How often do you get close to touching your "max"? - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

06-28-2004, 02:01 PM

Putting "max" in quotes, because I know that the maximum heart rate as
figured by the various formulas is hard to go by. However, I'm curious
nonetheless. Today I was riding and accidentally touched 175 once and 181
once. I felt a little crappy when I touched 181. Now, as I've mentioned
here before, I have a history of anxiety and panic attacks. I'm workig on
recovering from that, but when I touched 181 I got a little anxious. Now
what I'm wondering is...

A) How often do other cyclists do what I did and accidentally (or
purposely) come close to what would be considered their max? I think mine,
by the traditional measure would be considered 197. I did a stress test
once where I got to 190. So that's what I base mine on.

B) If you hit it do you generally consider that "dangerous" or just not
something that's advisable to do very often?

This obviously isn't a theoretical question. I'm asking because I'm a
little anxious after this morning. I feel fine now, but I'm just seeking a
little reassurance that I needn't be worried.

Preston