Bike heart rate vs other activity heart rate..

I have a resting hr of around 52. On the bike I start sweating around 140. I can easily hold 140 on a 3 hr road ride, and my max is around 183. It goes up and down exactly as it shoukd for a fit healthy person

Yesterday I went for a round of golf. I decided to see how accurate my garmin watch was compared to an actual chest strap, so wore the chest strap for a round. My average was 119!! Just walking around I was 115 is and every time I took a swing it jumped to 130 ish..(it came down again straight afterwards)

Whilst these numbers are about average for golfers according to a study from whoop, it genuinely surprised me. I would have thought my hr whilst walking a golf course would be far lower, based on perceived effort vs going for a cycle. And given my level of fitness, I thought my hr during golf would be lower than average

Putting aside I may have been anxious due to not wanting to hit it into a bush on every shot, does cycling fitness not always translate to other activitys? Different muscle groups etc?

That does sound weirdly high for golf (a sport I know nothing about – maybe I’m underestimating how quick you’d walk between holes & how heavy the bag is), but running certainly has a higher average HR than cycling because it’s weight bearing, so you recruit more muscle groups. The same would be true for golf.

My max HR for running is about 12bpm higher than for cycling, and my average HR over a tempo/race run would be higher (and a bit more consistent) even than a time trial.

Running is always higher than riding for me.

Swimming tends to be too but I have my doubts on the hr readings for that

That does sound weirdly high for golf (a sport I know nothing about

Those numbers i refered to aren’t massively out from the average whoop golf user. And I imagine the average whoop user is probably fitter than the average person. And consideration shoukd also be given to fact whoop is probably going to be a bit lower on average as I doubt it picks up spikes as well as a chest strap

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/whoop-data-everyday-golfers-exercise

Golf definitely recruits more muscles than cycling, you are walking, carying a bag, and swimging. Throw in the element of fluctuations due to ‘stress’ and i can see why average woukd be higher than a simple walk. But it did surprise me all the same

I use the same HR zones for everything, resting is high 40s low 50s. Zones set on a turbo trainer using a variety of different tests.

Walking for me is normally 110-115 on the flat, on hills goes up to 130-135.So sounds in line with your golf HR

When I’m paddling it’s the same did 8 miles yesterday at a relaxed pace average HR was 117. Sprinting gets me up to 180s haven’t seen over 200 for about 15 years.

exactly as it should for a fit healthy person

If you say so, knowing nothing of you or your activities the numbers quoted sound reasonable to me.

As for golf HR it’s basically a brisk walk broken up with the odd single vigorous movement, so an AVG just over double your RHR and a peak not quite into your cycling Z2(?) also doesn’t sound crazy.

I suppose you could just monitor you HR for various activities and compare, for myself I know jogging seems to send my HR through the roof compared to most cycling, and MTB generally requires a higher overall AVG HR than road cycling (IME)…

I can well imagine an average golfer getting out of puff carrying a bag of clubs but I wouldn’t expect a reasonably fit cyclist to do so.

You know what I thought I’d have a quick look see what my HR avgs were in Garmin and I got this for the year to date:

The OP’s heart rate looks high for just walking, but not I guess when taking into account the ‘stress’ of trying to keep the ball on the fairway 🙂

By comparison when I cut the grass (+2 miles) lugging a powered grasscutter etc I average 90bpm (resting averages <45bpm, and a 7hr road ride at the w/e averaged 130bpm with a high of 173bpm).

I reckon their high bpm is stress related.

My figures are very similar to intheborders (though my max is ~165). On a hard fast walk up a steeeeeep Hill I might get to 125.

Golf must be stressful.

I can well imagine an average golfer getting out of puff carrying a bag of clubs but I wouldn’t expect a reasonably fit cyclist to do so.

Well I’m not remotely out of puff, that’s my point. The heart rate is higher but the perceived exertion is low.

Golf does appear to be more strenuous than you’d expect. Here is another study. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/17461391.2022.2036817

And the winner of the ladies Olympic title averaged 136 bpm for her entire round…she wasn’t carrying her bag either!

For all you folks that say my heart rate doesn’t go above 90 mowing the lawn, I’m not sure that’s a particularly good thing or not! Although shoukd be said if you are basing that on a watch reading it’s probably nonsense. My garmin watch has my average golf hr closer to 100, clearly thats not accurate. It’s useful at lower stable levels but that’s about it as it misses any spikes.

My numbers for the year (not shown on the image above) were Avg RHR 44, general Avg for the year was 122 (smidge high?, or is that my aveage ‘Active’ HR?), Max is set at 185, so not a million miles different from the OPs round of golf TBH

Watch is worn ~95% of the time and is recording from 06:30 – 22:00 most days (goes on power save over night) so doesn’t capture sleeping HR normally.

I’m 45, 5’10” and a bit tubbier than ideal currently at 84 kg: Cycle 3 – 4 times a week between 20 and 65 miles typically (dependant on time of year) run 5k infrequently, do a bit of Zwift while the weather is bad, typically 2 – 3 hrs of exercise a week.

Job is mostly Desk bound (would probably be considered ‘sedentary’), but I walk a fair bit bit most days between buildings and I’m not a habitual lift user, Not much of a Boozer but I definitely drink too much coffee and eat too many starchy Carbs (bread/pasta/potatoes/rice).  I reckon I’m the very definition of “Average” these days…

Cycle 3 – 4 times a week between 20 and 65 miles typically (dependant on time of year) run 5k infrequently, do a bit of Zwift while the weather is bad, typically 2 – 3 hrs of exercise a week.

That’s well above average for the population as a whole.

does cycling fitness not always translate to other activitys? Different muscle groups etc?

Mr running max HR is higher than the same figure for cycling, which affects all my HR Zones too. And while I know that measuring power for running is a bit inaccurate, my running FTP is much higher than my cycling FTP.

Avg for the year was 122 (smidge high?, or is that my aveage ‘Active’ HR?), 

That is surely your active hr average? If you have a resting hr in the 40s and the average through the day is 122, given you work at a desk, unless you are doing long periods of intense exercise to bump up the average, those numbers don’t add up

That said we are clearly all different so who knows…

does cycling fitness not always translate to other activitys? Different muscle groups etc?

Yep. Running tends to generate higher HRs, more muscle groups involved, weight bearing. You might also find that your HR varies while cycling even at the same power. If you use a low cadence with relatively high load per pedal stroke, your – or at least my – HR will tend to significantly lower than the same power output at a higher cadence, but loads your legs more / differently.

Try planking some time and see what that does to your HR when you’re not even moving.

The golf thing, it’s going to depend on a whole load of variables. How hilly the course is, how fast you move, recovery, how nervous you are, probably how familiar and learned the muscle movements are plus on different days your active HR will vary according to how recovered you are / if you’re coming down with a virus / whether you’re well hydrated etc.

Fwiw, walking on the flat, my HR will be anywhere between about 85 and 100bpm depending on pace. On ups it can go up into the 120s if I go briskly, higher if sort of run walk.

On the bike I start sweating around 140

Surely that’s going to be massively conditions dependent. You’re sweating to regulate body temperature rather than as a HR marker so although there will be some correlation – high HR, more exertion – I’d have thought it’s lot more complex than that.

Surely that’s going to be massively conditions dependent

Yeah.sorry i meant it starts to feel like some kind of effort at that hr.

The thing that use to ruined me is walking  up stairs. Didn’t matter how much I cycled, id always feel out of breath! Likewise there is a hill on a local golf course near me that send my heart rate to about 160 every time. I feel as out of breath going up that one as I do in a ten mile tt going full pelt!

I think my fitness is fairly one dimensional!

My numbers for the year (not shown on the image above) were Avg RHR 44, general Avg for the year was 122 (smidge high?, or is that my aveage ‘Active’ HR?), Max is set at 185, so not a million miles different from the OPs round of golf TBH

Watch is worn ~95% of the time and is recording from 06:30 – 22:00 most days (goes on power save over night) so doesn’t capture sleeping HR normally.

If your watch isn’t measuring 22:00-06:30 how’s it working out your RHR?

Don’t you need to look at where those numbers sit for zones. what’s 120 and 140 mean for you?

My average HR on the bike this year is around 120, bit lower this last couple of months as have been spending time in Z2. 33% in Z3&4, 33% in Z2, 33% Z1

for dog walking HRav is 99 – 3% in Z3,  49% in Z2, 48% in Z1.

I struggle to get my HR over a 100 when walking. Can easily manage 140 on the bike for 12h. And a max of about 180. Although some periods of 220 have been seen when racing. Which is of concern as it never did that before I had Covid. Sitting here with a cold and associated chest pain it’s between 55-60.

I imaging golf induces stress that keeps the HR a little higher.

If your watch isn’t measuring 22:00-06:30 how’s it working out your RHR?

I don’t know, it’s mostly made up bollox anyway isn’t it?

AVG Resting HR for a while year? What does that actually tell anyone? Surely if it measures 24/7 it’s just going to give an even more improbably low figure. Does ‘Resting HR’ include ‘sleeping HR’? To me resting and sleeping are quite different things…

I might disable the power saving function for a bit just to see if my RHR does down, but then what does that matter?

According to The BHF “normal”  resting HR should be between 60 and 100 BPM. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/ask-the-experts/pulse-rate#:~:text=Your%20pulse%20rate%2C%20also%20known,vary%20from%20minute%20to%20minute.

So most of us should apparently be worried…

A slower heart rate can be normal for some people, including athletes, fit and healthy young adults, or those taking medications like beta-blockers. For example, it is common for someone who exercises a lot to have a resting heart rate of 60 beats per minute or less

From that same link.

My RHR varies between 47 and 50.

Don’t you need to look at where those numbers sit for zones. what’s 120 and 140 mean for you?

120 is zone one, 140 is zone 2. So averaging zone 1 for the duration of the round