do I re-adjust my max heart rate as I get fitter?

when I started training my max heart rate was 201bpm, resting was 60bpm. I set up my zones using these

a couple of years down the line I can’t get anywhere near max any more, even with a massive effort I seem to top out at 191bpm, resting still seems about the same, maybe slightly lower

do I use 191 as a new maximum or leave it at 201?

As I understand it, as you get fitter, your heart ‘volume’ improves per stroke due to the muscles working more efficiently so less need to pump so fast. So, in answer to your question, yes. Expect to see a similar reduction in your RHR too.

At 201 and 60 resting you are already too fit. I suggest increasing your pasty intake rather than Max HR.

It’s not necessarily getting fitter, it drops with age, and with other factors such as fatigue and stress levels (not saying you aren’t getting fitter, btw, just that it may not be the reason)

But yes, you do adjust it, and hence it’s worth doing a max effort test or some other test periodically to ensure your zones are still correct.

You should retest your MHR on a regular basis if you are using it as for training. MHR does drop as you age, but not necessarily following the 220-age formula.

Go with 191 for now.

If at all, the resting heart rate reflects fitness, not the maximum. The maximum should be updated as one ages.

I feel fitter in my riding but I don’t think my resting heart rate has changed much, 2bpm lower maybe

Max heart rate has nothing to do with fitness. It’s “set” genetically, you can’t “improve” it and it bears nothing to fitness. It’s does decrease as you age though.
Resting is supposed to be the measure of fitness.

Threshold heart rate is much more important. What can you sustain for 60 minutes. Maximum is set, resting will fall as you get fitter. Threshold is more useful for zone setting.

Most devices set zones automatically from max. Use the British Cycling Web page for threshold and set your zones manually.

I haven’t adjusted mine in a few years, and I’m a lot fitter now.

Heart rate is governed by the amount of CO2 that needs expelling, afaik.

I think that as you get fitter your muslces, blood and lungs get better at delivering oxygen and shifting CO2 so your heart doesn’t have to pump as much. Plus there’s a certain amount of adaptation – your body gets used to powerful cycling efforts, and I think it gets harder to knacker yourself out like this. This is mostly conjecture though.

If you go for a run and sprint as hard as you can, I bet you’ll see more than 191.

Max heart rate has nothing to do with fitness. It’s “set” genetically, you can’t “improve” it and it bears nothing to fitness. It’s does decrease as you age though.

True…. sort of.

The proviso is that if you were completely ‘untrained’ – a proper couch potato – and got up one day and did a MHR test you probably won’t get your MHR. Either because (non technical terms) you have to have a few goes to blow the cobwebs away and get the muscle working to its fullest, and secondly because if you aren’t used to that exertion, you’ll feel like you are dying well before you hit the MHR and probably don’t have the fortitude to push harder just in case you do!!

Of course doing a MHR does feel like dying, it’s just that after a few goes at it we actually secretly like that feeling……..

Had mine pegged at 184 for ages (2 years), managed to hit 186 a few times the other day… explain that? Should have gone down by a beat or two with ageing not up?

As others have pointed out, MHR is a poor measure of anything, from a physiological point of view. FTHR is much more relevant to anything related to training.

MHR does vary, by age and by fitness – but the various algorithms are nothing more than best guess at a population level. The value I worked out (using the gradually-increase-effort-until-you-puke-measure-max method) seemed to be correct for about 4 years (I only ever occasionally got to 100% MHR) but this last year I’ve been exceeding it more regularly. The point, though, about MHR is that it’s firmly in your anaerobic capacity and because of the lag in your heart rate matching your effort, you’ll likely be spent before you hit it anyway.

Had mine pegged at 184 for ages (2 years), managed to hit 186 a few times the other day… explain that? Should have gone down by a beat or two with ageing not up?

Time, temperature, stress levels…… 2bpm i wouldn’t even consider as a different number unless measured with sophisticated lab standard equipment.

If you were consistently doing 10bpm more……..