Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 125 total)
  • Calling all 40ish people out there…how 'hard' do you push your heart?
  • rosscopeco
    Free Member

    It’s been covered before but it’s more personal now that I’m 40!

    Had to have a wee chat with Mrs Rossco this morning who’s a little concerned I’m getting older and therefore should be taking things a little easier. Given that I row a fair bit, Andrew Marrs recent stroke following a rowing session has understandably got her in a bit of a flap.

    I usually do some kind of ‘strenuous’ activity almost every day. TBF she’s not really from a ‘sporty’ family and doesn’t get why some people are. Conversely, I came from a reasonably active family, Dad played Badminton for his country, and I’ve therefore always been very active. I played all sports but mostly Rugby at a reasonable level up until I was 31 along with being out on the local trails since I was a wee man.

    To avoid boredom / stress related injuries I usually alternate between rowing and cycling 5ish days per week. When I row, it’s usually for no more than 40ish minutes doing intervals at 80% – 85% HRM . I cycle for circa 2hrs and it averages circa 75% but I’d usually always briefly push it to 90% – 100% on every ride.

    I’ve promised her that I’d go and see our GP (another cyclist 😀 ) and have a chat with him before bursting myself again but it got me thinking…I don’t think I’m doing anything ‘out of the ordinary’. Or am I?!

    How hard do you push the old ticker when you go out?

    Rorschach
    Free Member

    My max heart rate is set at 201bpm on my polar and I ususlly average 85/90% of that when racing cx for an hour.I usually throw up.
    I’m 40 in october.

    aP
    Free Member

    I’m 45 and on Sunday last rode up the Stelvio at an average of 190 bpm with a maximum of 194. Friday however, going up the Mortirolo gave me a maximum of 207 bpm.
    Just because you’ve suddenly turned 40 doesn’t mean that things change, you just need to be aware of your reaction to physical activity.

    loddrik
    Free Member

    Am 40 and don’t feel much different to 10 years ago, always been a bit overweight but don’t drink or smoke and certainly would think about exercising any differently to any other point in my life.

    brooess
    Free Member

    I would get a proper assessment from a personal trainer or medic tbh.
    I said goodbye to my 30s a couple of weeks ago and I’m pushing myself harder now than I’ve ever done – max HR is 205 and when I do running track speed sessions I’m up to 195…
    I suspect the best way to keep yourself at low risk is to keep exercising the heart – it’s a muscle after all. My intention is to be one of those old giffers who over-competitive 20-somethings discount, until I disappear off without them 🙂

    brooess
    Free Member

    That NHS page is golden. I have it on an RSS feed.
    They assess all major health-related news stories and compare the headlines with the science.
    About 9 times out of 10 they point out the headline and conclusion the journalists have come to are inappropriate or plain wrong. Broadsheets as well as tabloids. Unsurprisingly, Daily Mail is a repeat offender…

    woody2000
    Full Member

    42 this year and I can’t say I’ve given it any thought at all. I think Mr Marr has been unlucky, and I suspect that this quote from the BBC interview is more telling!

    “I had been heavily overworking – mostly my own fault – in the year before that. I’d had two minor strokes it turned out, in that year, which I hadn’t noticed.”

    If you’re a regular exerciser, turning 40 should make no difference at all IMO. It’s those get to 40 fat and unfit, then go and try and chuck themselves into it that should watch out!

    Where’s DrP?

    Shibboleth
    Free Member

    40 in December, max heart rate is 195bpm… I generally get to 190 most rides, I ride 3-4 times a week.

    mogrim
    Full Member

    41 and did my first marathon this year, 209km sportive in the Pyrenees this month, and got an ultra coming up in September. Doing interval training I regularly hit 90-95% max HR.

    I’d be more concerned about someone starting from scratch, overweight ex-smoker type who suddenly gets into exercise…

    rosscopeco
    Free Member

    Thanks for the link Drac…”impatiently awaits Mrs R getting home”

    Garry_Lager
    Full Member

    I think you’re in the clear as far as dropping dead from a heart attack goes – you’ve been fit and active for 40 years and any genetic pre-disposition to heart trouble would have manifested itself by now. You know how to control your effort so training at stupid intensities is not likely to happen either.

    ITSM that cardiac trouble for active people is likely to come from things outside of exercise – I heard Michael Lynagh (ex rugby union player) on the wireless talking about surviving a stroke and it seemed to have been a similar case to Marr’s – a confluence of unfortunate events. Forget the exact details but it was something like a combination of stress from overwork, a long haul flight and a really hot day triggering the stroke.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    47 here – hit 185 on most rides which seems to be about as high as I can ever get it.

    Running, Strava tells me I manage to average 170 over an hour.

    teamhurtmore
    Free Member

    Haven’t raced for past 18m for various reasons. But used to race/train to pretty strict HR regimes. It depended on the length of race. Most of the time, I was using it toes nurse that long, slow stuff was kept at a low level! When approrpirate I would race and train for shorter stuff at close to max.

    andycs
    Full Member

    Haven’t a clue what my HR is!!

    rocketman
    Free Member

    I’m getting older and therefore should be taking things a little easier

    Err…no

    she’s not really from a ‘sporty’ family and doesn’t get why some people are

    *groan*

    I’ve promised her that I’d go and see our GP

    This has got to be a wind-up

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    No idea what % I hit, I’d assume 100% on occasion. I simply don’t worry about it.

    My father had similar concerns (he’s in his 70s) so he got some kind of scan test thing at the GP to see if his heart was likely to explode. It wasn’t.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    Having read that Andrew Marr thing, I have found is that my GP takes my blood pressure now if I go and see him for any reason.

    He knows I cycle and push myself fairly hard so it’s either that or just my age that means he checks it now.

    glupton1976
    Free Member

    I’ve promised her that I’d go and see our GP

    So thats why folk cant get to see their GP…

    onehundredthidiot
    Full Member

    43 Most rides will average 160bpm with peaks around 175bpm. Whether I’m out for an hour or 6 hours. Only once managed to push so hard that my vision statred to grey out and that was at about 205bpm. Think I’m more likely to come a cropper from stupidity than heart explosion.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    47 and push till I feel like pukeing sometimes. Ride 4x a week and am knocking on 185-190 each and every hill.

    The guys I ride with are all 10-15yrs younger and 10-15kg ligher, so Ive no choice 🙂

    You can ask your GP for a free healthcheck once your over 40, but IME you have to push for it and push to get a proper one done, with blood tests etc.

    binners
    Full Member

    As strokes are the result of poor blood supply to the brain, could it be that having freakishly massive jug-ears either side of said organ could lead to specific problems in this department?

    jameso
    Full Member

    Training experts (Joe Friel for ex) suggest working at % of LTHR rather than max anyway. A LTHR test is pretty grim but apparently more meaningful for training as it will change as your fitness develops.

    There’s a big difference between 90 and 100% HR. I guess you need to be sure your max really is a max as a few % in this area seems to me to be a big difference. I tried a max test doing steep hill reps in my late 20s (10yrs ago) and tbh can’t remember exactly what I hit but it felt horrible, almost scary, and I wouldn’t fancy doing it again. I now find it hard to get within 10 beats or less of what I think I got to then, yet my fitness is much better overall.
    So I work off a LTHR at the moment and test it regularly with a turbo session so I get an average across a month-6 week period. Based on that, my max is about 10bpm below what I think I hit 10 yrs ago – so either it’s a more useful guide that fits with my output, or my memory is bad ) (the idea that your HR lowers as you age is apparently not true for trained / basically fit people)

    Steve-Austin
    Free Member

    bpm max of 200 and i hit that most rides. I reckon i have put my heart through enough to test it running at high rates, so i guess it’ll be ok for a while yet.
    My lungs are a different matter and they normally govern how hard i can push my heart, as i get all wheezy.

    Trimix
    Free Member

    Dont forget – you are actually going to die at somepoint, so id not worry. Your better off going while your enjoying it 🙂

    Euro
    Free Member

    43 and it’s not something i’ve ever thought about. It goes like a dinger sometimes, far to fast to count without some sort of device (which i don’t have or want).

    onewheelgood
    Full Member

    I’m 53, last year (the first year I had an HRM) my max was around 186, but this year I’m struggling to hit that so maybe I’m slowing down 🙁

    ScottChegg
    Free Member

    Andrew Marrs recent stroke following a rowing session

    Just as likely to have been one of his shagging sessions with some popsy or another.

    rusty-trowel
    Free Member

    Running 1/2 marathons it never really goes below 160, 10k at the weekend was all above 165 and peaking at 190ish and cx races are pretty much all out (165-190) for 45 minutes.
    Intervals and hill training i do with the running club are bonkers, but i don’t wear a HRM when doing them so god knows what i’m doing during those 😕
    I’m 43, 13 stone and don’t really worry about it. I’d rather use it than not.

    jonnyb1972
    Free Member

    Im 40 and have no idea what, and absolutely no intention of ever finding out what my Heart Rate is..

    pebblebeach
    Free Member

    Not something I worry about and I’m riding 250 miles a week at the moment at a fair pace. But I’m 68kg and have good blood pressure figures.

    Still it can happen to anyone at anytime so I don’t think I’m invincible.

    Here’s one to think about – 46 year old friend of mine, reasonably fit, went for a run a few weeks ago, he’s run several marathons, dropped dead of a heart attack.

    MaryHinge
    Free Member

    I’m getting close to 50 now 😕

    Pushing harder and doing more swim/bike/run miles than ever. Always trying to beat last years race results.

    I don’t think about it. I didn’t do any exercise until I was 40, was active, but not sporty. Only really got into sporty stuff around 44yo.

    Dales_rider
    Free Member

    rosscopeco – Member

    To avoid boredom / stress related injuries I usually alternate between rowing and cycling 5ish days per week. When I row, it’s usually for no more than 40ish minutes doing intervals at 80% – 85% HRM . I cycle for circa 2hrs and it averages circa 75% but I’d usually always briefly push it to 90% – 100% on every ride.

    Do you actualy know your HR max ?
    Very rare to hit 100% on a ride you’d be on the floor……..
    I tend to ride at about 140 average and just about every ride hit 80% 180 if I get close to my max its “Eyepopping” time, BTW 58 so you may survive another 18 years 😉

    DezB
    Free Member

    How hard do you push the old ticker when you go out?

    50 in 7 months and I don’t take it easy. Out with some nippers (in their 30s) on the weekend and I thought I was going to die at one point! Won’t give up until I do though 🙂

    nonk
    Free Member

    Flip it on its head mate..
    Tell the mrs that now she is getting on a bit it would be a good idea if she dragged her arse around the block abit more otherwise you might trade her in for a new one .

    jameso
    Full Member

    Do you actualy know your HR max ?
    Very rare to hit 100% on a ride you’d be on the floor……..

    That’s what I thought. From my experience of a real max-out test, it’s not something you’d want to do regularly, or most of us would be able to do? There’s riding at max which is probably low-mid 90s % and then there’s max HR when basically you’ll be collapsed and need a while to recover.

    rosscopeco
    Free Member

    Do you actualy know your HR max ?

    Yes, I do a MHR maybe twice a year. My local trails have 2 fairly long technical climbs maybe 30mins into a spin which make great test beds. The last 50m or so on both climbs require full effort to clean so as I say a great place to do it. Last time I peaked @ 181. I’ve seen it a few beats higher but it plateaus there.

    Very rare to hit 100% on a ride you’d be on the floor……..

    I would usually peak somewhere between 178 & 181 on most rides. It only reaches that for maybe the last 20 or so seconds before it hurts and I hit the floor!

    FWIW I’m don’t religiously use my HR, I just think its a good measure to use. If I feel crap one day, I tend to just bumble along and enjoy the scenery!

    Good reading BTW. I’ll be normal then!

    rosscopeco
    Free Member

    nonk 😆

    MSP
    Full Member

    43 and started to have irregular heart rhythms while exercising earlier in the year, so I have virtually given up coffee and alcohol. That seems to have sorted it out.

    I don’t think sport and exercise are really a problem, but you do have to take account of your whole lifestyle and the impact some choices can have.

    Had I not been a HRM wearer, I probably wouldn’t even realise what was happening to me, and taken steps to correct the problems before it was too late.

    samuri
    Free Member

    Thanks for the link Drac…”impatiently awaits Mrs R getting home”

    Gonna try and hit max, eh? Well , good luck. She might not be in the mood. 😉

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 125 total)

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