my max heart rate is 180-182bpm (taken from recent cx race sprint finishes)

it seems low compared to fellow club members who have MAX HR’s in the 190’s zone

I’m 32 10st10

whats the crack?

My heart rate is quite low as well but like a diesel engine I can produce a lot of power at a reletivly low heart rate. There are lads in the club who run quite happily at at 170 BPM all day but only produce the same results as me running at a steady 150. Different strokes for different folks.

Different strokes for different folks

that. Some folks can be very high, some folks can be a good 10-15 beats lower. All seems to work

You can’t compare your MHR to anybody else, everyone is different.

My all out max is 163. I’ve done two ramp tests as I thought it was wrong the first one but it is holding true when I used it to calculate the my 7 Heart rate zones table for training.

I’m 40
Weight: I’d rather not say

You can’t compare your MHR to anybody else, everyone is different

This. Plus also the fitter you are, the lower your max HR becomes (joe friel did a blog post about this recently if you are interested)

yes please find his blog….sounds like a useful wind up tool

Joe Friel interesting stuff, I assumed it got higher as you got fitter…

You’re too young and you don’t eat enough pies! 😆

Mine’s 205

Your MHR is what it is, typically genetically predetermined and a largely irrelevant number. Most often it will reduce as you get fitter – power at Vo2 max and heart rate a vo2 max i.e. MHR (it should be at least) were negatively correlated for me. So power up, Hr down but no change in actual vo2 Max.

MaxHR is 220-age but the prediction inteval is about +/- 20 bpm, so sadly you can’t really compare across individuals. I’m 46 and my maximum is 191 in a race. It has increased with fitness from about 185 over the past 12 mo. I’m he same weight as the OP.

You may not be hitting your max

When I was in my late 30’s my MHR was 189ish I’m now 56 and I’m lucky to see the low 170’s. How much of this is old age and how much is down to the fact I can’t be bothered to push myself (as in seeing stars) any more I couldn’t tell you.

Your MHR is what it is, typically genetically predetermined and a largely irrelevant number. Most often it will reduce as you get fitter – power at Vo2 max and heart rate a vo2 max i.e. MHR (it should be at least) were negatively correlated for me. So power up, Hr down but no change in actual vo2 Max.

Surely from a cardiovascular point of view, the goal of any training is to increase your VO2max? I see what you’re saying but if your VO2max isn’t changing / improving then you won’t get any faster, will you?