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Cycling Heart Rate Zone Advice Needed

Hi guys.

Not being a fan of chest strap heart rate monitors i decided to purchase a mio link wrist hrm to connect to my garmin edge 520. I took it out for a short 8 mile ride to test it and was supprised to see a maximum heart rate of 187bpm and an average of 175bpm. Being 28 years old i should have an estmated max heart rate of 192bpm. Garmin connect puts me in heart rate zone 5 for 90%. A short google search led me to believe zone 5 was for professional athletes is only sustainable for minutes at a time. Garmin says i was in zone 5 for over 28 minutes.

Thinking my mio link was reading high i decided to check the heart rate zone bpms on the device, which all seemed fine. I then decided to cycle the same route wearing the mio link paired to my mobile phone and my garmin chest strap connected to my edge so i could compare the two results...both returned almost exactly the same. When i put the graphs on the computer and overlayed them they are both pretty much bang on with each other. For this second ride garmin connect puts me in zone 5 for 61% of the time or 19 minutes (i was taking it a little easier).

I know its only an 8 mile ride...but is zone 5 normal for the majority of that distance. This is the first time I have properly monitored my heart rate for exercise as i never really used to bother when running.

Many thanks.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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18 comments

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madcarew | 7 years ago
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Just to set your minds at rest:

220 less your age is a very unreliable indicator of max HR. In fact there is no reliable mathematical age related indicator of max HR. As seen from the responses, there is a huge variety of max HRs vs age (I'm 48, max HR is 193).

A low resting HR is GENERALLY a sign of a healthy CV system.

The really important thing about your Max HR is what is called the Heart Rate Reserve. This is the difference between Max HR and resting HR (as measured first thing in the morning). And it is this measure which allows you to accurately predict and measure performance vs Max HR. By and large, in the normal population, the bigger the gap between Max & resting HR, the fitter the person is. However, pros generally have a max HR well below 190, but will generally have a resting HR of about 36 - 38.

Most people have a lactate threshold (1 hr TT HR) of 82 - 85% of HRR. Mathematical example is:

Max HR of 190, resting HR of 50. HRR is 190 - 50 =140. 82% x 140 = 115 For this person their Lactate threshold is at 115+resting HR which is 115+50 = 165. Same maths for 85% gives 169, so they will find their Lactate threshold in the HR range of 165 - 169.

For most people Max VO2 is about 92% of HRR, for the same example 92% x 140 = 129 so MAx VO2 HR = 129+50 = 179 Bpm. 

One important note is that most people who don't race, very very rarely see their maximum HR. I have coached a good number of people over the years and they are very rarely able to elicit their Max HR in training. A ramp test, because of the protracted build up of lactate usually ends at Max VO2 HR. The only time I ever see my Max HR is about 3 -4 times a year bridging a gap to a break in  a race. 

To find your maximum HR requires an absolutely all out effort of about 2 mins when you have already been going quite hard. In the 15- 20 sec sprint at the end of a race you rarely exceed 95% Max HR as it takes longer than that to climb to Max. A fairly good estimation of max HR is to do a ramp test and Max HR is likely to be very close to your final HR + 5%. Take a few tries at the ramp test a few days apart as there is a fair amount of learning goes on about pain tolerance etc, and your first test is generally exceeded fairly markedly by the time you've done 3 or 4.

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Stanley | 7 years ago
1 like

my bike makes my heart race just looking at it

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GeoffUB | 7 years ago
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Adjust the zone settings to suit YOU not Garmin.

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pruaga | 7 years ago
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I'm glad to see others using hrm on commutes!  I have a dedicated commute profile on my Garmin that dispenses with lots of the usual info and just gives me what I need to get to work on time and not hot/tired, by beeping at me to tell me off if I go into a higher zone. 

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j@n | 7 years ago
1 like

I used a Mio wriststrap for around 3-4 months, I forget the exact model. Anyway, I found the HR data to be highly un-reliable. I found the wrist strap had particular problems if I dramatically decreased or increased my pace/heart rate. So if I started off a ride particular hard, my heart rate would display as unusually low, but when I stopped at a traffic light it would 'catch up'. It also had difficulty picking up my correct heart rate in low or high tempretures.

Eventually I gave up and just went back to a chest strap, which seems a lot more accurate.

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Carton | 7 years ago
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TJuice, those are two different things. For item number 2, which is what the OP is about, you can either do a test yourself (links are above ) or have one done by a Coach / Physio / Sport Scientist. FWIW your numbers look normal, and if you're that familiar with them you might not get much out of training with just HR, you might want to start considering (as I am at the moment) training with power .

Items #1,3 and 4 can be addressed via a check up done by a cardiologist. In my case,  it was a stress test (stress electrocardiogram) and an echo(echocardiogram), just to rule out any noticeable congenital issues. Quick and easy (a little too easy, I couldn't quite get to my HR max indoors, but it was close enough). Talk it over with your GP. 

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Tjuice | 7 years ago
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A really interesting topic that has been on my mind lately.  I am keen to get my heart performance properly assessed, but finding it hard to work out what options are available (more detail below)

220-age does not seem to work for me to determine maximum HR.  I am in my early 40s and at the end of a 10K run (40min), with a "sprint" finish (i.e., giving everything I have left for last ~75m), my HR happily goes above 180.  During 10K run, HR is typically mid-160s.  For a 2 hour cycle ride (average speed >20mph), my average HR (including the drop while waiting at junctions, traffic lights, etc.) is mid-high 150s.  Whilst I tend to train hard (there's something quite therapeutic about beasting myself...), I find these heart rates pretty comfortable overall - I suffer more with the muscular fatigue than cardiovascular fatigue.  I generally regard myself as having reasonable fitness, good health, and I have no cholesterol / blood pressure issues (at least, I didn't last time I was tested for this)

All that said, I am starting to grow keen to get a proper heart health/performance assessment for the following reasons:

1. Every now and again there are stories of people, seemingly fit and healthy, dying of some kind of heart failure during cycle sportives.  This kind of issue is not restricted only to cyclists.

2. Keen to get a sense of what my appropriate HR training zones actually are - 60-80% of (220-age) feels like little more effort than a brisk walk

3. Generally I would like to know whether my heart is in good health and whether I am safe to continue to push myself (especially pertinent when I do some of the harder interval sessions)

4. My parents (rather uninformed) worry about the intensity of my training (comfortable for me gives heart stats that scare them!).  I would love to puts their fears properly to rest.  [Yes, I know that in my 40s, it's not necessary for me to stress about my parents worries]

What kinds of professional heart health/performance tests exists? 

Obviously would be helpful to have a max HR / VO2max test, but I imagine that there must also be ECG-based assessments available that give a much deeper understanding of heart health/performance under stress.  Is there anything else?

Anyone had any such tests?  Any feedback?  Where did you go to get it done?

 

Thanks for any thoughts

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perky416 | 7 years ago
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Thanks for all the replys.

I decided to go out and and do the 30 minute cycle to determine my LTHR and use both calculators on the british cycling page and the training peaks page.

Results are as follows:

Garmin put me in zone 5 for 96% of the ride.

Maximum HR = 189bpm.

Average over 30 minutes = 181bpm.

Average over the last 20 minutes = 183bpm

 

Zones from british cycling:

Zone 1 = Active Recovery: <124
Zone 2 = Endurance: 124 - 151
Zone 3 = Tempo: 151 - 172
Zone 4 = Threshold: 172 - 192
Zone 5 = VO2 max: 192 - 221

 

Zones from training peaks:

Zone 1 = Recovery: 120 - 151
Zone 2 = Aerobic: 152 - 163
Zone 3 = Tempo: 164 - 171
Zone 4 = SubThreshold: 172 - 182
Zone 5A = SuperThreshold: 183 - 186
Zone 5B = Aerobic Capacity: 187 - 193
Zone 5C = Anaerobic Capacity: 194 - 200

 

I figured out how to customize my garmin zones, zone 5 was set to 173 - 192. Using the data from training peaks I have now set me zones very similar to the above.

Thanks for the input guys!!!

 

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CXR94Di2 | 7 years ago
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Find your resting heart rate and maximum by wearing your heart rate strap to bed and ride absolutely flat out up a long hill. Then punch them into any fitness guide to workout your zones. Zones are guides

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antonio | 7 years ago
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I agree with Carton, you really should do a ramp test with a qualified reccomended coach, Forget your age, it has little to do with max heart rates, I am 78 and still see average heart rate over ten mile time trials of 176/178 often ending the last half mile at 180+. Last year I averaged 179 on one ten mile tt. I find the fitter I am, the higher my average will be. Coaches will often tell you that an average over ten miles will equate to your LTHR, my experience agrees with that.

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Yorkshire wallet replied to antonio | 7 years ago
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antonio wrote:

I agree with Carton, you really should do a ramp test with a qualified reccomended coach, Forget your age, it has little to do with max heart rates, I am 78 and still see average heart rate over ten mile time trials of 176/178 often ending the last half mile at 180+. Last year I averaged 179 on one ten mile tt. I find the fitter I am, the higher my average will be. Coaches will often tell you that an average over ten miles will equate to your LTHR, my experience agrees with that.

 

Thank goodness for this post. I'm 43 and whilst my resting rate is as low as 36, my riding rate was a lot higher than I expected when pushing on a bit. I sort of made the assumption that because my resting rate turned out really low that I'd be low when pushing on.

TBH I don't put my heart rate monitor on much now, I tend to measure my efforts by power instead. I wear it sometimes on my commute when I don't want to get sweaty for work as I know that if I keep below a certain HR I don't sweat at all.

 

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Mr. Sheep replied to Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
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Yorkshire wallet wrote:

Thank goodness for this post. I'm 43 and whilst my resting rate is as low as 36, my riding rate was a lot higher than I expected when pushing on a bit. I sort of made the assumption that because my resting rate turned out really low that I'd be low when pushing on.

Yeah, quite the opposite! Low resting heart rate is a "symptom" of being very fit, whereas maximum heart rate is (as I understand it) mostly genetic, varies enormously between individuals, reduces slightly with age, and actually isn't a particularly useful number for any kind of endurance sport as you rarely hit it for more than a few seconds as you're so far into the anerobic zone by then, it can't be maintained.

The LTHR is more useful, as it defines the start of the range where you begin to accumulate lactate. The pace you can do around your LTHR and the amount of time you can do it for are both something you can improve through training (although the LTHR itself doesn't seem to vary much - variation in LTHR seems to mostly be because you get better at doing/gaming the test). But, for cycling, I don't use the HR monitor all that much while riding - the terrain is too varied to try and keep in a particular zone I find... more useful while running for me. It can be useful to glance at when pushing up a big hill if I know there's still another 2-3km of climbing to go, to make sure I'm not too far into the red.

I also do the "use HR monitor to keep sweating at bay while commuting" trick - works a treat and provides a great recovery ride. Without that, I'll look at other numbers like my speed and that only leads to going faster...

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Mr. Sheep | 7 years ago
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The best way I've found to calculate heart rate zones is to do a LTHR test - lactic threshold heart rate - this determines the border between zones 4 and 5 for you specifically (i.e. the aerobic-to-anerobic threshold). Any formulas can only be right "on average" and this is a metric that varies enormously between individuals. You can then use the LTHR to calculate the rest of your zones.

An LTHR test is very simple - do a 30 minute all-out effort running or cycling as hard as you can for the entire 30 minutes, then your LTHR is the average heart rate over the last 20 minutes of that test. If you do it right, you should barely be able to move another step at the end of the 30 minutes, but you should also try and make sure you don't slow down too much during the test (tricky...  1 ).

Here's the guide I followed, and the article includes tables for determining your zones from your LTHR:

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones

Google for Joe Friel LTHR test for lots of other info  1

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bozmandb9 | 7 years ago
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The standardised ranges are not relevant. They are merely statistical averages.  All your figures mean is that you are an 'outlier' rather than having an average profile. Having said that I'd say it's highly likely that your zones will drop if you get bike fit. I was spending 50+% of rides in zone 5 early this year, even after inputting my actual maximum heart rate of 200, rather than my age related theoretical max of 275. 

 

Now im much more bike fit, and rarely hit zone 5, although it feels like I'm actually working harder! Bizarre stuff. 

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philhubbard | 7 years ago
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I think you've taken your estimated max heart rate from the old age method of 220 - your age.

 

Just to let you know that that is a basic comparison for someone who does little exercise, I'm 22 and will regularly get into the 190's and on really long hard sprints (mainly turbo) go just over 200. Don't worry so much, just work out what you are hitting regularly and then you can readjust your zones appropiately

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pruaga | 7 years ago
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I use an Edge 520 with the Garmin strap.  I think tuck away in the My Stats menu there is the option to track your max heart rate, so this may help you find out what your max actually is.  Find a genuinely steep hill, the kind that getting to the top is a challenge, and ride up that and see what your max is.

I seem to remember the default Garmin zones being set quite low, maybe have a look at the British Cycling zone calculator (https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20120925-Power-Calc...)  or the zones on Strava and see how they compare to Garmin.

For comparison, I'm 34 and have a measured max of 196 (I get that fairly consistently on very hard hills, Barhatch Lane, Kop Hill etc) so your calculated max of 192 seems a little low?

If it would be useful I could look up the zones I use?

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Carton | 7 years ago
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It would be rare to be above threshold for 28 minutes during a 8 mile ride unless you were riding most of that up a hill. It's not unheard of, though, to be in zone 5 for most of a short ride if you were going full gas all the way (particularly if you were racing someone). But I do think it's more likely you either haven't found your real max or you have a relatively high treshold HR given your max HR (not uncommon), in which case you should set custom zones. That's what I do since my own max is about 191, but my treshold heart rate is conservatively around 176, which is a little above what it "should be". You should do a treshold test in order to really nail down your zones.

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Mr. Sheep replied to Carton | 7 years ago
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Carton wrote:

You should do a treshold test in order to really nail down your zones.

I should look what other people have posted before replying - clearly a popular test to use for your zones!

I've found real-world experience of when I've felt like I was going too hard, going back and looking at my HR data afterwards (I don't tend to look at it during a run or when doing a hard effort, the psychology can slow me down if I know I'm nearing an arbitrary number) I can see that I'm almost always right around, or just over, my tested LTHR when I felt like I was going very hard / too hard to maintain.

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