for max hr, can you not just ride hard uphill till you blow up, see what it reads…..

for max hr, can you not just ride hard uphill till you blow up, see what it reads…..

That’s always what I’ve based my training zones on – hence the comment about tweaking the settings based on what the unit reports back…

But I’ve always assumed that there’d be a little extra left in the tank compared to a properly conducted test…

yeah, I suppose you might be able to go a bit harder in the gym, wouldn’t have thought it would be much though…when you calculate your zones do you show it as %, or bpm?

I’d start worrying if the Garmin shows 0.

your worries are over by then….

Read this article

The formulae method of % of 220 minus your age is probably the most established, and worse, method because it doesnt take into account your physical conditioning at the time. Unlike the Maffs method.

You could also use this Karvonen equasion which at least takes into account your current resting heart rate. Just ignore the “fat burning zone” BS on that page.

Like rkk01 says^^^^ its about tweaking the results.

I used to run in the desert with a chap who’s heart rate would jump from 160-170 up to a scary bounding 230-250. When you took his pulse when it was like this it was amazing and so was the boom-boom-boom in his chest. After a few seconds it would calm back down to a normal excersing 150 odd and he would go back to his running… not sure if it was heat related or what but scared the sh!t out of me. When I suggested he got it checked he told me it had been like that for 20+ years and he wasn’t worried about it 😐

He used the HRM to try to keep himself away from that zone though… nutter 😯

main thing is to update your garmin to actuals i.e. actual resting and actual max HR.. these will be different from the defaults set in the Edge

when yo have done this all the zones and alarms will change.. you need todo this through Garmin Training Centre software

As an aside, your max and threshold heart rates are sport specific, so your running and cycling numbers will be different for instance.

The only way to really know your zones is to get your lactate tested on a bike by a specialist. Very interesting, and certainly worth it if you compete.

Smarticus,
Just to check when you said your resting HR was 80, was that taken at proper rest (e.g. just after waking up)?

53 years young HR max 174 resting average 45 it goes lower but this is the average and checked by the hospital each year as I have a pacemaker for low heart rate 🙂 I train 10+ hours a week and HRM is ideal. Maximum heart rate is easy enough. Best attained after a very good warm up maybe 20 – 30 mins or more because the fitter you are the more difficult it is to get the right amount of stress built up. I hit maybe 40 – 50 mins in zone 5 every week but rarely see a maximum 100%. You might see it during a MTB ride where your really going for it up a steep incline.

You dont need really need to worry about how high the maximum is but get worried when your HR drops below 30 😉 Talking from experience ha ha

Thanks all – mainly very comforting.

The 80bpm is what the garmin reads when I switch it on at the start of the ride (before pedaling but after faffing about getting ready). So maybe 80 isn’t too big a worry ?

I confess to being very spooked by a collegue at work who died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 52. He was fit, sensible and no symptoms. But had a heart attack in the gym after only having been there a few minutes so not pushing it. He got an annual health check at work including exercise ECG and it picked nothing up. Autopsy showed chronic heart disease with 2 major arteries blocked. How can someone live with chronic heart disease and not know about it until its too late ? Mind you his father died of a heart attack at the age of 60 so clearly suspicion of genetic weakness.

I think I’ll ditch the monitor and just enjoy the ride !

So maybe 80 isn’t too big a worry ?

In that situation, no way. It’s standing heart rate, presumably being active, bending over to check your bike/getting it out of the garage/car etc ec, sounds spot on.

RESTING heart rate is when you are lying down fully relaxed, pref late at night but not having recently eaten, drunk booze, coffee tea etc.

Heart rate has nothing to do with heart disease anyway. You might think there is because very unfit people might get their heart rate up doing slight exercise, and they might also have heart disease.

HRMs are a training tool, if you want to train then learn how to use it and what it can tell you. Otherwise, wtf did you buy it for? 🙂

Agree with molgrips comment – up and about my HR is anything between 80-100, depending on what I am doing. Sit down and rest and it will drop to 60s.

Lie down, close eyes, take slow and deep breaths, imagine lying on a beach and listenting to the waves lapping….zzzzz….zzzzz that’s close to 50 – that’s your resting HR.

BTW – has anyone used a Garmin 500 or similar GPS enabled HRM in a gym setting?

Have been trying a few early am X-Biking sessions to see if it would be good fill in for wet dark winter commutes. It feels like it pushes my HR way more than my commute.