maximum heart rate

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Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

maximum heart rate Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 11:29 am

I've noticed that as I've become more fit, my maximum heart rate appears to have gone down. When I first got back into serious training about a year ago, after several months of being sedentary, I would fairly regularly push my HR into the low 200's during medium-hard workouts. 12 months later, my HR never goes that high, even during races. It averaged just 181 during a recent 4.5 mile race. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I know that your HR for a given pace should go down as you become more fit, but I would have thought that max HR would be constant.

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: maximum heart rate Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 11:40 am

I am clueless on the HR subject. I have one an HRM and track it loosely, but the numbers mean virtually nothing to me, mainly because I've never done any research or looking into it at all. I need some good rules or something to get me started...

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: maximum heart rate Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 11:47 am

Well, the rough rule is that your max HR is 220 minus your age. However, for almost everyone I know, that formula gives a number that's too low. The only way to really know your max HR is to measure it during an intense workout that's specifically designed to push your HR as high as possible. The HR monitor isn't magic, but it is handy. You can do some workouts by HR rather than pace, like 20 minutes with your HR above 180. It's also helpful for making sure you take it easy enough on easy days. You might run to keep your HR below 155 for example. But in honesty, I don't wear my HRM that much. Mostly I use it during hard workouts and races, and I only look at the numbers afterwards, not during the workout.

OldManRunner
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Rochester, NY
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 262

Re: maximum heart rate Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:14 pm

You're just aging really quickly! ;-)

jennjenn

Vancouver, BC
Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 4

Re: maximum heart rate Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 10:31 pm

My max HR has dropped over the last year with training as well. I used to max at 203bpm but nowadays even with a hard effort I can't break 190. My average HR running a tempo used to be about 193 and now i'm running tempo at 179 on average. My average resting HR is down also... which is motivating. You're normal Rickshaw! Amen to that!

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: maximum heart rate Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 8:44 pm

jennjenn wrote:
You're normal Rickshaw! Amen to that!

Well, my HR may be normal, but as for the rest of me...

Runner58

Joined: 07 Jan 2005
Posts: 30

Re: maximum heart rate Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:58 am

Try this. Warm up for 10 mins of easy running and then charge up a 200-500 m hill as fast as you can. The race thing is not a good test since you really shouldn't be anywhere near your max HR in a distance race, even at the end. If you've raced correctly, you won't have the energy at the end to shift into high gear for long enough to get into max HR territory.

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