still fuzzy on HR stuff

david462

im 21, just started riding seriously about every day a few weeks ago, before that ive only dabbled in it due to time restrictions and other stuff.

with that said, i also started using a HRM. i ride for about an hour, averageing about 17-19mph.

anyways, my BPM stays about 180 the whole time. sometimes it will drop to 160 after i had to wait at a stoplight or if i just take it easy for a minute, but it also will climb to 190 and stay there for a good amount of time. when i sprint, its at 200 for the minute or two that i hold it.

ive reached a max of 206.

dont know if this stuff matters but im in decent shape, just not endurance wise which i am working on now. im 5' 10" and weigh 155lb and i eat right.

i feel like these numbers are sky high. whats going on here? i dont think i need to ride less hard cause for the one hour that i ride im not killing myself. in an earlier thread someone mentioned i might have a smaller than average heart which would make it have to beat faster.

any insites or answers please. also, leave your age, how long youve been riding, and your HR info, like your max and what BPM you usually ride at.

jeff828

Don't worry about your HR, its fine. I am 40 & my max is 210, been like this for 15 years, I can hit it quite regular. I use to peg it all the time at 200 and try to hold it longer & longer thinking I was getting stronger, but I wasn't, now I train a lot lower HRs and am getting way stronger than ever before. If you don't have a Power Tap you can still use HR to train pretty well (PT is the best though) Here is an example of what I am doing in regards to HR (did this before I had the power tap & now that I have a PT my Hr is still pretty close to being in the same range as before.


Max HR 210
My (L4) 2x20s or 1x60 puts my HR at 165-180, about 80-85% of max
My (L5) 5x4min puts my HR at 180-189, about 86-90% of max
My (L6) 5-7x1min efforts puts my HR at 195-200, about 92-95% of max

If you apply this % to your own max HR, 206, these efforts might seem easy at the start but after the number of times & the accumulated time you might find it to be just right. Everyone is different so you have to find out what works for you, a lot of guys don't like using HR anymore but I still think it has its place, especially if you don't have a PT.