High average heart rate

[Spafsack]

Hi guys, girls 😀

Need some advise.

My wife and i have started to train [mtb cycle] a lot, around 3 to 4 times per week. We have also entered a few races the last two weeks, the last one was actually yesterday where Wify got a first place in general ladies and in her age group [masters aged 50 to 60], she is 51. Very chuffed for her 😍. The problem is this.

Her average heart rate stays around 161bpm, max heat rate on hectic climbs tips 176bpm. Her watch tells her, or should i say warns her that she is in zone 5 for lets say almost an hour out of a whole race. Her watch subsequently says around 74 hours of recovery is needed, which i do agree with. I am however worried about her high average heart rate [around 161bpm]. If i look at her graphs, she starts to hit around 150 then 160 very early into each race. Does this mean she is not fit enough, or cycling too hard?

If i Google they say 220 minus age, for max heart rate, but that is just a general rule isn't it... Her resting heart rate is 56, and her heart rate drops quick once we have finished the race, so in my mind, she is not 'unfit', but perhaps not fit enough, or should we start slowing down so she is not in max effort for 90% of the race?

If so, what training or cycle training when we do go in the week would be good to get her average heart rate lower, or are some people just 'beating faster' ? She does feel tired after each race but i just dont want her to damage her heart, hence why i am asking, maybe i have over worried, but keen to hear thoughts please.

I suggested we start doing training rides in zone 3 for perhaps an hour and a half, to build up endurance perhaps, where you only average around 140bpm, maybe that would help?  Most races she does are short ones, weekend warrior type, 30km, some 35km, so its fast from the start. If i think back to years back, her average heart rate has always been way higher than mine, but now that we really trying to enter as many races as we can, just a bit worried.

 

[Wannabe]

HR is a very specific thing.

I'm 60, average well into the 160 bpm on a fairly hard ride of 3hrs+, max out well into the 180's, and can still "maintain" a short convo at that bpm.

My resting HR is around 47, and I'm not in the fittest of conditions at present.

Cycling next to buddies of around the same age, keeping parallel to each other (in other words about the same effort) my HR is normally 10-15bpm higher than theirs.

So there is nothing to worry about, unless she starts to feel dizzy on the bike at that elevated HR, then there is reason for worry.  I'll suggest a proper load tested HR session at a suitably qualified DR or lab to make sure everything is a ok with her.

 

 

Edited April 13 by Wannabe

[RobynE]

What watch is she using? 

[Spafsack]

39 minutes ago, Wannabe said:

HR is a very specific thing.

I'm 60, average well into the 160 bpm on a fairly hard ride of 3hrs+, max out well into the 180's, and can still "maintain" a short convo at that bpm.

My resting HR is around 47, and I'm not in the fittest of conditions at present.

Cycling next to buddies of around the same age, keeping parallel to each other (in other words about the same effort) my HR is normally 10-15bpm higher than theirs.

So there is nothing to worry about, unless she starts to feel dizzy on the bike at that elevated HR, then there is reason for worry.  I'll suggest a proper load tested HR session at a suitably qualified DR or lab to make sure everything is a ok with her.

 

 

Thanx for this info. This really makes me feel a lot better. You must be super fit to have a resting of 47, still reach 180's, and such a high average!! Thats really amazing. She does not feel dizzy, i will try see who can do a load test. This is good advise, thanx.

[Spafsack]

24 minutes ago, RobynE said:

What watch is she using? 

She is using the new Huawei GT5, i have the GT4, we love these watches, and they talk to you while you are riding. In a race its very cool to know what zone you are in, or when you are in recovery. In the heat rate settings on the watch i can actually adjust her zone 5, so maybe i would do that, increase it so zone 5 only starts at say 165bpm, mind wise, it might 'look' better, make her feel better, but as Wannabe said, every single person is different.

[quade]

220 minus your age is a guide, and in my experience not a good benchmark 

My 60 year old friend comfortably chats up hill at 175bpm

My 46year old heart rate can't maintain that sort of comfortable conversation at 160bpm

Don't stress, we are all different 

[Spafsack]

Thanx Quade, this helps a lot. Its scary how we just Google everything and just assume things...

[Me rida my bicycle]

On a longer ride let's take CTCT for example my average HR was +-150 but on a shorter harder ride like laps of Banhoek it's over 160. I've seen my max at close to 200. I'm 18 with little over 23 years of experience 😁

[Robbie Stewart]

My average HR used to consistently hover around 160 - 165 BPM. Then I weighed much more than I do now and rode on weekends only. The last two years I started riding in the week, staying in zone 2, 3 max for around 1h45 per ride. Since I've been doing that my resting HR is around 47bpm, ave hr of 130 and I would ride hard and not touch 160 very easily. Today I did a longish ride in a strong headwind and managed to get the HR up to 186 for around 2 minutes. For the first time in a long while my ave hr was 155 today. My take away is that regular rides not beyond zone 3 for around 1h45 has made a significant improvement in my hr, as well as my strength and speed on the bike. I do around 4 rides during the week and then play on weekends on the trails. 

I'll be hitting 49 later in the year for what it's worth 

Edited April 13 by Robbie Stewart

[ChrisF]

19 minutes ago, Me rida my bicycle said:

On a longer ride let's take CTCT for example my average HR was +-150 but on a shorter harder ride like laps of Banhoek it's over 160. I've seen my max at close to 200. I'm 18 with little over 23 years of experience 😁

 

Jy gaan mense deurmekaar maak met daai wiskunde ....

 

Sê net jy is n ou toppie ... 🤣

[Me rida my bicycle]

1 minute ago, ChrisF said:

 

Jy gaan mense deurmekaar maak met daai wiskunde ....

 

Sê net jy is n ou toppie ... 🤣

Nope nooit nie 🤣 dit maak nog te seer as die mooi girls sê oom 😂

[buckstopper]

My understanding is that heart rate is very variable (within a person), higher could mean you are 'fresh' or have a virus or another issue), lower than normal could mean that you are fitter - (larger stroke volume), or you could be fatigued, and can't seem to get your heart rate up like 'normal'. I would also take google with a pinch of salt. We are all different. And while we do lose max hr over decades, your wife's hr seems well within range of a race winning 51 yo athlete. Maintaining a high max hr as you age is, to my knowledge, not necessarily a bad thing. My max 20 years ago, at 44, was 187, and my highest ahr for a 2 hour race then was 173. Now, at 64 my max is between 175 and 181 depending on how trained or rested I am. This week I could only manage 173 in a 5 min max effort, but this after a 743 tss week, and my power was within 5% of my best for 5 years. 3 months ago doing a similar test I got to 180 but a lower power number. I was not as fit then as I am now.

I do not believe that pushing yourself as you age is necessarily a bad thing. NB atrial fib, though, is another thing to be aware of, particularly as you age. 

[cadenceblur]

30 minutes ago, buckstopper said:

My understanding is that heart rate is very variable (within a person), higher could mean you are 'fresh' or have a virus or another issue), lower than normal could mean that you are fitter - (larger stroke volume), or you could be fatigued, and can't seem to get your heart rate up like 'normal'. I would also take google with a pinch of salt. We are all different. And while we do lose max hr over decades, your wife's hr seems well within range of a race winning 51 yo athlete. Maintaining a high max hr as you age is, to my knowledge, not necessarily a bad thing. My max 20 years ago, at 44, was 187, and my highest ahr for a 2 hour race then was 173. Now, at 64 my max is between 175 and 181 depending on how trained or rested I am. This week I could only manage 173 in a 5 min max effort, but this after a 743 tss week, and my power was within 5% of my best for 5 years. 3 months ago doing a similar test I got to 180 but a lower power number. I was not as fit then as I am now.

I do not believe that pushing yourself as you age is necessarily a bad thing. NB atrial fib, though, is another thing to be aware of, particularly as you age. 

743 tss. Goodness that’s high, what do you average ?

Edited April 13 by cadenceblur

[buckstopper]

Normally 400 to 550 ish. This was my 'big week' 3 weeks out from RvS. This week was 503. Prob 350 this coming week and 《200 for race week.

[cadenceblur]

5 hours ago, Spafsack said:

Hi guys, girls 😀

Need some advise.

My wife and i have started to train [mtb cycle] a lot, around 3 to 4 times per week. We have also entered a few races the last two weeks, the last one was actually yesterday where Wify got a first place in general ladies and in her age group [masters aged 50 to 60], she is 51. Very chuffed for her 😍. The problem is this.

Her average heart rate stays around 161bpm, max heat rate on hectic climbs tips 176bpm. Her watch tells her, or should i say warns her that she is in zone 5 for lets say almost an hour out of a whole race. Her watch subsequently says around 74 hours of recovery is needed, which i do agree with. I am however worried about her high average heart rate [around 161bpm]. If i look at her graphs, she starts to hit around 150 then 160 very early into each race. Does this mean she is not fit enough, or cycling too hard?

If i Google they say 220 minus age, for max heart rate, but that is just a general rule isn't it... Her resting heart rate is 56, and her heart rate drops quick once we have finished the race, so in my mind, she is not 'unfit', but perhaps not fit enough, or should we start slowing down so she is not in max effort for 90% of the race?

If so, what training or cycle training when we do go in the week would be good to get her average heart rate lower, or are some people just 'beating faster' ? She does feel tired after each race but i just dont want her to damage her heart, hence why i am asking, maybe i have over worried, but keen to hear thoughts please.

I suggested we start doing training rides in zone 3 for perhaps an hour and a half, to build up endurance perhaps, where you only average around 140bpm, maybe that would help?  Most races she does are short ones, weekend warrior type, 30km, some 35km, so its fast from the start. If i think back to years back, her average heart rate has always been way higher than mine, but now that we really trying to enter as many races as we can, just a bit worried.

 

Some good input already given but , don’t increase your zone 3 , drop it down to zone 2 instead that’s the optimum zone. 
Zone 3 is often too hard and not hard enough which often means it’s wasted time. 
Current studies suggest that as a rule of thumb 80% of your training volume should be zone 2 with the balance across the higher zones , depending on what you’re training for and the specific requirements of the event. 

[cadenceblur]

1 minute ago, buckstopper said:

Normally 400 to 550 ish. This was my 'big week' 3 weeks out from RvS. This week was 503. Prob 350 this coming week and 《200 for race week.

Aaah okay, makes sense