[Konabumm]

Hey Medical Monkeys, I was wondering what your thoughts are about hitting and staying around you max heart rate. I guess the main thing I'm wondering is: is it dangerous to hit & stay maxed out for an extended period of time?

My MHR is 206 and I'm 28, so you can tell that is a pretty high HR for someone my age. Last night I was racing and hit and stayed at 203 for about 2min.

I know they say your heart is a muscle and should be worked out, but other muscles can get sore and sometimes hurt if you work them out too hard for too long.

Thoughts?

What are other monkeys Age & MHR?

 

[douglas]

max=183 & I'm thirty something

 

[Andyman_1970]

Age 35 - Max ~195

 

[hooples3]

my max is 193 and i am almost 33 yrs old. I dont really train to much with my monitor too much anymore. but you should not be at your maximum for more than 3-5 minutes. and not more than like 8 minutes at 95%. when and if you do intervals .. which are usually short hard efforts usually they should be done around 90% of max and for only 3-4 minutes... then at least 5 minutes of rest in between efforts. I can see hitting max on a major "short" climb just make sure it comes back down

 

[The Toninator]

it's not likely that you will die if you max but it is very inefficient to race up in that zone unless it's a short race.
i cant give you the numbers but they sound like Lt (lactate threshold), V02 max etc. You should do some research and find out the best numbers for you.
I’m 34 and have a 200 max. I’ve found that when I XC sport race at 183 it seems like I had a good race and anything above and I ‘blow up’ before the finish.

 

[HOOWAH]

I'm 27 and my max is 198-200.

I noticed that at the beginning of the season when i did some hard efforts i could get my heart up to about 203 (but it's not as though i felt like i were dying), and now that i have a little conditioning my legs will blow up before i can get much above my calculated 193 max (220-age). To me this seems as though my heart got stronger faster than my legs.

T

 

[Heidi]

it's not likely that you will die if you max but it is very inefficient to race up in that zone unless it's a short race.
i cant give you the numbers but they sound like Lt (lactate threshold), V02 max etc. You should do some research and find out the best numbers for you.
I

word, you can't and shouldnt' stay at your max for long - it completely zaps you. Not that it matters, since everyone is different, but I'm 30 and my riding max heart rate is 183.

 

[Reactor]

Max heart rate is pretty variable, it depends on your excersize history as well as age. I'm 42, LT/AT is about 168-173, I routinely hit 185-190 on short climbs and over 200 during intervals and sprints. By the formula my MHR should be 178, but that obviously not right.

 

[Polandspring88]

I am 19. As measured by a heart rate monitor a few years ago I was maxing at about 240 bpm.

 

[sunny]

Your heart is like an engine. You run it in the red zone for prolonged periods, it will crap out on you.

My stats:
Age 38
RHR 55
MHR 196

Last year I ran the Wildflower Half-Ironman. Before I did the race, my RHR (resting HR) was 55-ish. The day of Wildflower, it was 102° when I finished the bike portion and began the 13-mile run. Because of the heat, my heartrate was even more elevated than normal (180 or so), and I was between 85-95% effort for most of the bike and all of the run.
Although I felt fine the next day, MY RESTING HEART RATE DID NOT DROP BELOW 70 FOR ALMOST 2 MONTHS.

You will not be doing yourself any favors by running your HR near the max. If you want to improve and sustain your effort, keep it below 80% for regular workouts/rides. It will feel almost pedestrian to you, but train yourself to reserve the hard effort for races or occasional sprints. Your heart will thank you.

-sunny

 

[robdamanii]

If you want to improve and sustain your effort, keep it below 80% for regular workouts/rides. It will feel almost pedestrian to you, but train yourself to reserve the hard effort for races or occasional sprints. Your heart will thank you.

-sunny

Bingo. Most cardiovascular gain comes from around 80% MHR exercise.

 

[Reactor]

The day of Wildflower, it was 102° when I finished the bike portion and began the 13-mile run. Because of the heat, my heartrate was even more elevated than normal (180 or so), and I was between 85-95% effort for most of the bike and all of the run.
Although I felt fine the next day, MY RESTING HEART RATE DID NOT DROP BELOW 70 FOR ALMOST 2 MONTHS.

You will not be doing yourself any favors by running your HR near the max. If you want to improve and sustain your effort, keep it below 80% for regular workouts/rides. It will feel almost pedestrian to you, but train yourself to reserve the hard effort for races or occasional sprints. Your heart will thank you.

-sunny

I had a similar experience early in training a for race season couple of years ago. I did a 10 1/2 mile rough XC loop at the fastest possible speed, just to see where I was in relation to racing. It was hot, above 100f, I finished in a record (for me) time. I never experienced chest pain, but after riding I felt pukey. I went home and felt worse. It my heart rate took two days of bed rest to come under 100 bpm. Another week to drop to 70. I didn't have a heart rate monitor at the time, but the experience untimately resulted in me buying one, and using it during training.

 

[Crazy Sweeper]

anybody got a good linky for this stuff?

 

[Konabumm]

Just to make it clear this isn't something that I do just for the hell of it. Last night my HR was high because I was trying to break away after a sprint. I hit the 201 202 range during the sprint and then just kept on pushing afterwards to gap the field. When I looked down and saw how hard I was pushing I wondered if my heart might blow up.

My normal "hard" workout will be in the 180's with an interval jump to 190's. Don't like to break 200 unless I'm sprinting for the win.