Heart Rate Monitor figures.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
WobblyBob

WobblyBob

Well-Known Member
Location
Blyth,Northumberland
I've not long got a Garmin 500 with heart rate monitor which is really interesting to have a look at the facts & figures after my rides.

Now i know that it's impossible to compare different peoples heart rates as every one is obviously individual but i just wondered if mine are any where near 'normal' :tongue:

I'm a 44 year old slightly portly man, i sit on my arse all day (or night) doing my job, i used to be mega fit in my younger days being in a harriers (running) & a swimming club & did both to a reasonable standard.....but for about 20 years now i've done pretty much naff all (which i'm now regretting massively :sad:) until i bought a bike in July last year.

Anyway since using my monitor i have discovered i have a resting heart rate of about 53bpm, i have peaked out up a monster hill almost passing out at 188bpm & most of my rides which i usually work quite hard at i end up with a average BPM of somewhere between 152-165.

I've been going out on rides with my mate who is a 'proper' cyclist (looks like a TDF rider..Grrr) & his heart rate is obviously much lower than mine but he tells me that i need to go out every once in a while & conciously try to keep my heart rate relatively low...like average sub 135, which i've done a couple of times but i feel like i'm hardly doing anything & my average speed is.....low !
But my mate assures me that my speed will slowly improve while my HR stays lower....please let this hurry up ha ha

Does all that sound similar to other relative beginners ?
 
RiflemanSmith

RiflemanSmith

Senior Member
Location
London UK
I thought the harder that you worked the fitter you got and lower the heart rate?
 
Y

yello

Guest
No advice, no, but just to say that that's a good resting heart rate for a "portly" man who "sits on his arse all day"! Your athletic youth has done you well.

From a similar resting heart rate, mine pings up really easily. My rides seem to average at around 140 and I'll generally peak at maybe 160/165, sometimes higher - and I don't feel as I' working that hard. It's pretty lumpy around here so I'd find it difficult to ride anywhere and keep my heart rate down.

Maybe a turbo trainer might be our answer?
 
OP
OP
WobblyBob

WobblyBob

Well-Known Member
Location
Blyth,Northumberland
RiflemanSmith said:
I thought the harder that you worked the fitter you got and lower the heart rate?
Click to expand...
I think that is generally correct but i think he was a bit concerned that every time i go out i'm working hard & i'm missing my recovery rides which help apparently, something to do with HR zones or % rates of effort.....something like that i guess :wacko:
 
OP
OP
WobblyBob

WobblyBob

Well-Known Member
Location
Blyth,Northumberland
yello said:
No advice, no, but just to say that that's a good resting heart rate for a "portly" man who "sits on his arse all day"! Your athletic youth has done you well.

From a similar resting heart rate, mine pings up really easily. My rides seem to average at around 140 and I'll generally peak at maybe 160/165, sometimes higher - and I don't feel as I' working that hard. It's pretty lumpy around here so I'd find it difficult to ride anywhere and keep my heart rate down.

Maybe a turbo trainer might be our answer?
Click to expand...

Yeah i struggle to keep my HR low too, but i'm told to be able to ride for anything over 3-4 hours without completely bonking i need to keep it around 140 or lower....which makes sense ! But i can't help myself trying to get that bit quicker ha ha
 
OP
OP
WobblyBob

WobblyBob

Well-Known Member
Location
Blyth,Northumberland
Nigelnaturist

Nigelnaturist

Guru
Location
Pontefract
WobblyBob said:
That's brilliant, thanks for that...i've now saved that page to go back to.
The bit about trying to keep his HR low & being overtaken by an extra from Last of the Summer Wine strikes a cord with me from last week ha ha, it is really really hard work going easy !!
Click to expand...
For what its worth this is my data from the beginning of the year, the only times I seem to get my H.R. up is doing a few climbs.
Monthly.
hrmonth.JPG

Weekly
hrweek.JPG

maxavghr.JPG
 
Si_

Si_

Regular
Location
North East England
Ahhh here we have some physiology stuff. (deffo my area)

44 yearsold man will have a theoretical max heart rate of 220-44 so. 176. therefore its not surprising that you nearly passdout at 188. thats probasbly very close to your 100% max HR at present.

A resting HR of 53 is good, inthat it indicates a fairly efficient heart muscle, and good endurance fitness. (assuming you are not taking beta blockers)

the whole idea of training is ZONES expressed as percentage of HRmax.

zone 1-5 getting progressively harder and therfore higher up the HR scale.

Its a case of percentages. zone one is light easy stuff, which is good for recovery rides. (50% 60%)
zone 2 60-70% (aerobic endurance work)
zone3 (70-80% ) moderate exercise
zone4 (80-90) improves high speed endurance
zone 5 (90-100%) increases maximal work load and power capacity etc.

the trainig zones all have different outcomes, but in your case training inthe endurance zone thats 2-3 is best for leight loss and increasing fitness base. working maximally at 188 bpm at your current state is dangerous and counter productive.

What people often get confused about is the fact that your resting hr lowers as you get fitter (heart muscle gets more efficent and thus moves more blood per contraction ) whereas the HRmax goes up, as your whole circulatory system gets better at responding to increased demands, and Heart muscle just like any other increases it s capacity for work as a result of training.

thus you can work harder as you get fitter, for less effort. (in other words the big hills get "easier" to climb, and you can climb for longer)
 
Rob3rt

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
Recovery rides are a waste of time for most people, not by default, but because most people do it wrong! As you observe, when you ride at recovery effort, your speed is embarrassingly slow. THIS IS NORMAL! Too many people say they do recovery rides, when what they mean is, they waste their time! If a recovery ride is not easy enough, then you are not helping yourself to recover, nor are you likely to be going hard enough to stimulate any training adaption either, this is the very definition of wasting time if your goal is performance and not just enjoying the time spent on the bike.
 
Si_

Si_

Regular
Location
North East England
Good point rob, but consider the word "easy"

its relative. a guy (1) who is 38 and does 100milesa week in hilly terrain on a road bike may take an "easy" recovery ride home, at an average speed of lets say 9mph.

A guy (2) whos 44 and just starting out after along layoff the bike may find a "hard ride" has an average speed of just 13mph.

This is because the first guys hard would average considerably more and his HRmax would be enough to (theoretically) kill the other guy by inducing an MI (heart attack)

so an easy ride for guy 2 would only be really slow say 5mph average, unitll such point as his fitness picks up a little.

in my view at this early level and start of training "rest rides" are simply a means to spin the legs, and deliver more of a benefit in terms of getting rid of achey muscles than anything else.

the fitter the rider becomes the more relevant "rest rides" are. but as i said above "rest" is a relative term.

(in my old job "rest position" was on floor held up on your arms as if about to drop into a press up, it wasnt a "rest" but it lowered the heart rate!)
 
Rob3rt

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
Si_ said:
...
Click to expand...

I don't really understand the point you are trying to make re. rest rides tbh, sounds like an example that leads to nowhere.

Recovery intensity is defined in relation to either MHR, LTHR or FTP or any other number of intensity baselines. Therefore it is applicable to anyone. It does not matter how fit you are!

By definition a rest ride is an easy spin to promote recovery, the definition does not change the fitter you are! A recovery ride will NEVER lead to training adaption in a direct sense, it will only ever promote recovery from more intense exercise.

Also, re. max HR, someone who is fitter will not necessarily have a higher Max HR! Max HR is not an indication of fitness!
 
Andrew_P

Andrew_P

In between here and there
48 years old so my MHR should be 172, I struggle to get to 160. Over an average month I will do 500-600 miles normally the average speed for the month will be between 16 & 17mph. My monthly average heart rate is normally around 114-118. Resting HR 42.

In fact I just checked the whole of last year which pretty much reflects the above, I have mentioned to the Dr's and he said nothing ot worry about, ignore the max average that was due to flapping synthetic top on a premium strap!!


Taken from Garmin Connect
tt.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom