# Is it OK for my heart to be doing this? See Garmin data graph...



## gibbons (Nov 9, 2002)

I am 50 years old, 5'7", 160lbs, 22% body fat. I ride for fun, 2-3 times a week from 16 miles with my wife to 40 fast miles with my sons. Centuries don't bother me. My resting HR is 48. I have high cholesterol, but with meds I keep it at 170. I am in what I consider to be in OK shape, but certainly not a Cat racer or masters racer. I ride high end bikes cuz I like the technology, I am currently on a Ridley Noah with Campy Record and Edge clinchers.

I did the Snowbird Hill climb race for fun, 3200' in 9 miles. Attached is the data from my Garmin. I was around 180 for most of the time, exceeding my theoretical max of 170 for over an hour straight. But that always happens when I climb, and peaks of 190 aren't uncommon. When I ride with my sons, my heart rate will be 160-190 for two to three hours straight. 

Am I going to explode? Thanks for any insights.


----------



## crispy010 (Jan 26, 2009)

If it's not excruciatingly painful, I think you're okay. I know when I hit my max HR I'm in a fair amount of pain.

If you can sustain your HR over your theoretical max, your theoretical maximum is wrong.


----------



## smbrum (Jul 9, 2008)

I would agree you have your max set too low. Looks like you are determining max HR by age calculation rather than an actual test. If so you may want to consider changing it based on this ride. Your avg in the 180-182 range for over an hour....on a hard effort. your max is probably in low 190's. you just cant sustain a max HR for any amount of time and so 170 isnt accurate.


----------



## gibbons (Nov 9, 2002)

170 is just the age generalization, but it seems like I am way above that. Is that cuz I am more active than the general population?

The shop where my son works does VO2 max tests. I am curious now, would that test give me a max? How often do people have heart attacks doing those tests in bike shops? By the way, he is 18 his VO2 max is 73. I think that's supposed to be good(?)


----------



## smbrum (Jul 9, 2008)

gibbons said:


> 170 is just the age generalization, but it seems like I am way above that. Is that cuz I am more active than the general population?
> 
> The shop where my son works does VO2 max tests. I am curious now, would that test give me a max? How often do people have heart attacks doing those tests in bike shops? By the way, he is 18 his VO2 max is 73. I think that's supposed to be good(?)


could be...the resting HR would certainly indicate that more than your HR during excercise (at least that is what I have been told). The VO2 max test is gonna give you a more accurate indicator of cardiovascular endurance. VO2 max is just the maximum amount of oxygen that you can utilize during a max effort. Your max HR on the other hand I dont think is any type of indicator of performance, good or bad. From what I have been told on other threads here, the HR is more specific to you and environment and how your body responds to certain stresses. I dont think your HR being higher than avg for your age will necessarily mean you are more or less fit. Could be wrong about that though. Dont know about the heart attack think during testing but would doubt that is an issue. Never done one myslef but from what I understand they are painful so rest well before the test


----------



## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

*You're just showing off ;-)*

You're 50, and you climbed a steady 7% grade for over an hour at over 7 mph. You didn't explode. So far as I can tell from what you said, you didn't feel horrible afterwards. 

That's good, man. Ride on. How you feel, and what you can do consistently without feeling bad, is better indicator than all those numbers.


----------



## AidanM (Aug 11, 2006)

18 and with a vo2 of 73 is uber good, thats liek protour v02max. 

for reals, lances migth be at 85, most most pack fod domestiques are mid to high 70s.

you son must have soem good genes or train like mad


----------



## gibbons (Nov 9, 2002)

He has a genetic mutation, apparently, my wife and I sure aren't in this league. He doesn't train, he just rides several days a week when he gets a chance between school and work. The guy who tested him is the rep for the test equipment freaked, he said it was the second highest he had seen.


----------



## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

IF you hold 180-ish for 1 hour, this would probably be 85-92% of your max. Others would call this your 'Functional Threshold HR'. Max is your max, no theoritical calculations needed. 

You aren't going to die, but check your dietary habits for the cholesterol.


----------



## gibbons (Nov 9, 2002)

Yesterday I rode 170-ish for 90min, then 190 for a 20 min climb. After a minute or so of decending the climb, I dropped to 110, and then back up to 170 for the last 30 minutes. I felt fine a few minutes after I got home, like I had just driven home from work or something.

My cholestrol as really high, then I got on meds and the doc says I am optimzed. I don't recall the numbers. I remember after taking them for a few months, my heart rate was 10 or so lower than it would have been previously. Has anyone else noticed a difference of fitness perception after taking meds and apparently opening up the plumbing?


----------



## zriggle (Apr 16, 2008)

gibbons said:


> I am 50 years old, 5'7", 160lbs, 22% body fat. I ride for fun, 2-3 times a week from 16 miles with my wife to 40 fast miles with my sons. Centuries don't bother me. My resting HR is 48. I have high cholesterol, but with meds I keep it at 170. I am in what I consider to be in OK shape, but certainly not a Cat racer or masters racer. I ride high end bikes cuz I like the technology, I am currently on a Ridley Noah with Campy Record and Edge clinchers.
> 
> I did the Snowbird Hill climb race for fun, 3200' in 9 miles. Attached is the data from my Garmin. I was around 180 for most of the time, exceeding my theoretical max of 170 for over an hour straight. But that always happens when I climb, and peaks of 190 aren't uncommon. When I ride with my sons, my heart rate will be 160-190 for two to three hours straight.
> 
> Am I going to explode? Thanks for any insights.


What do I need to buy to get sweet graphs like that?


----------



## gibbons (Nov 9, 2002)

It's generated by a Garmin Edge 305 cycling computer, which downloads ride data to a PC. You can also graph speed, cadence, grade, and pace. It has really changed how I evaluate my rides. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=331


----------



## zriggle (Apr 16, 2008)

gibbons said:


> It's generated by a Garmin Edge 305 cycling computer, which downloads ride data to a PC. You can also graph speed, cadence, grade, and pace. It has really changed how I evaluate my rides. https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=331


I'm broke as all heck right now, although I'm saving for a PowerTap. Does the software that the Garmin use work with PowerTap data? Or any power meter?


----------



## N.C.VortexRider (Jun 15, 2009)

Even after reading the insightful posts regarding your graph I would recommend to ask your cardiologist, since there can be no misguided recommendations for your max HR, etc. Call me a safety fanatic, but I'd only recommend to see what a specialist says about your concern. They went to school for MANY years to help you out in a situation like this.


----------



## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Dude, that garmin graph is the ripest fruit you can find.

If you ever want to get a training program, this is just about perfect.


----------



## gibbons (Nov 9, 2002)

Thanks for everyones' inputs. I think I am going to go to a cardiologist for a real test. Our neighborhood homeowner association has a yearly bike ride that the guys go on. It's supposed to be a friendship ride, but you know how that goes. It turned out to be an attack fest on the climbs, where I hit 196 and was 190+ for 8 minutes on one, and 6 on another. I opened a lead, and couldn't let up. But I felt fine after...


----------



## smokva (Jul 21, 2004)

gibbons said:


> I am 50 years old, 5'7", 160lbs, 22% body fat. I ride for fun, 2-3 times a week from 16 miles with my wife to 40 fast miles with my sons. Centuries don't bother me. My resting HR is 48. I have high cholesterol, but with meds I keep it at 170. I am in what I consider to be in OK shape, but certainly not a Cat racer or masters racer. I ride high end bikes cuz I like the technology, I am currently on a Ridley Noah with Campy Record and Edge clinchers.
> 
> I did the Snowbird Hill climb race for fun, 3200' in 9 miles. Attached is the data from my Garmin. I was around 180 for most of the time, exceeding my theoretical max of 170 for over an hour straight. But that always happens when I climb, and peaks of 190 aren't uncommon. When I ride with my sons, my heart rate will be 160-190 for two to three hours straight.
> 
> Am I going to explode? Thanks for any insights.


From what I can see your THEORETICAL MAX is more than 190 and it is the theoretical value you will never achieve or measure on the road.
Also looks like your lactate threshold (LT)is somewhere in 180-185 range.
Easy way to define your LT is to ride as hard as you can (you should be rest and motivated) an non racing individual time trial (ITT) with pulsmeter.
If you ride 5 km ITT than your average puls is 1,05 of LT.
If you ride 10 km ITT than your average puls is 1,03 of LT.
If you ride 15 km ITT than your average puls is 1,01 of LT.
If you ride 40 km ITT than your average puls is 0,97 of LT.

For example, if your average puls on 5 km ITT is 176, than your LT is 176 / 1,05 = 167.
This maybe isn't most accurate way, but if you do it few times you'll be able to conclude what is your LT.
Also, I think training by LT is best for us mortals....pros could benefit of training with a power, but for regular Joe proper powermeter is too expensive.


----------



## smokva (Jul 21, 2004)

I have a similar example...
This is from last year when I was climbing passo Manghen from Borgo Valsugana...23,5 km avg 7 % and last 7 km avg 9,5 %.








As you can see from my Polar graph whole last 7 km of the climb I was riding few beats around my LT.


----------



## smokva (Jul 21, 2004)

Here is another example how it looks at the end of a hard climbing week.
The climb is Rizoul from Guillestre in france.








I gave it all but was so tired that I could avg only 166 beats...if rest and motivated I would be able to avg 175 beats on this sort of climb. Even tired and with avg pulse 10 beats below my LT I was able to avg 312 Watts on this climb, while few months back while climbing last 7 km of Manghen on avg pulse 175 I could average 257 Watts. Here you can see how much I improved from april till july.


----------



## dirthog (Jul 7, 2007)

> My cholestrol as really high, then I got on meds and the doc says I am optimzed. I don't recall the numbers. I remember after taking them for a few months, my heart rate was 10 or so lower than it would have been previously. Has anyone else noticed a difference of fitness perception after taking meds and apparently opening up the plumbing?


I had two stents put in 3 months ago to unclog one 99% blocked artery and the other was 60% blocked. Comparing the same rides at a similiar pace, I would say my heart rate is down 10-25 bpm on the peaks and 10-15 bpm average for a ride. I would be surprised if the medicine opened things up enough to drop 10 or so unless you are talking about a period of over a year or maybe even years of taking the medication. If medicine could open things up that quickly, it would seem like a lot of the surgury being done is unnecessary.

Regarding your heart rate graph, it would have been a lot easier for me to produce a graph like yours before I got the stents then after. What your graph doesn't show is how quickly your heart rate dropped once reached the top but I believe later you mentioned that your heart rate drops quickly after a hard effort has ended. Before I got the stents, I could hold my heart rate in the 170-180 range for long periods of time, but it took forever for my heart rate to recover after a hard effort.. After the stents, my heart rate drops quickly after hard efforts.


----------



## Alex_Simmons/RST (Jan 12, 2008)

smokva said:


> I have a similar example...
> This is from last year when I was climbing passo Manghen from Borgo Valsugana...23,5 km avg 7 % and last 7 km avg 9,5 %.
> 
> As you can see from my Polar graph whole last 7 km of the climb I was riding few beats around my LT.


I would say that you were riding somewhat above your LT at that stage.
LT is about the pace/effort/power one could sustain for a few hours.


----------

