Old persons maximum heart rate query

After a bit of a lull in riding, I decided to get fit, and lose a bit of weight, over the summer. I lost 1st 7lbs over three months on a low carbohydrate diet, and started increasing my mileage on the bike, but I use Wahoo, and couldn’t decide what MHR to use .I remembered seeing 175 on a climb up Bingley five rise a few years ago, so started with that to set up my zones, but found I was getting knackered, so reverted to 220 – my age, which gave me an MHR of 155. I found using this for my zones much easier, but soon felt I wasn’t stressing myself enough. i decided a more empirical approach was needed. there is a hill near us, called Hound Hill Lane, so I rode up there at an increasing tempo, and was all out at the top, with a heart rate of 171. Tomorrow I’m going to do 35 miles, mostly in zone 3. Will I die ?

From your heart exploding, unlikely (I am not a Dr). Don’t forget 220-age is just a rough guide. In theory my max should be 178 but I can regularly peak at 185. Granted not as much of a discrepancy as you’re seen in raw numbers or %. How do you feel whilst your heart is doing that sort of bpm?

Yes. Unless you asked to be frozen in a cryogenic lab, but then don’t raise your hopes of being sucessfully defrosted. 😉

Using Strava? Link http://www.crickles.org to your Strava account and it will give you a dynamic estimate of your heart zones, based on 20min+ rides.

I’m 46 going on 47, recently I’ve seen up to ~185bpm on all-out efforts up to ~25mins, albeit I can’t stay above ~171bpm for too long.

It’s the first time I’ve done it, I was knackered and short of breath, but no chest pain etc. When I started on the flat bit at the top, my heart rate quickly dropped below 140.

I’m 61. When I got my first HRM about 12 years ago, my max was 186. Now it seems to have dropped a bit – I haven’t seen more than 185 this year.

Same here – I’m 44 so 220-age should give max max HR of 176 but I see 192-193 max on all out efforts and don’t seem to die regularly.

53 here and can hit 186 on a good fierce climb. My theory is that my lungs are relatively small for my size (asthmatic) so my heart and blood system have had to overcompensate in order to pump the O2 around the system faster than they might have needed to if I had better lung capacity! Who knows?

220-Age gives me 154. I’ve recently seen 163 and I don’t think that’s my max. FTP test last year suggested 155 for FTHR so max of 170ish.

220-45 gives me 175, but got to 188 today.

Max heart isn’t a good way to set zones as it doesn’t change with fitness.

Mine seems to be 171. I’m 54 but its always lowish

The 220 – age is bobbins for most people with some training. It *may* be close for those who don’t do any exercise.

I’m 61 so according to the 220 formula my MHR should be 159 or thereabouts. Given a decent climb and a bit of grit I can sit at 177bpm for a couple of minutes so my MHR is probably in the low 180s.

Your MHR is what it is.

I’m 55, in my 40s I could still reach the 200s – I saw 195bpm the other week on the first climb up the Burma Road.
The only way to determine your max is to do a ramp test – 220-Age is pretty meaningless.
I got sent on a cardio ‘stress test’ at a hospital through work a few years ago – they did the (220 – age) x 80% to calculate the maximum setting for the test on a treadmill – I was walking most of the way through and broke into a light jog for the maximum setting.

Similarly 220-53 for me would be 167

My coach (yes I know, sorry) regularly has me stretching up in to the 170-180 + range on certain efforts.

Nice one @doverbike

It *may* be close for those who don’t do any exercise.

Well that is equally bobbins as 220-age is pretty close for me at this point in time and I’m exercising more than ever although no long endurance efforts nor pushing regularly into high HR for sustained periods.

Crickles HR zones are done differently to other methods I think. Z5 on Crickles is my recent max HR – 23 which isn’t too difficult for me to get into the bottom of that range and stay there for sustained periods whereas I thought Z5 was supposed to be only for short bursts. I don’t really do any HR training other than using it to ensure I have a couple of very low effort days during the week on commutes.

54 year old with some heart furring issues. My current ramp test MHR is 195. I wouldn’t go near that unless beside a medic with a defibrillator in a hospital though 😔.

My Garmin alarm goes off at threshold, which for me is about 162. Thank goodness for ebikes…

62 next month. My Max HR, measured by my Garmin when I’ve been pushing it a bit, bumps along at between 182 and 185. That’s been pretty consistent over the past year.

192 at 48.
I’m 49 now so it’s probably dropped massively (actually, I see 180 plus on most rides where I have a HRM on)

Have a look at the stuff from Phil Maffetone and Steven Seiler. Maffetone’s theory works around 180 minus your age to set your aerobic levels. Both Maffetone and Seiler use different terminology but both are looking at more on the 90/10, 80/20 type of training.

Basically, I’m 65, I’m trying to improve stamina ,rather than speed. I’m doing about 75 miles a week, mostly on the trans-pennine trail, with no technical riding at the minute (not much available locally),having had a small stroke 10 years ago, a serum cholesterol which reached double figures, and a cardiac angiogram showing narrowing of the cardiac arteries 7 years ago, I’m very wary about overdoing things. I’ve done Polarises and mountain bike orienteering in the past,but not for years, and I worry about overtraining causing more problems, so was pleased MHR was so high. Since I started riding again, my cholesterol and BP are within normal limits,so something is working.

Your max hr does drop quite a bit with age. At age 24 my max was 210 now at age 56 it’s 181. So although 220 minus age doesn’t work for everyone the drop of 1 bpm per year is roughly correct.

Suggest if you have underlying health conditions better to err in the side of caution. You still get a lot of benefit training at lower intensities. Just build yourself a nice solid base.

39 with the heart of a 24 year old here. Apparently.

I surmise it’s an ok rough initial guess, but frequently bobbins

OP, you know your MHR is currently 171 or above, so why not just set your zones up to that, and ride as hard or conservatively as you think it appropriate given your med history.

So although 220 minus age doesn’t work for everyone the drop of 1 bpm per year is roughly correct.

That certainly reflects my experience.

My Max HR, measured by my Garmin when I’ve been pushing it a bit, bumps along at between 182 and 185.

Just to point out that your max HR isn’t the sort of number you see on a ride, even when pushing it. To hit max you will have to go so hard that you risk falling off through exhaustion. If you don’t have to urgently stop and have a sit down then you haven’t reached max!

Note I am not advocating doing this, especially if old. The max HR figure is not very useful as pointed out. When I was training my zones were based on heart rate at anaerobic threshold, which you can find by doing say a 20 minute maximal consistent effort. Your HR will settle at a certain sustainable value, and if you go above it you have to drop back down again.

Thank goodness I’m not the only one with a higher MHR than the 220-age formula. Regularly get to 195 on Zwift and I’m 64. One thing I’m pleased about is that with Covid and WFH I’ve been on my bike and turbo a lot more. This has helped me lost quite. A bit of weight but also noticed that my resting heart rate has dropped down to 53-54 (according to my Fitbit!) So more keen to exercise regularly rather than try to hit my peak heart rate all the time.

Crickles HR zones are done differently to other methods I think. Z5 on Crickles is my recent max HR – 23 which isn’t too difficult for me to get into the bottom of that range and stay there for sustained periods whereas I thought Z5 was supposed to be only for short bursts

I don’t know the exact formula used at Crickles, but crudely, it estimates your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (your Z4 ceiling) based on the highest average heart rate you can maintain for 20mins+.

It gave me an LTHR of 171 after this effort https://www.strava.com/activities/4005509814/analysis/1937/3141 , where my average was 176 and max was 185 on an undulating loop.

A week or so later, on the spare of the moment, I tried to keep going while the road kept pointing upwards out of Cheddar Gorge and this just happened to go over the 20min mark https://www.strava.com/activities/4063545832/analysis/3261/4465 , where my average was 169 and max was 180.

Going above the LTHR estimate is certainly possible for me, but it catches up with me pretty qickly. And after doing a similar but shorter stint up Burrington Combe on that second ride, I was absolutely drained, taking things very steady for the following ~2.5 hours to creep over the 100Km mark https://www.strava.com/activities/4063545832/analysis/8647/18038 .

I wouldn’t necessarily race to conclusions based on the story you’ve given but if your HR is A) unexpectedly / unusually high and B) jumping around, then you need to entertain the possibility of AF (Atrial fibrillation). It may be difficult to tell apart from noise in the ECG signal, though, particularly with some wrist-mounted HR monitors. AF would be more likely if you feel unwell/dizzy/weak at these high HRs and in your case, @thejesmonddingo, more concerning since you’ve had a stroke previously.

On the other hand, if your HR slowly ramps up and smoothly hits a (higher than predicted) peak then AF is much less likely.

I’m a heart doctor, but not YOUR doctor. If you’re worried, speak to your GP.

On a personal note I wish I could get close to 220-age. I have a low resting HR though so my HRR is still pretty good.

I’m 53 and after 2 heart attacks over the last year and with ongoing angina and a lot of beta blockers I can’t get mine above 150 regardless 🙁

To be fair I’m still pretty nervous about pushing it.

I’m not into training, just cycling for fun, but I’d like to improve my heart hearth (although I appreciate that a chunk of it’s dead and is never going to work).

The highest I’ve ever seen was this year at 192. I’m 42.

On a personal note I wish I could get close to 220-age.

Why? Low HR is no indication of performance. My mate’s max functional HR is about 160, a rate at which I can easily hold a conversation. But he still kicks my arse.

Why? Low HR is no indication of performance. My mate’s max functional HR is about 160, a rate at which I can easily hold a conversation. But he still kicks my arse.

Well yeah. It just feels like I should have ‘more in the tank’ but I accept that’s not actually how this stuff works…!

found I was getting knackered, so reverted to 220 – my age

That is useless on an individual level. It provides a rough average for a large population, but individuals vary a lot so it’s just a rough rule-of-thumb at best.

Due to almost always feeling at least mentally fatigued (mostly from SAD, but there’s some standard depression in there too quite often), I drink far more coffee and diet cola drinks than most, so getting a reliable resting heart rate measure is very rare.

I ran out of coffee this morning after having had just two moderate ~2 heaped teaspoon cups (my norm, but recently I’ve dabbled in 3 or even 4 heaped teaspoon cups 😮 ) and I feel more chilled/less anxious than normal.

So before I set off for some groceries, I randomly fitted my hrm (because I’m trying to convince myself to go for a ride after my lunch has settled a bit) and was surprised to see regular drops to 46bpm… It’s rare I’ll see below ~55 (last time was maybe ~2 years ago), but then I’m easily stressed and I drink far too much caffeine.

That is useless on an individual level. It provides a rough average for a large population, but individuals vary a lot so it’s just a rough rule-of-thumb at best.

Not even good for a large population as it was based on a small sample size and the SD isn’t quoted, see:

https://theskepticalcardiologist.com/2018/03/09/what-should-your-maximal-exercise-heart-rate-be-the-importance-of-using-the-right-age-predicted-hrmax-formula/

I’m 49 and my current max is around 194…..

I’m 53 my max is 173 which seems low compared to lots of you old giffers, my resting is sub 50 and according to heart rate monitor lowest sleeping rate I’ve seen so far was 36bpm.

Interesting thing for me is my heart rate zones haven’t changed much over the years but my max heart rate keeps dropping by about 1bpm per year. Seems I am just as fit aerobically as I was when I was younger all I’m losing is my top end.

This makes sense as when I race against the young whipper snappers they keep surging trying to force a break and can keep repeating that effort. Whereas my matches get quickly used up.

My understanding is that HR corresponds to the amount of energy you’re outputting. As you get older you can’t squeeze out the same amount of energy, so your max HR drops. While it’s not my actual max, my current peak up a long hill tends to be about 165. 20 years ago it was 185 so the “X minus age” is not a bad rule of thumb, but for people who exercise X does not usually equal 220. For me it’s probably over 240.
I first guessed that the HR corresponded to output on a 3-day trip to Glentress. Each day my peak was lower than the day before, but my poor cardio vascular system and muscles were more tired than yesterday.

I’m 49 and my current max is around 194…..

Each day my peak was lower than the day before, but my poor cardio vascular system and muscles were more tired than yesterday.

That’s probably CNS fatigue rather muscular fatigue.