# Max HR



## noahknoll (Dec 5, 2008)

Sorry for another HR question. Searched but couldn't find specifics on this one exactly. I have seen my heart rate peak at 205 this past fall (when I purchased my first HR monitor around beginning of October). Since the 27th of November I haven't got my HR over 197. I can push myself to the max, but my legs always die out before I can get my heart rate up there. My resting heart rate has fluctuated up and down but when i rest for a day or two is stays at about 45 BPM. Which I think is my regular resting HR. If i don't rest for over 1 day then it will stay around 50bpm. After two days of rest I did my typical progress check hill climb yesterday, and got my best time. It seams as though I am progressing, but am worried about overtraining. So is my cardio just getting stronger than my legs and should do more leg training, or am i on the right track? Am i overtraining? If my resting heart rate is 45 bpm, at what bpm should i look at possibly overtraining? I do in between 10-14 hours of training per week if that helps. Thank you. Any advice is helpful.


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## ericm979 (Jun 26, 2005)

noahknoll said:


> Sorry for another HR question. Searched but couldn't find specifics on this one exactly. I have seen my heart rate peak at 205 this past fall (when I purchased my first HR monitor around beginning of October). Since the 27th of November I haven't got my HR over 197. I can push myself to the max, but my legs always die out before I can get my heart rate up there.


It's difficult to hit your max HR. I only see it in some races. I have to have something else to focus on (bridging a gap or creating one) to do it. 

It's also possible that the 205 reading was an error. You have to get to know your HRM and figure out when it reads high. Most often for me its on a windy day or a descent when I am wearing only a couple layers and the jersey is flapping



noahknoll said:


> My resting heart rate has fluctuated up and down but when i rest for a day or two is stays at about 45 BPM. Which I think is my regular resting HR. If i don't rest for over 1 day then it will stay around 50bpm. After two days of rest I did my typical progress check hill climb yesterday, and got my best time. It seams as though I am progressing, but am worried about overtraining. So is my cardio just getting stronger than my legs and should do more leg training, or am i on the right track? Am i overtraining? If my resting heart rate is 45 bpm, at what bpm should i look at possibly overtraining? I do in between 10-14 hours of training per week if that helps. Thank you. Any advice is helpful.


A rise in resting HR can indicate that you need a rest (overtraining is something else entirely) but its just one of the factors. I would not rely on it as the sole determining factor to decide if you need a rest day.


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## M__E (Apr 21, 2006)

ericm979 said:


> ..Most often for me its on a windy day or a descent when I am wearing only a couple layers and the jersey is flapping..


I was always wondering why it went crazy on long alpine descents! now I know..but its not something I can do anything about...so Ill just deal instead of getting frustrated about it  thanks fore that:thumbsup:


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## heathb (Nov 1, 2008)

What kind of racing are you training for. 

If you're training 14 hours a week you're not recovered enough to make really strong intense effort, so your chances of pegging your top HR is highly unlikely. 

If you want to get fast train for speed, but not nearly as much time, once you've built up your base miles that is.

In the end don't be a slave to HR monitors, yes use them to train for a specific reason, but constant monitoring of HR is kind of a waste of time. 

And I agree with the above poster. You're much more likely to achieve a higher heartrate when you reaching for a goal, like chasing down a break or attacking a hill so you don't get dropped. These things provide a distraction from the pain as opposed to watching your heartrate monitor when by yourself.


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## noahknoll (Dec 5, 2008)

There is only a few races in my area that I am training for. 2 of them are typical expert category xc races (20-30 miles). and one is a 12 hour solo event. That is why I am trying to put lots of hours in. I usually try to do 1 long hour day (4-6 hours). 3 days high intensity either interval or hillclimbs(around 1.5 hours). 1 day kind of a short slow recovery ride(1.5 hours), and 2 days off the bike. These high intensity days are where I am looking at my heart rate peaking. (I don't try to peak it often, but sometimes curiosity kills, and I wanna see what I can do.) I guess where I am going wrong is the fact that I am constantly documenting HR data, and basing gains on it more than probably what I should be. I will also be looking at doing some road racing as well, probably around the 50 mile mark. So would this training be sufficient for all my needs? Or would anyone recommend something else? I guess another question is base miles. I don' t go by miles so about how many base hours should i be putting in before I start doing intervals and such? And also the base miles should be done at Sweet Spot intensity?


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## M__E (Apr 21, 2006)

You almost NEVER want to see your actual max heart rate during a race or training ride. its the kind of thing you determine through a propper test, and then use it to train at well know training intensities at a % or your HrMax... and when you get curious just remember what your training for and discipline yourself thats the whole point of hrm training...to lots of people.

Are you training for the etape or something by the way? or whats the 12hr event your doing?


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