Avg Heart Rate

[604Yarks]

For those that monitor, I'm wondering what a good avg HR is for a ride?
Granted, all sorts of factors can change this, elevation change, degree of exertion, etc.

I've done two rides in the last two days with my new Garmin Edge 500, and accompanied HR monitor.
1st ride ~21km & elevation gain of 230m, avg speed 26.7kph avg HR 157
2nd ride ~14km & elevation gain 295m, avg speed 22.3kph avg HR 161.

These seems a bit high to me (HR that is), even though I was pushing fairly hard on these rides.
But I'm still working on getting my fitness level back up, after months working on my thesis, doing pretty much nothing, so I wouldn't be surprised if my cardio efficiency sucks right now.

Thoughts appreciated!

 

[jhuskey]

There is no average HR. It all depends on the individual so you must monitor your HR in different scenarios to establish a base line. If you have concerns I suggest consulting a physician that is adept at sports medicine.

 

[danfoz]

jhuskey is correct. And HR also declines with age, so a 20 year old and 40 year old are going to be working off completely different numbers. The old 220 minus age is adequate at best, detrimental to training goals at worst. I am 45 and have a measured max of 186, at least 10 beats above what the formula tells me my max is.

As one gets fitter the HR for the same effort will decline over time. If using HR it's best to do some baseline test and then set training zones as a percentage off of the average instead of using percentages of MaxHR. To establish baseline: 30 minutes riding as hard as one can is a good timeframe, BUT ignore the first 10 minutes (to accomidate for lag and somewhat for drift) and start tracking average HR for the last 20 minutes. If using this method, a new baseline should be establised 2 or 3 times during the season.

There's oodles of info in this forum about using HR. Personally speaking the only real benefit to HR is to keep me from going too hard on "endurance" zone days. It can also be helpful to see how ones body is responding to training by checking waking pulse consistently. Also, heart rate lag and drift are important concepts to understand if using HR as a training tool in any capacity.

 

[vspa]

If using HR it's best to do some baseline test and then set training zones as a percentage of the average.

i use mine set up in percentages also, endurance training zone for me is between 70% and 80% (of maximum heart rate), lately im trying to be on the upper limit, near and surpassing 80% nowadays people use percentages in a different way, as percentage of maximum VO2max (i think that relates to threshold heart rate or anaerobic threshold), so you will see interval efforts at more than 100% HR in the training literature

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by vspa .


so you will see interval efforts at more than 100% HR in the training literature

The first time I was flipping through some HR training book I saw '105% of HR' and said how the heck do I go higher than my MaxHR?/img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif

They were talking about the MaxAVG HR from a baseline test.

 

[An old Guy]

Originally Posted by 604Yarks .

For those that monitor, I'm wondering what a good avg HR is for a ride?
Granted, all sorts of factors can change this, elevation change, degree of exertion, etc.

I've done two rides in the last two days with my new Garmin Edge 500, and accompanied HR monitor.
1st ride ~21km & elevation gain of 230m, avg speed 26.7kph avg HR 157
2nd ride ~14km & elevation gain 295m, avg speed 22.3kph avg HR 161.

These seems a bit high to me (HR that is), even though I was pushing fairly hard on these rides.
But I'm still working on getting my fitness level back up, after months working on my thesis, doing pretty much nothing, so I wouldn't be surprised if my cardio efficiency sucks right now.

Thoughts appreciated!

I need to work hard to get my heart rate above 150. Days with an average above 135 are hard. Days below 135 are easy. But heart rate is individual thing.

Your second ride was 9 miles, 900' of gain ( 2% grade), 13mph. (130-140w) I would expect a lower heart rate.

Keep riding, your heart rate will drop as you get into better shape.

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by An old Guy .

Your second ride was 9 miles, 900' of gain ( 2% grade), 13mph. (130-140w) I would expect a lower heart rate.

Where'd the 13mph come from? OP stated 22.3mph which is closer to 220 watts.

 

[alienator]

Where'd the 13mph come from? OP stated 22.3mph which is closer to 220 watts.

It was 22.3 km/hr, and that converts to 13.85mph, not the 13 an old guy used to judge the rider. More importantly, expecting that the rider's heart rate should have been lower is plainly ignorant as it takes nothing else into account. Let's face it, there are only a lot of things that affect heart rate. It's specious at best to make any judgements about the rider's fitness or what his heart should be based solely on distance, grade, and average speed. I think you and jhuskey said everything that the OP needs to know.

 

[danfoz]

Originally Posted by alienator .


It was 22.3 km/hr

mea culpa.

 

[604Yarks]

Originally Posted by An old Guy .


I need to work hard to get my heart rate above 150. Days with an average above 135 are hard. Days below 135 are easy. But heart rate is individual thing.

Your second ride was 9 miles, 900' of gain ( 2% grade), 13mph. (130-140w) I would expect a lower heart rate.

Keep riding, your heart rate will drop as you get into better shape.

*I should have done a better job of explaining the second ride.
based on above yes avg would be 2% grade. but this ride starts flat, gently slopes upwards (1%) then hits 6 steep climbs (12%-14% grade each per gps) and then massive continuous drop at the end. Those peaky climbs are what drive the avg HR for the ride upward I suspect, as I was going hard at them.

But anyway, thanks for the explanations all.
Did some more reading of the forum last night and realized that the HR really does seem to be an individual thing.

 

[alienator]

*I should have done a better job of explaining the second ride. based on above yes avg would be 2% grade. but this ride starts flat, gently slopes upwards (1%) then hits 6 steep climbs (12%-14% grade each per gps) and then massive continuous drop at the end. Those peaky climbs are what drive the avg HR for the ride upward I suspect, as I was going hard at them. But anyway, thanks for the explanations all. Did some more reading of the forum last night and realized that the HR really does seem to be an individual thing.

That'll do it. Everyone's heart rate goes up significantly when the grades hit teens.