally Posted by Mojo31
Wow, just wow. This is just total nonsense. No 44 year old with a job and spouse/kids can devote 4 hours per day, 7 days per week to biking. Nor is it required to have a healthy heart.

I'm impressed that you can do that much, but to say it’s necessary to achieve a healthy cardio system is just wrong.
I was riding 290 miles a week when I was 14 y/o. Had paper Route. Did it on a bike.
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Old 03-13-21, 02:26 PM
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OP, if you ride hard enough to be breathing heavily, you are riding with an elevated heart rate. Ride at a pace that causes you to sweat (yeah, I know that doesn’t take much in Louisiana) and feel your heart beating. If you don’t have that feel, pedal harder and push to go faster over longer distances. No sensor required, and you’ll find your stamina improves quickly if you push yourself.

Of course, the gadgets and numbers are cool, but they are not required to get a workout.
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Old 03-13-21, 03:04 PM
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I started in 2014 with 2 miles a day. I felt comfortable riding 3 miles about three weeks later. 3 became 5,6,9 and then a jump to 15 by two months. I did a 27 event by six months, half century on my 50th birthday eleven months after I started those 2 mile rides. Another year later, I did my first century ride.

most of all, have fun.
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Old 03-13-21, 03:04 PM
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For crying out loud, the OP is asking about a HRM for under $60 that will work with his smart phone.
Here you go:
Amazon.com : Wahoo Fitness TICKR Heart Rate Monitor, Bluetooth/ANT+, White : Sports & Outdoors
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Old 03-13-21, 04:15 PM
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I think getting a heart rate monitor is a good idea. Especially if you get one before you start exercising as you'll be able to see the full effect of any changes. Since you want to build stamina a heart rate monitor is good for longer efforts as it can better gauge your actual level of work. I think you'll learn a lot. At a minimum you'll be able to figure out what your maximum heart rate is (mine is 196 and I'm 46 years old). And if you do enough rides (especially if you consistently do the same ride) you'll be able to see yourself going farther for less effort. That's always motivating.
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Old 03-13-21, 04:24 PM
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One of these at @ $35, and (as was suggested) learn how to check your pulse. Soon enough you will know what zone you are in. You can also use this the other hours of the week too. Congrats on getting on an exercise routine. Your 75 year old self is thanking you.
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Old 03-13-21, 05:00 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
I was riding 290 miles a week when I was 14 y/o. Had paper Route. Did it on a bike.
OK. We get it. You can and have ridden LOTS of miles. Impressive. But that is NOT what the OP needs. Why do you keep insisting that he needs to ride 500 miles a week to get, and be heart healthy?

Dan
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Old 03-13-21, 05:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Bald Paul
For crying out loud, the OP is asking about a HRM for under $60 that will work with his smart phone.
Here you go:
Amazon.com : Wahoo Fitness TICKR Heart Rate Monitor, Bluetooth/ANT+, White : Sports & Outdoors
The is the crux of what was asked:
I am wanting to ride to increase my stamina. I suppose some form of aerobic training is what I need. I want to work torwards a healthier heart.

I figured I needed a heart rate monitor.
Read it as asking about a HR monitor if you'd like but I (and others, apparently) see the OP asking about building stamina. I guess some say potato and some say potato.
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Old 03-13-21, 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
I ride with group that each have over 200,000 miles on their legs.
Good for them. Did you join the group before or after you stopped being a helpful forum member and started focusing on being a shameless braggart even when it wasn't relevant?
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Old 03-13-21, 06:52 PM
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Originally Posted by 10 Wheels
I was riding 290 miles a week when I was 14 y/o. Had paper Route. Did it on a bike.
Nobody cares about this, your 2000 week, or your riding buddies.
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Old 03-13-21, 07:32 PM
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Originally Posted by gentrym76
Having tons of fun riding that Trek.
This is the best place to start and some of the wisest advice I've read on these forums points to this as being the best goal.
If you're out there riding and loving it, you are helping your heart in more than just the cardiovascular way.
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