Heart Rate - How hard can you push yourself in a race?

[BigBoy10]

apologies for being ignorant but what is the best way to determine your max heart rate, lot of reading on the calc of 220 minus age etc, would like to have bit more of a scientific approach. 

[jcza]

I believe heart rate in a race is irrelevant. Often the bunch pace determines your heart rate. Chris Froome got criticized in this years tour for being all about the numbers and apparently rode only according to his figures on his SRM. Contador would attack and Chris just watched his read out. IMHO that's not racing. Training yes but a race is as hard as you can when needed.

 

This

[SwissVan]

Smimby tbh I don't know, still trying to figure out. I felt strong right until the end of the race and rode one of my best times ever.

 

Only obvious culprit could be the slight cold I had in the week leading up to the race (nothing in the chest and no symptoms on the day of the race) which might have affected/weakened my heart more than I realised. It's the most obvious cause but I'm not 100% convinced, was my second time in the front bunch of a road race, maybe my heart could just not handle me trying to keep up with the young guns   .

 

My max heart rate is 199 and I've often been doing about 175 avg over 3-4 hours which seems a bit high compared to what the others have been posting here.

 

You shouldn't put much value on comparing your HR with others, its interesting to do but not a good indicator of anything...unless you convert to %

I'd say your average appears pretty normal

[Long Wheel Base]

apologies for being ignorant but what is the best way to determine your max heart rate, lot of reading on the calc of 220 minus age etc, would like to have bit more of a scientific approach. 

You can do a fitness test. A few of the bike shops will have a guy that puts you on a IDT and makes you do a test till you basically cant go anymore. Really worth the money if you want to train properly.

[Skubarra]

You shouldn't put much value on comparing your HR with others, its interesting to do but not a good indicator of anything...unless you convert to %

I'd say your average appears pretty normal

 

Thanks, yes, seems 85% to 90% is not unusual, would have been really worrying if everybody else was doing about 80% - 84% 

[Winstonian1984]

Nope not a freak, just got a shorter than normal stroke so your piston has to travel faster

 

I just turned 50, have not raced flat out for years and recently (since i got involved with the cycleops online racing crowd) I've seen 178 while still being not close to a max effort. +/-15 yrs ago was the last time i did a proper max hr test and i scored 187.

Average race HR was usualy about 164 (XC +/- 90 - 180 min duration)

With regards to stroke volume, if Wannabe has a shorter stroke than normal, would that then be seen through a higher resting heart rate or lower resting heart rate.

[Joe Low]

With regards to stroke volume, if Wannabe has a shorter stroke than normal, would that then be seen through a higher resting heart rate or lower resting heart rate.

 

Sorry to but in but I haven't posted anything in ages and felt the urge.

 

Resting heart rate is more a function of fitness.  You cant change your max heart rate* but you can bring down your resting heart rate through being more fit.

 

(*you can find out more closely what your max heart rate is by being fitter - ie you can actually exercise hard enough to get there)

[Guest Smimby]

Smimby tbh I don't know, still trying to figure out. I felt strong right until the end of the race and rode one of my best times ever.

 

Only obvious culprit could be the slight cold I had in the week leading up to the race (nothing in the chest and no symptoms on the day of the race) which might have affected/weakened my heart more than I realised. It's the most obvious cause but I'm not 100% convinced, was my second time in the front bunch of a road race, maybe my heart could just not handle me trying to keep up with the young guns   .

 

My max heart rate is 199 and I've often been doing about 175 avg over 3-4 hours which seems a bit high compared to what the others have been posting here.

Did you have an ecg done? I know that if you have some type of virus you can damage it.

[Wannabe]

With regards to stroke volume, if Wannabe has a shorter stroke than normal, would that then be seen through a higher resting heart rate or lower resting heart rate.

 

When in top form (normaly just before the Argus), my resting HR is around 48bpm. Did a sleep test once with my Polar, and it dropped to 137bpm.

I do have a high Heart Rate reserve, as a result.

 

I always joke and says that I have a V12 motor where the other okes has got Diesels (and it can be seen on the climbs where the diesel's torque comes in.)

[SeaBee]

Hey, it's weekend... don't discuss the guy's stroke length...   Agree with Joe assessment regarding resting HR. Max is not indication of resting.

 

FWIW, I'm also of the same type - have a weirdly high max. And this does not make me a better or worse athlete. My heart just taps at a different beat... or something.  

 

So to the guy who asked - age based formulas are utter rubbish. Do a test as suggested. On age-based formulas I'd have seen happy lights and heard harp music whilst still in my real zone 3, maybe low zone 4.

[SwissVan]

apologies for being ignorant but what is the best way to determine your max heart rate, lot of reading on the calc of 220 minus age etc, would like to have bit more of a scientific approach. 

 

Its easy.....

 

Even easier if you got an indoor trainer :devil:

 

Basically make sure you are healthy and well rested, ideally do the test after an easy recovery week to ensure that your muscles are ready and willing for a max effort. Remember its a max effort and when you start getting close to max your brain will try and tell fool you into believing you cannot go any harder...its a good idea to do this with someone watching...not to save you from falling over but to push you to continue a bit longer when you feel like you reached the "kannie meer nie korporal" stage... Your HR does not increase instantly it takes a few minutes to get up to speed with your effort.

 

On an IDT with your heart monitor (dont forget the HR monitor part) and computer that indicates speed.

WU slowly for 10 -15 minutes

5 minutes at a constant speed that makes it difficult to talk in long sentences

2 minutes at a constant speed where you need to stop talking

Then increase the incline (resistance) slightly and every 2 minutes Increase your speed by 2-3 kmh. Continue increasing every 2- 3 minutes ( Also use your gears to make it harder) untill you start struggling to maintain the speed, NOW you need to start pushing (this is where your bud who is watching gets involved and call's you silly names to motivate you) to maintain or even increase the speed.

When you REALLY cannot MAINTAIN anymore, stand up and sprint flat out for 20 - 30 seconds (Imagine you are chasing and catching your bud who is now really being ugly trying to motivate you) .

 

When you FINALLY cannot go anymore...slow down and resume pedaling after a short pause...gradualy cool down for +/- 10 minutes.

 

Check your heart monitor and see what the max was.

EDIT: If you did not pass at the end add (if < 40yrs of age) 5 bpm or 3 bpm (if > 40yrs) to the max value recorded on your monitor

 

Dont do this too often, its really not neccessary after all the only reason you do this is to be able to say you have done it. There are better ways to work out training zones.

[Wez-O]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in response to the OP, I was under impression that a cyclist will POP / "hit the wall" before actually injuring their heart from pushing too hard?!

[SwissVan]

With regards to stroke volume, if Wannabe has a shorter stroke than normal, would that then be seen through a higher resting heart rate or lower resting heart rate.

 

Yes i guess so (i'm a mechanic, not a cardioligst), but RHR can vary....influenced by fitness level for example.

[Skubarra]

Did you have an ecg done? I know that if you have some type of virus you can damage it.

 

Edit - got my medical terms mixed up. My ecg was normal after the race.

 

Will have ecg mri scan done in March because by then the healing should be done (what dr sugested), we should then see how much permanent damage there are and might get some clues as to what caused it.

[Skubarra]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in response to the OP, I was under impression that a cyclist will POP / "hit the wall" before actually injuring their heart from pushing too hard?!

 

One would have hoped so. I'm really out of my league here but seems doctors are seeing more and more cases of healthy & fit people hurting their hearts doing marathons & cycle races, but afaik there is very little you can do to predict & prevent this. Obviously there are lots of people pushing themselves very hard without getting heart attacks.

[IceCreamMan]

Great topic

 

My resting heart rate is around 38-44. I aint that fit, always generally had a slow heart rate. My body starts going into overdrive from around 150 bpm though so there is a lower ceiling.

 

I generally average around 125-130 in a race, with my heart rate sometimes dropping below 80 .. for instance the 94.7 my average was 127 in a 3:20 event. max was 153 and lowest was around 68. My mate had an average of 155 and was 20 minutes slower so HR is very individual. I am 49 btw

 

best is to get set up for you personally, we all different