At 53 I’ve never ‘tested’ it to the max.
I have a what I call sustainable max heart rate with is about 165.
It fluctuates around this during cyclo cross racing.
During training it’s between 125 and 155 with 170 plus on hill efforts.
On the turbos max sessions are around 162
I’ve never monitored it during road racing as I’m only interested in what’s going on all around me.
I’ve won one road race this year, and not finished out of the top ten all year so I’m happy with my stats.

Andrew Marrs situation was bad because, as he said, he was under a high workload and I think he mentioned not eating well, so basically his body was under a lot of stress already, and then combine that with mad sessions on the rowing machine and you are asking for trouble.

59 this year for me. Still hit my max regularly at 190 bpm. Cycle three times a week….. about 150 miles and do 1 hr spinning class every Monday. 🙄

41 and I did a 3 hour mtb ride at the weekend. Average 163bpm and max = 193. Reading these posts has made me stop worrying about my what I thought was high heart rate

I’m a medical person and can tell you that someone who does regular exercise is much less likely to have problems with heart attacks and strokes than someone who doesn’t exercise, but then I’m sure you knew that anyway. Your body will limit how hard you can push yourself. I wish I had more patients coming and telling me that they were worried they are exercising too hard! The reality is very different. Keep on trucking my friend.

Slight hijack – So, now you are in your 40s or older, anyone here find after a good hard ride they feel groggy/washed out the next day? I’m assuming this is normal and I’m not really worrying but interested as most of the people I ride with are younger and seem to have the energy/recovery of superhumans. 😉

As you age your biggest enemy is those people who tell you you’re getting old and ought to slow down.

Push yourself hard and then harder still. My Mum is 83 and as fit as a butcher’s dog; she goes walking several times a week, leads a local Ramblers’ group, goes to the gym, sings in three choirs, is a local museum guide and cycles to the shops. I hope I can be as fit as that when I’m in my 80s.

I want to be globalti’s mum

41, not sure what my HR max is but I sometimes hit around 200 (I know this probably isn’t actual maximum).

Last LTHR test returned 172 which seems about right, I can maintain this for a fair bit without needing to back off. Could probably push a little harder and will be looking to squeeze a bit more out next test.

Sweet spot seems to be around 145, can tap it out at that for ages…

Bushwhacked, I sometimes get this…if I know I’m riding again next day I try to get a decent meal and/or a recovery shake down as soon as I’ve finished.

Not guaranteed but seems to make a difference more often than not.

On solo rides I max it out maybe for a hour or so but in 20 minute intervals , don’t know the rate but to the point I couldn’t do much else , talk etc. At the moment combined with the weight loss this means I rarely get uncomfortable on group rides.

As always I suspect there’s loads of variables that effect your chances of having a incident, some are easy to see, some nigh on impossible.

Get some good insurance and don’t worry about pegging it that’s easy, livings the tricky bit.

44, lighter than I’ve ever been (but still overweight) resting HR of about 55. Lungs of a 36 year old according to the machine in the gym despite giving up tabs last year.

I don’t seem to be able to get my HR much above 130BPM, in the gym. Guess its higher when doing proper riding.

Comparing Max HR is a complete waste of time….

One mans max is another’s zone 2.

eat well, sleep well, try not to get stressed, do some exersize. Try not to marry a non sporty worrier

Haven’t read all of this but its pretty obvious that if you’ve always taken regular exercise, you have very little to worry about unless you try to push it to silly levels.

The danger lies (rather obviously) with (mainly) men who decide they ‘are going to get fit/do a charity c-c etc in their forties and fifties after years of a sedentary lifestyle and putting on a few pounds. I was chatting to one if the air ambulance docs the other day who confirmed that MI’s in older cyclists was a regular callout for him.

Im 53 and was barely was out on a bike all winter, so my first ride in spring was a nice easy 6 miles! Would have be so easy to go on but you have to listen to your body and use common sense to build slowly.

Quite interesting points made about being unfit and riding in your 40’s. I have a friend who is over weight, smoker and drinker who has just started riding. I can’t ever remember seeing him do any exercise even kicking a ball around when we were kids. I would have thought getting on the bike and putting the miles in would only do him good, maybe i should tell him to knock it on the head and see his GP first.

Average about 155 and top 180+ bpm on most rides. I was diagnosed with an ectopic heart beat 18 months ago and the doc told me NOT to stop exercising or start worrying about it. I don’t, but if I have to go I’d rather go on a bike than passing away of obesity at my office desk.

45 here.

Struggling with getting my heart rate up at the moment and have come to the conclusion that I need more leg strength or a weight reduction from my current 106kgs.

Seated climbs are around 160s and pushing hard or standing will slowly elevate the HR to high 170s but the legs normally cry enough by then so I drop back down to seated and the HR drops. Decided last night to MTFU and pushed as hard as I could seated on a 3km – 7% average climb (currently in the MIdi Pyrenees). Averaged 14.9kph but only 162 average BPM.

If you are active and the OP sounds it 40 is pretty young. I’ve always struggled endurance fitness and when I was 45 my 60 yr old neighbour used to kick my butt on rides. I’m 50 and I tend to take excersize fairly easy as I have high blood pressure (hereditary) I am for 80%-85% when I do mwear the monitor. To be honest I know what over exersion feels like (from when I do wear the monitor) so I take it sensibly.

In my admittedly jaded experience the wife telling you to slow down is a combination an excuse to stop you going out so much and her own guilty feelings about letting things slide.

At 40 I treated my heart like I did at 20. Work it hard. At 50 I now do the same.

Jambalaya speaks the truth!

I’m on the side of those who say anyone who says I should exercise less should focus on their own issues… it’s usually the unfit ones who say this I’ve noticed…

Strangely my resting is quite high 60ish and max quite low, somewhere between mid 160s early 170s.
The hospital could only get my max up to 115 two years ago, which meant a sit down with the doctor. I told him about my 37 years of road racing, told him I do 100km every Sunday and average over 118 mph with a HR of about 130. He just shut his book and sent me on my way

At 67 my simple rule is when I’m down to walking pace, walk, recover and hop back on.

I’ve long since given up on HR stuff. There doesn’t seem to be much info on pushing yourself hard when you’re my age – other than you’ll die. So I just use commonsense, ie rag it occasionally, but it’s better to cruise at say 80% because you’ll cover more ground in the long run.

Racers will have different priorities though.

However I can manage a 24 hour solo on my singlespeed, so it’s working for me – so far. 🙂

bordering on throwing up, at some point on most rides
Why?!!!

Usually because I’m racing onewheelgood up a climb and as he’s never beaten me on the final hill of our usual ride I feel it’s my duty as a friend to make him feel old and inadequate.

At 40 I treated my heart like I did at 20. Work it hard. At 50 I now do the same.

Same here, use it or lose it. 😀 My breathing regulates how hard I am pushing, not my heart (though I realise these are linked).
Don’t use a HR monitor, just go as hard as I can.

49 now. I only ever see a HRM of the stationary bike down the gym, I have three types of workouts that last an hour. All three will get the rate up to around 170, and keep it there for varying periods.

I’ve no idea what happens on the bike in real life, but I loose my legs before my lungs.

I loose my legs before my lungs.

+1 me too

average over 118 mph with a HR of about 130. He just shut his book and sent me on my way

You are lance Armstrong and I claim my 5 vials of EPO.

I’m coming up to Forty any day. I’ve seen my hr last week at 219 which is slightly higher than normal on a ride, but it wasn’t maximal. Resting (proper resting) is low 30s.

Normally av 175-185 and can sustain around 190 for up to an hour. (Training at 3000′ amsl). I’m fitter than ever.

I’ve sent my hr back though this week so relying on my iPhone/hr strap.
I’m not overly fussed about it other than if my av is lower than 170 I’ve let myself down! I’m not the quickest rider or fittest out there so I can only conclude these figures are all relative to me and I can’t compare them to others.

I guess genetics determines how quickly you get round the race course to a large degree!! A bit like mentioned above.

Interestingley I’ve hit 180 stood still, soloing a 30 foot gritstone classic on smears with no positive holds and the crux at the top.

I’m 48 now. In my late 20s I used to get respectable placings in XC experts with my heart rate peaking at 180. I can still get top ten in veterans but rarely get over 160bpm. Human variation? Am I just more efficient?

Amazed at the amount of people on here training with an HRM seemingly by just seeing how high they can get the number on every ride 🙂

A high MHR and, particularly, a heart rate that leaps up close to MHR under any decent effort is commonly indicative of a lack of base fitness. Your MHR should actually lower as you get fitter as the stroke volume increases and the heart just doesn’t need to beat so fast to supply the same volume of blood.

It’s my breathing that goes before my legs – but then again my legs have always been the strongest part of me. Played football and ran for years and the legs will keep going all day, literally, but on a hard climb it’s the breathing that gets ragged and slows me down.

Jim, you’re quite right. If you stuck to the same effort level.
I personally set myself time challenges and work as hard as I can. Which I guess is why my heart rare stays high. The values are a consequence ofy effort not the other way round.

I don’t dip into my anaerobic zone very often but I guess that’s where you see your limit.

I always thought an ability to respond rapidly upwards but more importantly down indicates good fitness…?

Mikertroid: Nothing to do with effort levels…..MHR = Maximum Heart Rate.

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/06/max-heart-rate-and-fitness.html

Okay, it appears MHR is a genetic thing. The ability for your HR to repond up and down is important. Resting HR is apparently an important value. Maybe I’m thinking max aerobic hr…

But as mentioned above, I don’t train on HR but instead cycle as quickly as I can on a given ride. The HR monitoring came as a result of counting calories last year.

it appears MHR is a genetic thing.

That’s still not what I’m getting at…If you read the article, you’ll see that though you are correct that your MHR is somewhat genetically determined (along with age), it is also determined by fitness: Friel: “I’ve noticed that as athletes’ aerobic fitness changes their max heart rate (MHR) also changes“

In respect of this thread and discussion around “hitting high numbers”, I thought that it was worth pointing out that if a given rider could hit, say 185 in a max test 2 years ago but only 180 now, after training, this is likely an improvement rather than a regression 🙂

Difficult question this..

Years ago I used to race roadies, then I packed that in and went sailing then I’ve returned to riding, a lot.
I used to monitor heart rates back in the day but now I really don’t. I use me legs and breathing patterns to asses my fitness levels and its done me no harm at all having achieved some decent riding goals most recently.
I sometimes use the gym where there is a bike and heart rate monitor on it, but to be honest I think it’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Breathing and legs have it for me.
And I push myself a lot, hard and a lot.

“I’ve noticed that as athletes’ aerobic fitness changes their max heart rate (MHR) also changes”

This is something I have noticed. Last season when racing TT’s I was pushing into the 180 aveverage and could max at 194bpm. I continued to race CX through winter and had a good pre season. This year I am fitter, stronger and faster than I’ve ever been and my max has dropped 10 bpm. Now, anything around 184bpm and I am close to vomiting and average now mid 170’s for a TT or CX race.

Hmm,

Maybe I’ve reached my peak then!!