# Heart rate



## Stacy (Jul 5, 2008)

I have been riding app. a yr. I am a 39 yr female... I don't seem to be improving my heart rate at all. Some rides my max heart rate is 0ver 180 which I try to keep it under. I have been riding periodically indoors this winter on a trainer and still have the same issues.

Can any give me any advice as to how to improve this or could this be normal for me?


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

What exactly are you trying to improve about your heart rate?


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## Comer (Jan 13, 2009)

My heart rate goes up over 180bpm when I see 39 year old women riding bikes.


Seriously, there is the 220 minus your age, then percentages. Better yet find your max heart rate and train in different zones. There are alot of books available that can help you. I'm not a coach or trainer so I hate to give advice, especially when my heart rate jumps as described above.


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## spastook (Nov 30, 2007)

You don't ever actually "improve" your heart rate. It is what it is based on your age, genetics and sex. Women have a rate typically 6 beats higher than males. Women subtract their age from 226 rather than 220 like men do. You can improve your max by a few, possibly several beats as your fitness improves. But your trying to get your workout in within your zones. I've been riding using a hr monitor for over 20 years. Sometimes you can be working your butt off and can't get within 20 beats of the zone you're normally in.What this usually means is your body needs a day off. Other days I'm able to max my rate out very easily, this tells me I'm well rested. Just my 2 cents.


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## Stacy (Jul 5, 2008)

Ok, I thought that I should be able to keep it under my max range easier,considering I have been riding for awhile now. I was using 200 for the equation to figure out what my max rate should be. I just felt I should be able to go longer without going over. If I use 220 I am in fact keeping my heat rate in range.


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## StillRiding (Sep 16, 2006)

Don't look for your heart rate at maximum exertion to change too much. What should change is your resting heart rate. My wife had a resting heart rate of about 78 a few years back before she got into serious riding. Now her resting heart rate is in the low 50's. OTOH, when she hits a hill hard, she can still get to 190, just like years ago. The only difference is that she goes up the hill much faster.


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## Stacy (Jul 5, 2008)

Thats the ticket! I was looking at the wrong numbers! Thank you ! I thought I was not improving my health any.


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## moab63 (Aug 7, 2006)

*Well if you are going to keep using*

HR for your workouts then use the Karvonen formula it will give you better numbers to train by. Make sure that you read on it and do it right, very simple math is needed.

Most people train either to hard or to slow, to get the desired result(adaptation).
Keep training.:thumbsup:


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## sdjeff (Sep 4, 2008)

*Recovery is key, not max*



Stacy said:


> Ok, I thought that I should be able to keep it under my max range easier,considering I have been riding for awhile now. I was using 200 for the equation to figure out what my max rate should be. I just felt I should be able to go longer without going over. If I use 220 I am in fact keeping my heat rate in range.


What the other folks said, plus I find that my HR recovers much quicker as I get fitter - as soon as I let up on the effort it drops further and faster, but I actually am hitting higher numbers for max. (178 today, new high for me at age 51... now I guess I'll need to train harder all the time!).


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## bq_or_bust (Oct 27, 2007)

*The HR formula is junk.*

HR for each person is individual and unique.


http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...imum' Heart Rate Theory Is Challenged &st=cse


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## Miiles (Oct 25, 2008)

Interesting article in The New York Times


> Heart rate is an indicator of heart disease, said Dr. Michael Lauer, a cardiologist and the director of clinical research in cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. But, he added, it is not the maximum that matters: it is how quickly the heart rate falls when exercise is stopped.





> Some people get blood to their muscles by pushing out large amounts every time their hearts contract, he said. Others accomplish the same thing by contracting their hearts at fast rates. As a result, Dr. Hagerman said, he has seen Olympic rowers in their 20's with maximum heart rates of 220. And he has seen others on the same team and with the same ability, but who get blood to their tissues by pumping hard, with maximum rates of just 160.





> In a study published in the March issue of The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Dr. Seals and his colleagues devised a new formula: maximum heart rate equals 208 minus 0.7 times age. They used published studies involving 18,712 healthy people and data from 514 healthy people they recruited. Their formula gives much higher average maximum heart rates for older people, with the new and old heart rate curves starting to diverge at age 40.





> ''I've kind of laughed about it over the years,'' Dr. Haskell [creator of the 220 minus your age formula] said. The formula, he said, ''was never supposed to be an absolute guide to rule people's training.'' But, he said, ''It's so typical of Americans to take an idea and extend it beyond what it was originally intended for.''


Hopes this helps, somehow.


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## Stacy (Jul 5, 2008)

Thanks, everything that has been posted has given me a new look at this issue.

Although, I like the last quote

''It's so typical of Americans to take an idea and extend it beyond what it was originally intended for.''


This is SOOOO TRUE!


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