# Max HR question



## parfike (Feb 24, 2009)

I am i 18 year old female cyclist who racer and trains heavily. I have never seen my HR go over 190 (according to the 220-age formula is should be 202) i have pushed myself to the point where i am going to throw up and just cant get any more air in but i just cant get it any higher.
I have a resting HR of about 40bpm does my low resting HR have anything to do with my max HR??
Anyone know why i cant get it any higher??


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## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

I would not worry about it at all. Max heart rate is not an indication of fitness or strength. You might just have a lower maximum heart rate. Or maybe because you train "too heavily" you are in a state of overtraining, and your heart rate just won't pop.

On a related note, I find that I see much higher heart rates in competitive situations than I do in training.... particularly if I am well-rested beforehand.



parfike said:


> I am i 18 year old female cyclist who racer and trains heavily. I have never seen my HR go over 190 (according to the 220-age formula is should be 202) i have pushed myself to the point where i am going to throw up and just cant get any more air in but i just cant get it any higher.
> I have a resting HR of about 40bpm does my low resting HR have anything to do with my max HR??
> Anyone know why i cant get it any higher??


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

220-age is just an estimate. Being +/- 10 beats is totally normal. I'm 27 and have seen numbersaround 205 on several occasions since my last birthday


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## tomk96 (Sep 24, 2007)

190 seems low, but it's a personal thing. when i was in my mid 20's, i would see over 200 bpm. now at 35, i rarely see above upper 180's or 190. i can't push myself to the same extent in training as i can't in racing either.


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## PG_Gary (Jan 21, 2008)

parfike said:


> I am i 18 year old female cyclist who racer and trains heavily. I have never seen my HR go over 190 (according to the 220-age formula is should be 202) i have pushed myself to the point where i am going to throw up and just cant get any more air in but i just cant get it any higher.


A couple of points. As Andrea138 pointed out, age based maximum heart rate formulas are predictors *at best*. The 220-age formula (sometimes 226-age for women) was developed in the 1970's based on a very small sample and some aggressive extrapolation. Deviations greater than 10 b/min are not uncommon. It sounds like you may have observed your MHR, but if you want to be sure, you can always contact a local university, cardiologist, or exercise physiologist to have a graded test performed. It's essentially an exercise test with increasing resistance to exhaustion.



parfike said:


> I have a resting HR of about 40bpm does my low resting HR have anything to do with my max HR?? Anyone know why i cant get it any higher??


The difference between your resting and maximum heart rate is called your heart rate reserve (HRR). One is not a predictor of the other. And no, you can't train your maximum heart rate. It's a function of your age, gender, and DNA.


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## function (Jun 20, 2008)

All that aside, i can't see what possible use a max HR value could be.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

If you're calculating exercise intensity based on %HRmax or %HRR, then it's very useful to have an accurate number.


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## function (Jun 20, 2008)

If i were to use an HR meter, i think the average heartrate from a 20minute TT effort would be a lot more useful for creating training zones than a percentage of some value which could be anywhere from 20bpm+ off.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

True, but it's not really all that hard to get a true max HR, either. It's really about what measurement of intensity you want to use.


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## kef3844 (May 30, 2008)

Andrea138 said:


> True, but it's not really all that hard to get a true max HR, either. It's really about what measurement of intensity you want to use.



Speak for yourself, way easier to get an accurate FTP heat rate based off a 20-30 effort IMO. I'm with Function on this.


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## hrumpole (Jun 17, 2008)

I've also seen it written that a max HR on a bike (and training zones) will be different from your max HR on a treadmill. I've seen a lot of articles that suggest that you should add about 10bpm to your cycling max to get your running MHR. How did you test it?


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

That's only true for people that don't ride bikes a lot.


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## Pasta Cervelo (May 29, 2009)

Read any credible cycling book - max HR is meaningless and of no value in setting up training. The name of the game is knowing and raising your Lactate Threshold thru proper training. a high LT correlates with results on the road, a high or low max shows no correlation with performance.


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## STARNUT (Jun 19, 2005)

get a powermeter.

Starnut


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## f1oored (Jan 16, 2005)

I do tris and always monitor my HR. I'm not using it for training zones but just to see what the old ticker is doing. On runs I can settle in between 185 and 190 and I've seen my max over 200 on interval training runs. I also ride a lot and my max on rides (even all out sprints) barely hits 185. So in my experience Hrumpole is correct. But like people have said, everyone is different. I would be willing to bet that 190 HR would go over 2 bills if you were running hard. 

I mostly monitor my HR to see if it's jacked over 200 or if it's stopped. I would hate to keep running if my heart stopped.


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

Interesting thread. Considering that heart-rate monitoring is now completely displaced by power-meter monitoring, it's a wonder there is still so much disinformation about HR.

Ok, assuming an 18-year-old doesn't have the money to own the best HR equipment available, we can make some other assumptions:

Her HR monitor may not be able to calculate averages (neither of my cheapies do).
Lab testing for lactate threshold (LT) may be too expensive.
Max HR is highly personal. The age-minus thing is totally bogus. I'm 56 years old and have seen HR in the upper 180's this year.
So, what to do? Make a calculation of LT. As was mentioned above, this is the meaningful measurement from which a proper game plan can be developed. You can start with your observed HR Max and use percentages, but it would be better to use a variant of the 20 min. TT or intervals approach, in which you'd figure out a HR number at which you get diminishing performance (lactic acid buildup) and go from there.

There are tons of articles available on calculating LT. Alternatively, it is now relatively common to find a lab that will do the test. It might cost up to $200, but there are labs doing the test for undery $100. The lab where I went presented VO2Max, the doctor's prefered metric, and for an additional charge he did the actual blood sampling for LT.

In my opinion, if you use one of the empirical on-bike methods for determining LT, it would only be off by a few heart beats from lab measurements. I'd think the training you'd do, even though it's base on data that's not 100% accurate, would be of immense value. 

JSR


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