Max heart rate question

[Dusty Bin]

So after two years my heart rate has stayed the same but I'm fitter and 4 stone lighter.

How are you establishing your max?

 

[Crackle]

So after two years...... I'm fitter and 4 stone lighter.

That's excellent and cause for celebration.

 

[Andy_G]

Initially I went by the 220 minus age but I know that's not accurate.
But my heart rate never really goes above 180/181, but I first took that when I started two years ago and now I can ride 100 miles more than then but my HR still reaches the same number.

 

[400bhp]

Initially I went by the 220 minus age but I know that's not accurate.
But my heart rate never really goes above 180/181, but I first took that when I started two years ago and now I can ride 100 miles more than then but my HR still reaches the same number.

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand your point?

You hit your max when you do 100 miles? For how long? So what? How hard do you perceive you are working when you hit MHR?

I don't believe 181 is your MHR.

 

[Sittingduck]

I don't think I have ever seen my true max. Certainly is rare for me to get within 6 beats of what I think it is.

 

[Andy_G]

I've given everything going up hills and flat out on flt roads and it's never gone above 180/181 and I've just got back from a run and i hit 179.
My point is as I first said was I thought my max HR would go down the fitter I became but it hasn't.

 

[Sittingduck]

Has your resting and more importantly the rate at which your HR drops, after an effort?

 

[Crackle]

....and how fast you're going for the same HR and your perception of how hard you're working for the same hr

 

[Dusty Bin]

I've given everything going up hills and flat out on flt roads and it's never gone above 180/181 and I've just got back from a run and i hit 179.
My point is as I first said was I thought my max HR would go down the fitter I became but it hasn't.

Just to be clear - your MHR does not change with fitness. It will reduce with age, although the reduction is not accurately predictable or linear.

 

[Andy_G]

Has your resting and more importantly the rate at which your HR drops, after an effort?

My resting HR is usually between 55-65, I've noticed that i recover a little quicker but that's about it.

 

[Sittingduck]

Faster recovery is the aim!

 

[Dusty Bin]

My resting HR is usually between 55-65, I've noticed that i recover a little quicker but that's about it.

Unless you are targeting particular high intensity efforts in your riding on a regular basis, you probably won't see dramatic changes in your recovery or RHR...

 

[VamP]

Faster recovery is the aim!

It's a bit of a crude approximator really, bit like using BMI to establish how much overweight you are.

@OP honestly, don't worry about it too much. Your HRmax will not change significantly over time. The best you can use HR for is to work out where your lactic threshold sits, and build exercise zones around that, and even that is imprecise and laggy, and prone to outside factor influences.

Basically HR is a somewhat poor proxy for the work you're doing.

 

[Andrew_P]

Unless you are targeting particular high intensity efforts in your riding on a regular basis, you probably won't see dramatic changes in your recovery or RHR...

Of course that very much depends on the Cardio fitness in the first place. OP Surrey University will take you to your Max HR and VO2 max, if you fancy it

 

[Crackle]

It's a bit of a crude approximator really, bit like using BMI to establish how much overweight you are.

@OP honestly, don't worry about it too much. Your HRmax will not change significantly over time. The best you can use HR for is to work out where your lactic threshold sits, and build exercise zones around that, and even that is imprecise and laggy, and prone to outside factor influences.

Basically HR is a somewhat poor proxy for the work you're doing.

Unless you're a runner, in which case it's one of the few tools you have.