Heart rate

[ChrisF]

I must say he weighs about 70kg and im 87, he was a scrumhalf ins his better years and i played hooker if that helps to explain our body types. 

 

Will strength training be the answer or should i train completely different?

 

By a previous example I am certainly in the good old "4-stroke" group ....

 

 

I have to work HARD to get my hart rate over 160bpm !!   Riding with a buddy (he is younger but considerably "larger" ..), his hart rate is hitting 180+, while mine is barely 135 ....

 

 

BUT, when I started out my hart rate was "all over the show" ... and a few minutes of very high hart rate would tire my out quickly.  I got a Garmin to see my hart rate AND my cadence .... I started playing with the gearing, opting for higher cadence and lower grunt.  My hart rate dropped a LOT going this route !!!  BUT, if you spin too fast your lungs start burning ....

 

Once you are aware of the two extremes you quickly adapt your gearing and cadence.  Your breathing stays in limits, while your hart rate drops a bit .... Thus you can ride so much further.

 

 

Now if you want to join the group rides, and hang in there with the A bunch .... uhm jaaaa .... you may well red line your hart rate and burn your lungs, all at the same time ... 

[Zub]

Just ride a lot, and ride consistently, at least 4 times a week. Build up to a level that you can realistically maintain. Ride on feel and listen to your body, don't worry about the numbers, everything will fall into place as you gain fitness. Once you reach a point where you feel you are no longer improving, you can start looking at numbers and adding structure to your training.

[Neville Bailey]

It is almost irrelevant to compare your heart rate to another’s heart rate.

 

What is more relevant is how quickly your maximum heart rate drops to your resting heart rate after a workout, compared to someone else.

[Bateleur1]

It is almost irrelevant to compare your heart rate to another’s heart rate.

 

What is more relevant is how quickly your maximum heart rate drops to your resting heart rate after a workout, compared to someone else.

 

This is very important to remember and also a good indicator of your current level of fitness.  On a HR based training program when you do intervals, you should notice (depending on your condition when the training program started) that when you do interval, your HR will take x amount of time to go down after the interval but towards the end of the training program that x value will come down quite a bit.

 

I remember doing a HR based training program many years ago of Polar.  For the most of the 12 or 16 week program my recovery of my HR would take about 70 - 90 seconds to drop down to a certain level.  The week before the 94,7 that I was training for, the recovery was at about 35 seconds.  Did a 2:36 94,7 that year.

[J Wakefield]

Hi all,

 

Ive been cycling for 2 years now, im 36 years old. Before that i played rugby and different other sports.

 

Im struggling to get my heart rate down, compared to a friend (46 years old) of mine on a strava segment(Big hill) he is almost 2 minutes faster with a avg heart rate of 145, my vg heart rate is 179, same hill just 2 minute slower than he is.

 

What is the cause of this and how can i fix this with training or should i just accept that hes got the better genes than me?

 

There is nothing you should do, HR is a personal genetic and is individual for each person. He is just faster than you on the hill. 

[ChrisF]

One question was earlier ... how do you measure your hart rate ?

 

 

I have three different devices with chesy straps ... very similar readings.

 

 

I now also have a agarmin wrist sensor watch ... on the indoor trainer it is easy to monitor and compare the different technologies .....

 

The wrist based unit appears to be eratic ... get and walk about, using your arms to do stuff .... and the unit reflects a spike in hart rate ... typically the wtist unit lags the chest mount units during cycling,

[Vetplant]

Just a picture to show how my "engine" functions. Everyone is different.

 

This was a running race in the middle of Feb. I'm 34, my supposed Max HR is 186.

 

On race day I clocked 198 max HR, and sustained a HR above 186 for the last 30mins of the event. This same trend is visible in all my races. My sister does triathlon, her HR is also super high, but she performs well. So my theory is genetics play a big part in where your heart likes to function when doing hard work.

 

So HR is a brilliant tool to track, for yourself, but don't compare to someone else.

 

Regarding that hill and your mate: 17kgs is allot of weight to try and offset with power over an extended climb. Rather pick a lekker piece of flat road and tell him you want to dice to the next intersection, I'll bet you he won't even be able to stay in your wheel  . 

 

Other than that, look at dropping a couple of kg's by tweaking your diet and following a structured training plan most days of the week. But don't be silly about it, you should still enjoy your life. I dropped from around 96kg's to about 89kgs in a year by going to black coffee and sparkling water for drinks, minimal alcohol consumption and less take-aways for dinner.

 

Above all, enjoy the process, 

 

PS. The website below is awesome for tracking your rides posted on Strava, and it is Free. Developed by a local Hubber: http://intervals.icu

[Fat Boab]

Out of interest how long (mins for you) is the hill that he's 2 mins faster on?

[SwissVan]

One question was earlier ... how do you measure your hart rate ?

 

 

I have three different devices with chesy straps ... very similar readings.

 

 

I now also have a agarmin wrist sensor watch ... on the indoor trainer it is easy to monitor and compare the different technologies .....

 

The wrist based unit appears to be eratic ... get and walk about, using your arms to do stuff .... and the unit reflects a spike in hart rate ... typically the wtist unit lags the chest mount units during cycling,

Should gotta a Polar....

[comicsans font]

 

Jokes aside, what I have found is you need to wear the watch very tight, much tighter than with a normal watch and then the fluctuations stop.

[The Ghost]

On this subject, how do you set up your zones and why?

I see on different sites that different numbers of zones as well as different % of Max HR are used to define these zones. One obvious problem with that is that then following a suggested plan base on zones will give the wrong outcome. For example Ive seen people say to train for long efforts in Zone 2, use Zone 3 sparingly and train Zone 4 for breakaways etc but if your zones don't match then....well.

I currently use:

Zone 1 - 60%-65%

Zone 2 - 65%-75%

Zone 3 - 75%-82%

Zone4 - 82%-89%

Zone 5 - 89% - MHR

And I set it up this way because I found it here https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/training/training-zones-what-are-they-and-why-do-they-matter-180110

[ChrisF]

Should gotta a Polar....

[comicsans font]

 

Jokes aside, what I have found is you need to wear the watch very tight, much tighter than with a normal watch and then the fluctuations stop.

 

The one strap IS a Polar ..... 

 

 

Thanks for the tip, will try that.  I have been wearing it VERY loose .... I dont like a tight fitting watch .... 

 

 

 

Last nights 20 minute session on the IDT my WAHOO strap gave an average of hart rate of 131bpm .... the Garmin watch barely registered 10 minutes of mild exercise ...     Actually showed a proper workout on Tuesday - while having a meeting with an architect    

[porqui]

Tell your friend he is lazy. At 145bpm he is not putting everything in.

[The Ghost]

On this subject, how do you set up your zones and why?

I see on different sites that different numbers of zones as well as different % of Max HR are used to define these zones. One obvious problem with that is that then following a suggested plan base on zones will give the wrong outcome. For example Ive seen people say to train for long efforts in Zone 2, use Zone 3 sparingly and train Zone 4 for breakaways etc but if your zones don't match then....well.

 

I currently use:

Zone 1 - 60%-65%

Zone 2 - 65%-75%

Zone 3 - 75%-82%

Zone4 - 82%-89%

Zone 5 - 89% - MHR

 

And I set it up this way because I found it here https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/training/training-zones-what-are-they-and-why-do-they-matter-180110

 

Heres an example of a different zone setup:

[The Ghost]

And I believe if you do 5 zones up to 100% Max HR adapted from Dr Andrew Coggan’s seven-zone system it looks something like this:

 

Zone 1 - 50-60%

Zone 2 - 60%-70%

Zone 3 - 70%-80%

Zone 4 - 80%-90%

Zone 5 - 90%-100%

 

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by The Ghost

[morne 10]

www.procyclingcoaching.co.za

[SwissVan]

The one strap IS a Polar ..... 

 

 

Thanks for the tip, will try that.  I have been wearing it VERY loose .... I dont like a tight fitting watch .... 

 

 

 

Last nights 20 minute session on the IDT my WAHOO strap gave an average of hart rate of 131bpm .... the Garmin watch barely registered 10 minutes of mild exercise ...     Actually showed a proper workout on Tuesday - while having a meeting with an architect    

 

 

I think tightening the strap will make a big difference.

 

I have my strap so tight it leaves big imprints on my arm.... that stay there for well over an hour after i take it off