Max heart rate again...?

Roger Zoul said:

Get rid of your heart rate monitor as all it seems to be doing for you is
causing you to worry needlessly. If you were to exercise at max heart rate
for a little while (a few moments), there would likely be no ill effects
unless you have some heart problems (get checked by a doctor if you have

I understand your sentiment. When I got treated for my anxiety initially,
one of the first things I did was to ditch my HRM. I went without it for
like 2 months. It was quite freeing. Just to ride and not worry about it.
However, I've been on a plateau for like 3 years now. As many of you will
remember I went from over 400 lbs. to as low as 238lbs. Slowly over 4
years I've crept back up to 270. Not a happy situation for me. So I began
using the HRM again in order to try to ensure I was working out in the
zone and thus hopefully lose weight. It's just become habit again, though.
I'm not losing weight and can't figure out why. It really sucks.

Quoted message said:

and lung strength, assuming it doesn't kill you. My guess is that if you
mention this to your typical doctor s/he would suggest you NOT go to high HR
just because you're worried about it or because they don't understand it.

You're probably right.

Preston

Bill Baka said:

Here we go with the age thing again, but I am 56 and cruising at 160-170
is not a problem for me. My max is over 180, measured by running sprints
and then taking my pulse against my watch, 45 beats in 15 seconds. After
that it starts to come down fairly rapidly for me, at least. I can only
get to about 170-175 with the bike, but I have to stop and plant my feet
to take my pulse, so the added time may be letting my heart recover some
before I start counting. At 29, you worry too much. Just go out and have
a good time, as long as a little heavy doesn't mean 50 pounds over.
Bill

Worrying too much is kind of the nature of having anxiety. :-)

No idea what a little heavy means in my case. When I was 238lbs. I was
positively scrawny. However, according to the BMI I was still obsese. So I
don't know what I'd call me at 270 right now, except struggling on a 4
year plateau, trying to find a diet that will help get my metabolism
kick-started again.

Preston

"Preston Crawford" <[email hidden]> wrote in message .cobrala...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It doesn't generally "contribute" to my anxiety. More often than not, it's

relationship to my anxiety is as a crutch. Meaning I use it sometimes to
make sure I don't get into "danger areas" even if I feel okay. It's only
sometimes that I actually let this worry me. Like the other day.

What have you to worry about.

Take a pro rider like me who abused first generation
Recombinant Erythropoietin years ago in order to stay
competitive with the other guys and now have to inject
anticoagulants such as heparin to ward off things like
myocardial infarction.

You amateurs have it easy and nothing to worry about.

"Preston Crawford" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I would submit that if you don't actually know your MHR, there's little
point in using a monitor. I agree with the poster who suggested you ditch
it, if all it's doing is contributing to your anxiety.

It doesn't generally "contribute" to my anxiety. More often than not, it's
relationship to my anxiety is as a crutch. Meaning I use it sometimes to
make sure I don't get into "danger areas" even if I feel okay. It's only
sometimes that I actually let this worry me. Like the other day.

My point is that if you don't know your true MHR, you don't know what the
"danger areas" are. Your MHR could be 175 and it could be 210. So that
reading of 170 could have been pushing things or it could have been just
north of cruising speed for your heart. So if you haven't established your
MHR, either through medically-supervised testing or empirically, your HRM
isn't telling you anything useful.

(I don't dwell on this any more, but I'm pointing this out as a highly
medicated person with a damaged heart; I take a great deal of interest in my
MHR and how close I come to it when I ride. Since I know my MHR fairly
precisely, my HRM frees me from worrying about it and I can ride long and
far without concern. But I do have nice low gears for hills.)

RichC

Rich Clark said:

My point is that if you don't know your true MHR, you don't know what the
"danger areas" are. Your MHR could be 175 and it could be 210. So that
reading of 170 could have been pushing things or it could have been just
north of cruising speed for your heart. So if you haven't established your
MHR, either through medically-supervised testing or empirically, your HRM
isn't telling you anything useful.

(I don't dwell on this any more, but I'm pointing this out as a highly
medicated person with a damaged heart; I take a great deal of interest in
my MHR and how close I come to it when I ride. Since I know my MHR fairly
precisely, my HRM frees me from worrying about it and I can ride long and
far without concern. But I do have nice low gears for hills.)

Rich, I'm curious if a person with an undamaged heart needs to worry about
MHR from a safety standpoint at all. I believe someone with an old
infarction or other kinds of damage may be at risk for arrhythmias at close
to MHR, but is that true for people with healthy hearts? Or can most of us
(including Preston) just assume that hitting MHR is no danger and only worry
about it if we are trying to work at within a particular range based on MHR?

--
Paul Turner

Paul Turner said:

Rich Clark said:

My point is that if you don't know your true MHR, you don't know what the
"danger areas" are. Your MHR could be 175 and it could be 210. So that
reading of 170 could have been pushing things or it could have been just
north of cruising speed for your heart. So if you haven't established your
MHR, either through medically-supervised testing or empirically, your HRM
isn't telling you anything useful.

(I don't dwell on this any more, but I'm pointing this out as a highly
medicated person with a damaged heart; I take a great deal of interest in
my MHR and how close I come to it when I ride. Since I know my MHR fairly
precisely, my HRM frees me from worrying about it and I can ride long and
far without concern. But I do have nice low gears for hills.)

Rich, I'm curious if a person with an undamaged heart needs to worry about
MHR from a safety standpoint at all. I believe someone with an old
infarction or other kinds of damage may be at risk for arrhythmias at close
to MHR, but is that true for people with healthy hearts? Or can most of us
(including Preston) just assume that hitting MHR is no danger and only worry
about it if we are trying to work at within a particular range based on MHR?

--
Paul Turner

I can only speak for people with healthy hearts but here is my take,
if anyone cares. At 56 (age is relevant here) I can max at over 180
and sustain 170 for a fairly long time. The only problem I have is
when I drink too much coffee before riding, and the caffeine causes
my heart to skip a beat about once per minute. No coffee and the
problem goes away. When I hit MHR or very near to it I can take my
pulse just looking at my watch and feeling the thumps as my heart
beats. No pain, just big thumps, and I can feel the skipped beats.
Now, if you feel pain of any kind at this point, or noticeable beat
skipping it is time to go to your doctor ASAP. Any pain could be a
sign that you are at your hearts limit and it is a warning, and it
could be Angina, another warning signal. If you have more than one
skipped beat per minute, especially without caffeine it is doctor
time.

Caution is the word, unless you have a big life insurance
policy and don't mind going out doing something you enjoy.
I say that in semi-seriousness for the married folks, since
I am married and like to stress my heart to the max sometimes.
If I go out in a blaze of pedaling glory, at least my family is
covered. Doctor first, then ride as hard as you want.

I may be just putting out a false memory here, but I do seem to
remember some research about people who have had mild to moderate
heart attacks building their hearts up to full health again by
an exercise program. You would have to check with the AMA or your
doctor (if he is a good one, some aren't) and see what the regimen
would be. I think it goes like raise you heart rate about 20% over
resting state by walking or something, about 1 hour per day for
a month, then as your heart builds up capacity you can up the
exercise level. Good eating habits must go with the exercise, but
you can do it.

The AMA is the authority, not me, so go forth and look. There is
also some interesting research going on in other countries that
you may be able to access with the internet. The USA is not the
only country doing medical research these days.
Healthy biking,
Bill Baka

Fabrizio Mazzoleni said:

Take a pro rider like me who abused first generation
Recombinant Erythropoietin years ago in order to stay
competitive with the other guys and now have to inject
anticoagulants such as heparin to ward off things like
myocardial infarction.

Heparin? Don't use that old stuff. Fabs, you need to fire your team
doctor. All the level 1 teams are using Lovenox these days. Just as
effective as an anticoagulant, but not as nasty. A dose comes
pre-loaded in a single throw-away syringe.

http://www.lovenox.com/
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://bike.terrymorse.com/

"Terry Morse" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:tmorse-

Quoted message said:

Heparin? Don't use that old stuff. Fabs, you need to fire your team
doctor. All the level 1 teams are using Lovenox these days. Just as
effective as an anticoagulant, but not as nasty. A dose comes
pre-loaded in a single throw-away syringe.

Aventis pharmaceutical was a great company up until the merger with
Sanofi-Synthelabo and thier chief executive officer Jean-François Dehecq.

currently about 60.

Thanks for asking!

..max

--
the part of <[email hidden]>
was played by maxwell monningh 8-p

Terry Morse <[email hidden]> writes:
| Heparin? Don't use that old stuff. Fabs, you need to fire your team
| doctor. All the level 1 teams are using Lovenox these days. Just as
| effective as an anticoagulant, but not as nasty. A dose comes
| pre-loaded in a single throw-away syringe.

Of course, at about $90/day (i.e., per syringe), it ain't cheap.

I needed it for a week (due to a blood clot caused as a side effect
of my accident on the 2003 Santa Cruz Mt. Challenge, when I broke
both my collarbone and shoulderblade).

Sort of a shock, particularly when the insurance company initially
refused to cover it.

But nothing's too good for Fabs' team, of course.

Fabrizio Mazzoleni said:

Aventis pharmaceutical was a great company up until the merger with
Sanofi-Synthelabo and thier chief executive officer Jean-François Dehecq.

What Dehecq?

"Zippy the Pinhead" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Fabrizio Mazzoleni said:

Aventis pharmaceutical was a great company up until the merger with
Sanofi-Synthelabo and thier chief executive officer Jean-François Dehecq.

What Dehecq?

The Dehecq that grew Sanofi from a small subsidiary of
Elf Aquitaine group to the world's third-largest pharmaceutical
group behind Pfizer and Bayer with the hostile takeover of
Aventis pharmaceutical. Aventis was created when Hoeschst-
Marion-Roussel and Rhône-Poulenc merged in 1998.

Sanofi Synthélabo does offer the competitve cyclist many
good products, check it out.