Heart Rate: How High Is Too High?

I’ve had a Garmin Forerunner watch for about 6 months, but have only just started paying attention to heart rate measurements.  Just for running initially, but now some mtb and road cycling.

I’m 37, so the commonly accepted rule of thumb suggests my max should be 183bpm.

But on pretty much every ride I’m pushing well over 190 at some point.  eg. 198 on this morning’s commute.  And whilst that was up a moderate hill, it’s nowhere close to an all out effort.

I’m well aware that:

• Optical heart rate measurement isn’t the most accurate
• That 200 – age rule is very approximate, and could dramatically underestimate for many people.

To what extent does this warrant further investigation?  And how?

• Invest in a proper HRM strap?
• Seek a medical assessment?
• Push myself for a high intensity effort next time out and see just how high it gets?

Can I ask how fit you are? When I first started running about a year ago, I could easily hit 195 on a 5K run, especially in the last kilometre if I was giving it some beans. Now I’m an awful lot fitter and I find that my heart rate while running stabilises about 150 and I can occasionally push it to 185 if I really put the hammer down. Give and I’ve been training for a marathon for what seems like forever, I don’t think my heart’s gone above 175 in months.

One of my friends is relatively unfit and on what I thought was a gentle jog, he managed to hit 190….

Another thing to bear in mind, is the only thing that gives you an accurate reading are the chest straps. Sometimes my wife’s watch (if she’s not using her chest strap) can give some very strange readings

That 200 – age rule is very approximate

It’s not approximate, it’s just an average in the same way that the average UK male height is 5’10.  But it doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you if you’re 6’3.

Your heart rate for a given flow is personal for you and IIRC depends on the relative size of your atria and ventricles but don’t quote me on that.  Your heart can get stronger and pump more per stroke, and then you end up hitting other limits in your system so your performance can go up but your HR can get lower. But then if you train those other limits your HR can go up, it all depends on how you are training your body and the adaptations you’re creating.

I’m 37, so the commonly accepted rule of thumb suggests my max should be 183bpm.

Forget about that, it’s an average hr that’s been debunked

20 years ago age 31 I would hit between 206bpm and 217bpm on heartbreak hill kirroughtree on a single speed, I lived local so must have rode it thousands of times, at least 3/4 times a week.  Your max will no doubt be above the average as I guess you’ve been cycling/exercising for years

And when I was in my 20s and fit I could barely hit 170bpm. Now i’m double the age and if I got to 165 I wouldn’t be able to read it on a watch.

As you note the 220-age is a vague rule of thumb and not overly useful aside from for watch manufacturers wanted an easy way to show “performance”.

In terms of optical hrm accuracy in my experience garmins are fairly accurate but are slow to respond to rapid changes, eg intervals, so if it is showing high levels then it is likely to be right although with a timelag.

For me whilst I go above my 220-age limit it isnt much above but the limit there is other factors mostly my legs giving out.

Key thing though is are you feeling normalish? If not then thats the time to seek professional advice.

You need a chest strap for more accurae readings. I’ve always gone higher than the ‘formula’ all my life. I had a club mate that was more a diesel,very low resting, couldn’t get above 160, but was fast, not a srinter, but could sit there riding fast for hours.

i leave the strap off these days and ignor any readings. I pay no attention to the smart watch.

My Garmin gives spurious heart rate readings if I don’t have the strap up super tight. So the first thing I would do is get a coospo chest strap for a few quid on Amazon and if the readings still high after that think about it. I’m 41 and can hit 198 when really pushing so the readings you’re seeing aren’t unreasonable

As above – ignore the 220-age thing. I’m 65 and can still hit over 180 when really pushing things.

Can I ask how fit you are?

Not that easy answer as it’s all quite relative.  I definitely wouldn’t consider myself particularly fit in the company of a mountain bike forum, but probably fitter than the average person.  Will typically be active 2 or 3 times a week.  I’m definitely less cycling fit than previous years, but can comfortably do an 80 mile road ride and will generally do 100 a couple of times a year.

I only started running last year in the build up to a half marathon in Feb (Max heart rate of 190 /  Average of 172 across the 2 hours).  Most runs seem to peak around 175bpm though, whilst pretty much every cycle is > 190 at some point.

Ultimately I don’t feel bad after exercise or any worse than normal.  And if I hadn’t just learned how to broadcast hr from my Garmin to my wahoo elemnt, I probably would be questioning anything at all!

You need a chest strap for more accurae readings.

I’ve always gone higher than the ‘formula’ all my life. I had a club mate that was more a diesel,very low resting, couldn’t get above 160, but was fast, not a srinter, but could sit there riding fast for hours.

Newer Garmins have much better sensors – check DC Rainmaker.

Heart rate has nothing to do with whether you’re a sprinter or not.

I can hit 206 for a really hard effort. I’m a long way away from 14.

I don’t think a high/low max heart rate is in any way related to fitness.

Its too high when you get chest pain🤣

I’m 56 and use my turbo trainer two or three times per week. During these sessions my heart rate regularly goes over 170 and sometimes hits 180. This feels tough but manageable.

From an assessing fitness perspective, how fast your heart rate slows down to ~normal when resting after approaching your max is a more useful – but still crude – measure.

I’d see if you can get hold of a chest strap to verify that your data is correct before anything else, otherwise you’re on some sort of bogus wild goose chase.

I wouldn’t trust a watch sensor. I use a Wahoo Tickr Fit armband optical sensor on my upper arm, which is generally good – benchmarked against a Wahoo chest-strap – but occasionally goes nuts, generally on steep descents, which presumably has something to do with arm position/movement/something else. The first few times it happened, I was mildly concerned. I actually stopped once, checked my HR manually and realised it was nothing like the monitor said. Now I just accept very occasional lunacy and don’t worry about it.

If it coincided with some sort of commensurate weird sensations – chest pain, breathlessness, feeling of a super high pulse – I’d reconsider, obviously.

I know it’s starting the obvious, but if the readings aren’t accurate to begin with then the rest of it doesn’t really matter, though as numerous people have said already, the max hr formula thing is pretty much useless.

As a doctor:

• I wouldn’t trust a watch sensor, they’re for amusement only
• What matters more than what your watch tells you is how you feel. If you’re frequently on the verge of blacking out when doing the exercise and it doesn’t resolve within a minute or two when you stop then it may be that you’re either pushing yourself too hard or may have an exercise induced arrhythmia.

Do not forget, you are not a professional athlete.

How high is too high?

Last year I was visiting a friend (mid-30s) who was in hospital with a serious infection (septicemia) on top of other things. His heart rate hit 240 while I was there. I would say that is too high. It was incredibly alarming and he was very close to death that weekend I think. Thankfully he recovered.

Not sure if this helps with OP’s question.

But on pretty much every ride I’m pushing well over 190 at some point. eg. 198 on this morning’s commute. And whilst that was up a moderate hill, it’s nowhere close to an all out effort.

I’m mid 50s and very similar (using a proper chest strap).

Half our Saturday road group are from Papworth Heart Hospital, apparently I have a ‘fluttering’ heart, ie it only partially fills the chamber before contracting, hence high max HR to achieve a given pump volume. Perfectly normal, I am told there is a huge variance between individuals in the shape of the stroke of the heart muscle.

In my 20s, I saw 210+ all the time…

I’m 46 so should have a max HR of 174. Regularly get into high 180s. Again this is on my watch so not super accurate. But I feel fine so not overly worried.

I strapped on my old Polar and  Garmin 245 at the same time, as I was concerned about inaccuracy.

At low HR ie sitting around etc there was a difference, but when running, the Garmin was spot on.

But on pretty much every ride I’m pushing well over 190 at some point.  eg. 198 on this morning’s commute.  And whilst that was up a moderate hill, it’s nowhere close to an all out effort.

That’s high but if accurate probably no more unusual than people who have to work really hard to get over 170. I guess it depends on pump size to pipe size ratios and all that.

Yes to a proper strap HRM if you’re going to use it for training.

No to trying to max out, just because you don’t need to. I think for training you can forget max HR – find out your 20 min threshold HR and work to that. Joe Friel has written some good stuff about it though I’m sure there’s others since he was the go-to training expert blogger.

I used my Garmin cheststrap and my vivoactive 4 on the same ride. Overall there was 2bpm difference. Is it as accurate as a lab based one? No but a damn site more convenient.

2 podcasts covered them on BBC sounds. Sliced bread and one with the van tuliken brothers.

I used my Garmin cheststrap and my vivoactive 4 on the same ride. Overall there was 2bpm difference

I’ve done quite a bit of testing wearing both watch and chest HRM. The overall differences are negligible but the chest HRM is much quicker to react so I’ll always wear it if doing short interval sessions.

My cardiologist, who is also a keen road rider, advised firmly against the Garmin wrist optical HR, so I follow his advice and use a chest strap. My observations are that on the road bike they are similar, and the divergence increases with bumpiness of surfaces, to the extent that on techy MTB stuff there can be a 40 bpm lower number on wrist vs chest strap.

We are all different though.

Interesting, I’ve never noticed that. My amusement with it goes as far as looking generally at it and noticing the peaks and troughs. I’m fortunate enough that just now I don’t feel that I have to pay attention too much….yet.

With all due deference to the medics on the thread (and yes I’d absolutely be listening to them) I ended up being monitored for 24 hours as an emergency admission to hospital a year or two back. I was pleasantly surprised at just how accurate my garmin optical sensor is for heart rate.

^^ mine is bang on if walking or on road bike ( both Instinct Croosover and Apple Watch 8), however if bouncing about on MTB they are both miles off the chest strap readings.

It will unlikely matter to most, unfortunately I have to be aware and keep out of Threshold HR zone to reduce risks around heart disease.

Couod diet be an issue? Mine depends on what I’ve eaten/drank. Lots of food doesnt work for me (celiac and have problems staying hydrated) and if I eat food that I shouldn’t it pushes my resting HR up and reduces my max for several days. Same with poor sleep, stress, fatigue.

“ I had a club mate that was more a diesel,very low resting, couldn’t get above 160, but was fast, not a srinter, but could sit there riding fast for hours”

That’s me aside from the fast bit. I have to turn the low irregular heart rate setting off on my watch or it wakes me up.

I was worried about it for a bit not being an athlete and spent the night in A&E after some, it turns out Covid not heart related chest pains.

It’s 220 minus age PLUS OR MINUS 20bpm for the prediction interval. Everyone ignores the prediction interval. You could have a value predicted but 20 years off. In fact you have. I wouldn’t be bothered. What’s your resting HR as the dynamic range is a measure of your fitness. BTW I’m now 56 and see a max HR of about 180bpm. Sometimes I’ve seen 220 for short periods, but I’m putting that down to the monitor being at fault!

Garmin optical are very good these days though can still bounce in the wrong situation. Bright dappled light might also fool them. Chest straps can also bounce and I used to find them pretty dodgy when running.

My watch has an amusing stress estimate that demarcates chess matches pretty much to the minute. I think it’s heart rate variability not the pulse itself.

I like that stress tracker too, seems pretty accurate to me.

I use both chest and wrist HR, both seem OK, although I’m doing easy rides so no bouncing about. Anomaly spotted on a chest x-ray, doc says heartbeat is irregular so sat on a cardiologist’s waiting list at the mo. 10 month wait so far…

If you’ve only just started looking at HR, you don’t know what’s normal for you.

I’d collect some more outings over the next few weeks and compare where your HR is high and low versus effort. If you fundamentally feel your high HR at high effort is what it has always felt like, then that most likely is what your normal looks like. If there are efforts (hills) where you can’t go any harder, that’s probably your HRmax.

The 220 -your age is the distribution of a bell curve so many people will be higher and lower. My wife and BiL are “high-beaters” where their HR is way higher than mine for equivalent effort and at rest, despite being similarly fit. Their genetics obvs put them outside the peak of that bell curve .

As someone above says, there are some good articles on HR (Polar, training peaks) that can help understand the concept.

Also, I’d not worry too much about the variabilities between optical and strap, optical has gotten pretty reliable. I do use a strap on the bike cos I strap my watch to the handle bar. It’s also not unknown for phone masts and power lines to interfere w the signal fro a strap and give you anomalous readings in their vicinity.