Heart Rate Limits - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

08-12-2003, 08:56 PM

Guys,

Just had a break from Cycling for a few weeks while I had a Catheter
Ablation (long story), but now that my ticker appears 'normal', I'd
like to setup my 'HR Limits' on my Polar 720i. Until I can get a
stress test, is there any suggestions on how I set my limits up? Just
a rough guide'll be fine.

I have LIMITS1, LIMITS2 & LIMITS3. As-a-rule-of-thumb, I'm told my
Maximum HR should be 220-age[36]=184. Should that be the maximum of
LIMITS3? Should my rest HR [65] be the minimum of LIMITS1? Any
suggestions on what my limits should be would be very helpful.

[Incidently, my old maximum HR used to be 195 with an average of 186!]

08-13-2003, 05:12 AM

"Duffy Pratt" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message news:<eik_a.187805$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].co m>...
> Do you have any reason to believe that your max heart rate dropped 11 beats
> in a few weeks? I would probably stick with the 195 if your break has been
> "a few weeks."
>
> My max heart rate is 195 too. I set the limits on my HR monitor as follows:
>
> 1 - 117 to 135
> 2 - 136 to 155
> 3 - 156 to 174
>
> Anything below 117 is for recovery rides. Anything over 174 is getting
> pretty hard.
>
> BTW, I recently did the CTS Test to determine training limits. By
> coincidence, perhaps, my Foundation Mile limit is 155 and my recovery ride
> limit is 117.
>
> Duffy
>
**************
The main reason my maximum HR dropped from 195 bpm to 177 bpm is due
to the Catheter Ablation I had. Thanks for your comments. Are those
figures a % of something? 117 bpm does seem awfully precise! Cov.

08-13-2003, 06:52 AM

I set the limits up on my monitor as percentages of my max heart rate.

117 is 60% of 195
136 is 70%
156 is 80%

Thats what I started with. But I don't typically use the zones, since I
have a downloadable monitor. Instead, I look at the graph to see how I did.

Recently, I have started looking at CTS training. In it there is a test for
determining the level of activity that you should use for different sorts of
rides. The test is basically a 3 mile time trial, and the baseline number
you use is your average heart rate during the effort. You do two of these
time trials in one session, and take the higher average heart rate.

When I did this, my average heart rate was 180.

Carmichael recommends doing recovery rides at less than 65% of that HR,
which is 117. He recommends Foundation Miles for seniors at 86%, which is
155.

Duffy

"louncov" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].au> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] m...
> "Duffy Pratt" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].com> wrote in message
news:<eik_a.187805$[Only registered and activated users can see links. ].co m>...
> > Do you have any reason to believe that your max heart rate dropped 11
beats
> > in a few weeks? I would probably stick with the 195 if your break has
been
> > "a few weeks."
> >
> > My max heart rate is 195 too. I set the limits on my HR monitor as
follows:
> >
> > 1 - 117 to 135
> > 2 - 136 to 155
> > 3 - 156 to 174
> >
> > Anything below 117 is for recovery rides. Anything over 174 is getting
> > pretty hard.
> >
> > BTW, I recently did the CTS Test to determine training limits. By
> > coincidence, perhaps, my Foundation Mile limit is 155 and my recovery
ride
> > limit is 117.
> >
> > Duffy
> >
> **************
> The main reason my maximum HR dropped from 195 bpm to 177 bpm is due
> to the Catheter Ablation I had. Thanks for your comments. Are those
> figures a % of something? 117 bpm does seem awfully precise! Cov.