Evening folks,

Getting a bit weirded out. My max HR keeps going up.

Now I’m not being a numpty in some way in that I thought I’d got it pegged but wasn’t pushing that hard… more explanation needed I guess!

Last year, had it pegged at 182 (I about blacked out when this happened and had previously thought it was about 180 so decided about 182/183 seemed right).

Fast forward just over a year, keeps creeping higher every now and then on extreme efforts.

Saw a 186 a few months back, then 189 about 3 weeks ago.

I’ve then had 2 weeks off with a cold, did a light ride 2 days ago then last night went on a fast mtb ride and about an hour in got in a sprint climb race with a mate.

Got back and it had hit 195 in that sprint ( quite pleased as we got a joint strava 5th overall on a 4 min road climb on mountainbikes)…. I went PROPER deep). I lost the sprint by a bike length 🙁

Anyhow, this has weirded me out. I might have posted about this a month ago when I saw a 189. The 195 has me a bit worried I might have an underlying condition?

Any advice? Is this normal? 195 at 35 years old?

I’ve been T-total since new year, could that be having an impact?

The only person that can tell you is a doctor an ECG and a stress test, the whole forum could be wrong.

if your worried get the correct professional advise.

On average slightly high, but you might just be fit, better looking at the overall picture and recovery rates.

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/PhysicalActivity/Target-Heart-Rates_UCM_434341_Article.jsp#.Wo3Palqnyf0

Id say not an issue if you recover well and have no symptoms, but I’m not a professional and don’t have the tools to take the required measurements, see the doc for the correct answer.

Where could I go for that advice? My G.P. is flipping useless!

GP won’t do a stress test , they need an ECG, treadmill or bike, unless you have a chemical one, either way you just need him to refer you for the test at the hospital.

195bpm doesn’t sound outrageous for someone 35, I hit 189bpm last summer climbing Bitterne 13.5% iirc, after I had been fitness riding for ~8 months at the age of 43.

I spent the first half of last year thinking my max heartrate was ~180bpm, but every now and again, I found a new max while searching for better segment times up hills.

Yeh agreed, it’s more the change that’s occurring with time that’s worrying me.

Sounds to me that 180 wasn’t you max HR and perhaps 195 is getting near it. Riding in a race type situation always makes you more motivated and takes your mind off the pain you are feeling from your muscles.

As long as your not getting flutters and are recovering well, with your HR coming back down well, after peak intensity, I’d not panic. I think you may have found your HR Max . I was a bit similar I thought it was 169 but have found new levels of suffering and can pip it at 182, that said over 175 gets pretty damn uncomfortable. For reference I’m over 10 yrs your senior.  As above if your worried or if your resting HR starts to climb significantly further see your GP .

It sounds very much like you hadn’t gone hard enough to achieve max hr in the past. It’s not easy and not even advisable to try to achieve it when out on a bike.

That fact you can go up to 195 isn’t in itself an issue.

My max heart rate drops as I train more (I assume due to heart enlargement), so maybe you are just getting less fit?

You can’t change you MaxHR through training – it’s fixed, only decreasing with age.

Change the battery in your HRM before you get too carried away…

My max hr was 2 days ago and it was 185 and i am 45 so i dont think yours is anything out of the ordinary. Like everyone else though if you have any symptoms then get it checked by a professional.

Sounds like maybe your earlier readings may have been spurioisly low – I’m 38 and can get mine up to 196.

If you asked me with just cycling I would have thought high 180’s, even when racing but playing squash to a decent level it goes through the roof as it’s much more physical.

Mind you, on the turbo I’m lucky to break into the mid 170’s no matter how hard I go.

Mine is increasing as well, as i learn to push myself harder 😉

Seriously though, I thought my max was about 185  when i started wearing my HR monitor in Jan and then i hit 192 on Tuesday night (avg of 180 for the race) during an epic Zwift TT effort. New max HR and new FTP figures from that.  I’m 36,fairly fit but never really ‘trained’.

Once thing I have noticed, if I hold that ~190 for a while i get an interesting tingley rushing feeling that, it’s not entirely unpleasant and reminds me of my days in darkened warehouses 😀

Your max is not that high for your age.

Its quite hard to get to the max, normally I find my real max only appears when Im racing, never just training or trying.

If your Dr is useless ask for a different one.

First, HRmax is a fixed. Variables could be condition on the day (e.g. illness), battery problems, HR strap connectivity problems (which can cause higher readings as well as lower), and simply not testing it right.

You are unlikely to get your HRmax when just out doing stuff with your mates. Or if you did I wouldn’t want to be with you since when I do HRmax test it’s straining to the extent that I like to have people with first aid skills nearby, and not be too far from home (and hospitals).

Look up some of the tests available. Please note that I find my HRmax to be “higher” when running than biking but that’s merely an adjustment factor when I do my bike training plans. My HRmax is the run one.

Related discussion here:

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2017/01/max-heart-rate-and-performance.html

Change the battery in your HRM before you get too carried away…

How are you monitoring your HR? Strap? Optical Sensor? when was the battery last changed? if chest strap, when did you last clean it with fresh water?

This last week or so I have had some spurious spikes with my HR readings from my Garmin chest strap which have also coincided with poor GPS signal and loss of pace when running and using my 920XT. The spikes have all seen the HR start to rise quite rapidly and go above my max, however the actual effort has not changed. I’m changing the battery in the HRM and updating the watch to the latest firmware to see if this helps.

I do agree with others OP that you OG stated max HR seems low, for me, 220 – age has always been on the money (i know it doesn’t work for everyone)

A lot of trainers don’t recommend using max hr but instead something related to threshold hr but I can’t remember what it’s called off the top of my head. Maybe you need to base your training on that rather than something like max hr which is effected by numerous factors?

It’s probably not increasing, you’re just getting better at pushing yourself.

It’s quite common to gain heart rate (and power) when you learn a bit more about the testing protocol, and how hard you can actually push yourself. (You’d be amazed at the number of people who don’t know how hard they can actually go.)

related to threshold hr

Functional Threshold Power. FTP.

I’m just the wrong side on 40 and my high is around 195, not sure about being T Total, but without caffeine mine is slightly lower

For me, this level of HR is the stage where you are close to vomit, collapse off your bike when you stop and need at least 5 mins before you are able to get back on the bike again. It also pretty much ruins a ride because full recovery is so bad.

HR varies from person to person, nothing to worry about, like me you probably just have a HR on the higher side.