How long did it take to notice a change in overall fitness?

[FargoND]

Hey all,

I was curious how long it took you notice an improvement in resting heart rate, blood pressure, rate of recovery after a ride, etc. I'm disappointed that after 5 months of cycling (started at about 30 miles/week, now 120+/wk) my resting heart rate is still high (80-85), my blood pressure is still high for my age (130/70 at 20) and it takes 1-2 hours for my heart rate to recover to <90.

I was hoping to get some feedback on what other people have observed to see if this is a typical result or something I should be concerned about.

 

[wiredued]

The Dr Morbius heartrate zone calculator has some descriptions on training levels that seem to say L4 and L5 would increase stroke volume which would lower your resting heart rate and probably blood pressure also. Once you get below sixty it isn't a meaningful goal to have though. It might even be unhealthy to get below 45bpm if you haven't been cycling all your life. My resting heartrate has been as low as 48bpm and is in the 50s now. Do you do intervals that hit the L4 and L5 levels?

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t339229.html

 

[daveryanwyoming]

...my resting heart rate is still high (80-85), my blood pressure is still high for my age (130/70 at 20) and it takes 1-2 hours for my heart rate to recover to <90...

Are you carrying a lot of extra weight? Or are you particularly thin? I'm asking because those numbers are unusually high for a 20 year old. Actually a resting HR of 80 - 85 is pretty high in general for someone riding regularly. How and when are you measuring your 80 - 85 bpm hr? I suppose if that's truly your resting HR then it's no surprise that it takes so long to get back under 90 bpm after a long ride. My waking pulse is 48 bpm and rested during the day it hovers around 56 when I'm seated. After an hour and a half to two hour endurance ride it drops back into the 70's or 80's pretty quickly but doesn't get back below 60 without some serious resting(usually involving a nap).

If your waking pulse averages 80 - 85 at 20 years old I'd get a cardio workup or even a blood workup. My first stint at racing ended about fifteen years ago when my weight dropped, my resting and waking pulse soared and no number of rest days brought it back down. Turned out my Thyroid gland had gone ballistic and I'd come down with Graves disease. After dealing with that and getting things back on track I got back into serious riding and racing a few years later but my doctor was pretty clear that I didn't do myself any favors by waiting so long to get it checked out.

Good luck,
Dave

 

[FargoND]

The Dr Morbius heartrate zone calculator has some descriptions on training levels that seem to say L4 and L5 would increase stroke volume which would lower your resting heart rate and probably blood pressure also. Once you get below sixty it isn't a meaningful goal to have though. It might even be unhealthy to get below 45bpm if you haven't been cycling all your life. My resting heartrate has been as low as 48bpm and is in the 50s now. Do you do intervals that hit the L4 and L5 levels?

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t339229.html

Thanks for the link. Based on the calculator, I do hit the L5 levels on ~10-15 minute intervals/hills and at least 50% of my riding would be in the L4 range, depending on which method is used. Do you think it would be more effective to slow down in general and in create effort during timed intervals?

 

[FargoND]

Are you carrying a lot of extra weight? Or are you particularly thin? I'm asking because those numbers are unusually high for a 20 year old. Actually a resting HR of 80 - 85 is pretty high in general for someone riding regularly. How and when are you measuring your 80 - 85 bpm hr? I suppose if that's truly your resting HR then it's no surprise that it takes so long to get back under 90 bpm after a long ride. My waking pulse is 48 bpm and rested during the day it hovers around 56 when I'm seated. After an hour and a half to two hour endurance ride it drops back into the 70's or 80's pretty quickly but doesn't get back below 60 without some serious resting(usually involving a nap).

If your waking pulse averages 80 - 85 at 20 years old I'd get a cardio workup or even a blood workup. My first stint at racing ended about fifteen years ago when my weight dropped, my resting and waking pulse soared and no number of rest days brought it back down. Turned out my Thyroid gland had gone ballistic and I'd come down with Graves disease. After dealing with that and getting things back on track I got back into serious riding and racing a few years later but my doctor was pretty clear that I didn't do myself any favors by waiting so long to get it checked out.

Good luck,
Dave

Dave,

Thanks for your reply. I am pretty thin (160 lbs). I took the resting in the evening with a HRM over a couple minutes, and its consistant with what I've observed in general, though it will occasionally be in the 60s/70s. I will try to remember to take my waking pulse for a better accuracy.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

... I took the resting in the evening with a HRM over a couple minutes, and its consistant with what I've observed in general, though it will occasionally be in the 60s/70s. I will try to remember to take my waking pulse for a better accuracy.

Yep, your actual waking pulse while lying relaxed in bed first thing in the morning would be a better indicator. Take it over a few mornings and average it.

 

[wiredued]

That's good sounds like you have a mild climate to ride in it's to cold here in New England to attack the hills so I ride the KK trainer. I do 3x20 L4 on Saturday and Monday then try to do 7x2 L5(60 sec), L6(45sec), L7(15 sec) on Wednesday. You should have seen some improvement by now don't expect it and it will come when you aren't looking.

Thanks for the link. Based on the calculator, I do hit the L5 levels on ~10-15 minute intervals/hills and at least 50% of my riding would be in the L4 range, depending on which method is used. Do you think it would be more effective to slow down in general and in create effort during timed intervals?

 

[Fat Man Slim]

I walked into a gym 8 months ago during my lunch hour, sat down and let the friendly instructor take my HR. It was 50 bpm. They seemed to be a little impressed and told me I was pretty fit. This seemed odd, as I clearly was there because I thought I was unfit and wanted to get fit.

Anyway, 3 months of swimming 3-4 times a week, 1 3 hour cycle per week and two circuit training classes per week, I had my HR measured again and it was still 50 bpm.

I left that gym, joined another increased my training, swapping swimming for 6-7 hours per week of hard spinning and my HR has gone up to 56 bpm.

I was hoping to turn what seemed to be a natural 50 bpm into something a bit special, instead after all that effort it's got higher. Any suggestions on what may have caused this?

 

[wiredued]

I can't speak for you but when my average Saturday ride is 75 miles and I do intervals twice a week my resting heart rate hits 48 bpm. Didn't have the time this year for that but I think increasing my FTP is more important now.

I walked into a gym 8 months ago during my lunch hour, sat down and let the friendly instructor take my HR. It was 50 bpm. They seemed to be a little impressed and told me I was pretty fit. This seemed odd, as I clearly was there because I thought I was unfit and wanted to get fit.

Anyway, 3 months of swimming 3-4 times a week, 1 3 hour cycle per week and two circuit training classes per week, I had my HR measured again and it was still 50 bpm.

I left that gym, joined another increased my training, swapping swimming for 6-7 hours per week of hard spinning and my HR has gone up to 56 bpm.

I was hoping to turn what seemed to be a natural 50 bpm into something a bit special, instead after all that effort it's got higher. Any suggestions on what may have caused this?

 

[Lucy_Aspenwind]

Hi

Last I checked, my pulse was about 48 in the morning, and blood pressure was on the order of 110/60. Four months ago my resting heart rate was what, about 70 or so.

Irrespective of that, many things can affect one's blood pressure as well as pulse. Some can be related to diet, activity level, or simply genetic.

I would think a doctor you trust would be the ideal person to ask and discuss this. At least, that's what I would do.

Good luck

 

[hidesertphil]

You don't use caffeine, do you?

5 months, check this out. After three days without coffee (usually one per day,) my rhr went down 7 bpm.

Hey all,

I was curious how long it took you notice an improvement in resting heart rate, blood pressure, rate of recovery after a ride, etc. I'm disappointed that after 5 months of cycling (started at about 30 miles/week, now 120+/wk) my resting heart rate is still high (80-85), my blood pressure is still high for my age (130/70 at 20) and it takes 1-2 hours for my heart rate to recover to <90.

I was hoping to get some feedback on what other people have observed to see if this is a typical result or something I should be concerned about.

 

[RippedUp]

Originally Posted by daveryanwyoming .
My first stint at racing ended about fifteen years ago when my weight dropped, my resting and waking pulse soared and no number of rest days brought it back down. Turned out my Thyroid gland had gone ballistic and I'd come down with Graves disease. After dealing with that and getting things back on track I got back into serious riding and racing a few years later but my doctor was pretty clear that I didn't do myself any favors by waiting so long to get it checked out.

Good luck,
Dave

Hi Dave,

How did you get treated for Graves? And did you get back 100% after that, performance-wise.

I'd like to hear your story. Or PM me eventually. Thanks a lot.

 

[lanierb]

I would not worry about "rate of recovery". If you do a really hard ride it can take days for your HR to recover to normal, even for someone highly trained.

Your RHR and BP are very high though, especially for a thin 20 yr old, and especially since 5 months of cycling haven't helped. At this point you should definitely talk to your doctor about it I think.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by RippedUp .




Hi Dave,

How did you get treated for Graves? And did you get back 100% after that, performance-wise.

I'd like to hear your story. Or PM me eventually. Thanks a lot.

I went the nuclear surgery route, IOW I swallowed a very large pill of radioactive iodine served up in a lead beaker while wearing a lead vest, kinda spooky. That basically killed my thyroid gland over the course of the next three months during which I went from hyper-thyroid to hypo-thyroid, started putting weight back on and got pretty sluggish. Since then I've taken synthroid every morning on a dose that's been very stable for at least the last ten years and really hasn't changed much in the nineteen years or so since I was diagnosed.

I got back on the bike fairly quickly once I got on the synthroid program but my racing was pretty lackluster for the next couple of seasons and stopped racing around '96 and pursued career and other sports for about a decade before renewing my racing license in '06 for another go at it. My body type had definitely changed post Graves disease and I'd put on a fair amount of upper body muscle and wasn't as lean as pre-disease.

I also started training with power meters not too long before I wrote that post you dug up from 2006 and am now working on my fifth season of training and racing with power data. I've steadily improved during that time, have had some great seasons and some average seasons but every one of the last five have been more successful than anything I managed pre-disease. My best 40K time trial back in the day with early clip on aero bars was 1:06 as a NorCal cat 3. I've ridden one or more sub hour 40Ks every one of the past five seasons and my best time is down to 56:15 so ten full minutes faster than what I managed when I was 20 years younger and had a normally functioning thyroid gland. My overall race results are also much better now with a handful of wins in crits, road races, tts, cross and even a few top GC spots in weekend stage racing in the past five seasons. I'm mostly racing masters now, but still hold my own in Cat 3 races and have managed a couple of podium spots against the younger cat 3s on good days.

I attribute most of the progress to changing how I trained, from having the power meter data for objective day in, day out feedback and from being more consistent in my year round training. But in terms of your question, it took me a while to figure things out but if anything my fitness and racing is much better now than it ever was before my thyroid gland troubles. So the disease alone once treated did not put an end to my cycling or racing and once under control wasn't that relevant. As I said my body type changed in subtle ways and I have to pay a lot more attention to weight management now or things get out of hand quickly but other than that I don't really think about it much.

-Dave

 

[An old Guy]

FargoND ---

In general, bicycling is good for you. Don't worry about your numbers.

I am old. I have not been on a bicycle in a week. I have been working most of the day. My bp is currently 127/77 (a bit high for me). My pulse is 57 (must be higher than when I woke up.)

I expect to bicycle on my trainer for an hour or so later today. And I expect pulse to sit around 150 (200w power output), to drop 30 beats in the minute after I stop, and for my pulse to be below, and my pulse to be below 60 after my shower.

---

I expect that you are doing more work on your bicycle now than when you first started and that your heart rate is now performing the same as when you were doing much less work (when you took up bicycling). That is the improvement you are seeing.

Once you settle into a routine and no longer are increasing your mileage/time you should see your heart rate drop faster after exercise and your resting rate should drop. I would expect big changes for a year.

 

[imlucy326]

Yep, your actual waking pulse while lying relaxed in bed first thing in the morning would be a better indicator. Take it over a few mornings and average it.