Maximum Heart Rate

[stavros]

Not sure that maxing out on a given course will be all that helpful, unless you really need to know what your optimum HR could be. Wearing an HR is of course the most accurate way of dealing with this conundrum.

Do you feel you should be pushing yourself to the Nth degree in any case?. This may be okay at a tender age but as you get older you will find your O2 demand will not be supplied adequately due to vascular changes and reduced lung capacity. The myocardium is only forgiving for a certain length of time - step outside this and you cause damage in the long term

I don't use an HR monitor and they did very well without these in the 70's and 80's - I know when I'm asking too much as my physiological warnings kick in (pain, cramp, nausea) if I overdo it. try it - listen to your body!.

 

[stavros]

Whilst a MHR test is pretty gruelling and not exactly pleasant, many people think its a test to failure, that is not the case, there is no need to go to failure (im refering to failure as the point you physical fail, i.e. become very dizzy, pass out or fall off etc), you will hit max HR a fair bit before you see white and hit the gutter.

Personally, since I live in a city where testing max HR is hard on the roads, I prefer to do it on a stationary bike (or a turbo if I had one). I would warm up and do a ramp test, like lukesdad mentioned but didnt didnt advise

It should also be noted that you must test max HR doing the particular sport you wish to use the value in. You will be able to hit a higher Max HR running than cycling for example so using a running tested max Hr is not as accurate for cycling as a cycling specific test. This is a bit of a bummer since testing max HR by running is much safer and easier to do out in the real world and not tucked away in a gym etc.

Of course if you have an undisclosed cardiac arrhythmic condition, then the above will kill you as sure as hell.

 

[jimboalee]

I've never been a big fan of trying to find you MHR by cycling up hills for the simple reason that a small part of your brain will be thinking "got to keep enough in reserve to get to the top of the hill" - as no one wants to grind to a halt and fall over sideways with exhaustion

So I find an uphill followed by a long, more or less, downhill - preferably an undulating downhill where you can really put some power into getting over the rises without changing down gears. Then ride hard up the hill, change up before the summit so you're already accelerating before you get to the top - which will do wonders for your heart rate anyway - then hammer the downhill. You need suitable terrain but even around here, the highest I'll get on an uphill is about 190 whereas through a fast undulating section keeping it in a high gear and really going for it I can get up to 195 - occasionally It's best done as a competition too Racing two local guys down a long descent in Mallorca 4 or 5 years ago, I hit 200 - the first time for a few years and I hadn't done it in a ramp test in quite a while either. Anyone who knows the descent from the Lluc monastry to Pollenca will understand

The thing is that you've removed the limiter of needing to keep something in reserve to get to the top of the hill if there are only undulations - if you really are exhausted just stopping pedalling won't see you come to a sudden stop.

Is that the road with all the small glass, flower filled caskets?

Should they not have been a warning to you?

 

[Brahan]

I tried a few hill sprints on the club run yesterday and got the same result so I think I've found my max. I'll be using the paramiters it set for the forthcoming months, fingers crossed. Also, I've been invited out to Italy to take part in an 8 up TT in February or March, so I really need to get my fat arse into shape.

To draw a Roadload curve, a spreadsheet can be attached upon request.

Yes, I'd like to check this out please.

 

[Fiona N]

Is that the road with all the small glass, flower filled caskets?

Should they not have been a warning to you?

Never noticed any but then I might have been going too fast

 

[Brahan]

Just to give you guys a bit of an update on the old HR thingy.

Keeping an eye on the different zones that I'm working in certainly makes the daily rides to and from work a lot more interesting. It seems that each mile serves a purpose rather than just flying along as fast as possible. The trickiest part is keeping within the 'recovery' zone. This is 60% of my MHR and it seems like I'm always holding back, almost to the point where it's frustrating.

It's obviously still too early to feel any real benefit yet, but I'm coming up to a point in the schedule where I have to take it quite easy for a whole week and I don't think that I have the discipline to go on 'feel' without hammering myself, so the constant checking of my HR gives me at least a fighting chance to not overcook it.