[rider22]

What % of yalls MHR do yall ride at on a typical distance ride? I ride around 84%? Is this too much?

 

[Kerry Irons]

May be too high

What % of yalls MHR do yall ride at on a typical distance ride? I ride around 84%? Is this too much?

If your maximum heart rate is properly measured, then your 84% is pretty high for a long distance ride. 85-90% of max is considered time trial pace. Endurance riding is more like 65-75% of max. However, if your "max" was determined by the 220-age formula or "the highest I've ever seen on the HRM" then you are starting with a pretty meaningless number. You are better off to determine your maximum sustainable HR (last 20 minutes of a 30 minute time trial) and base your training on that number.

 

[Triker]

What do you consider long distance? 30-50 miles or so at 84% is a fast pace but doable no problem.

If you are talking 200k or more, riding at 84% and up is pretty tough.If you can, than you are probably low on your estimate of your max HR. I am 57 and ride a bit, my max HR is about 10 beats higher than the age formula.

 

[LyncStar]

Get your LT tested!!

What % of yalls MHR do yall ride at on a typical distance ride? I ride around 84%? Is this too much?

You need to get your lactate threshold tested at a sports fitness clinic. The cost is usually around $90 and takes about an hour. You can also find it out pretty accurately yourself by doing about an hour time trial or hour ride at a pace that you could keep up for one hour but not much longer. Wear a HR monitor for the TT or hard ride and look at the average HR at the end, that will be pretty close to your LT. I tested myself by doing a hard hour climb and my average HR was 157. I then had my LT tested at a clinic (probably about a week or so later) and they came up with 154. My max is around 175-180 for cycling.

The net is that if you actually know your max, most fit people's LT will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 85% to 90% of max. Keep in mind, training can increase your LT but not your max (your max is what it is, like your height).

 

[MikeBiker]

How did cyclists ride before HRMs were invented?

I bet they just went out and rode.

I ride mostly without a HRM and have suffered no problems because of it. If 84% is what you do typical distance rides at, then is not too high as you have not had to quit a ride.

I did a 35 mile ride today. No HRM. Sometimes I rode hard, sometimes I rode easy. I would not have ridden differently if I had a HRM.

Now if I was a professional rider and training for racing, then I would be doing a structured program from a coach. In addition to an HRM, I would have a power meter.

 

[LyncStar]

How did cyclists ride before HRMs were invented?

I bet they just went out and rode.

I ride mostly without a HRM and have suffered no problems because of it. If 84% is what you do typical distance rides at, then is not too high as you have not had to quit a ride.

I did a 35 mile ride today. No HRM. Sometimes I rode hard, sometimes I rode easy. I would not have ridden differently if I had a HRM.

Now if I was a professional rider and training for racing, then I would be doing a structured program from a coach. In addition to an HRM, I would have a power meter.

All depends what your goals are and level of geekness is. If your down with cruising around on a Schwinn Varsity with rusting rims and knee socks, that's cool.

 

[whoawhoa]

I then had my LT tested at a clinic (probably about a week or so later) and they came up with 154. My max is around 175-180 for cycling.

Maybe you're just mis-stating for simplicities sake. But I hope the clinic that tested you knew what they were doing. LT is not a heart rate, it is a workload (power, in cycling). Did you get wattage? Also, how did they define it? 4mmol? "lactate threshold" as defined by most excercise physiologists will yield a power (and heart rate as well, of course) well lower than what you could do for a 1-hr time trial.

 

[TurboTurtle]

Maybe you're just mis-stating for simplicities sake. But I hope the clinic that tested you knew what they were doing. LT is not a heart rate, it is a workload (power, in cycling). Did you get wattage? Also, how did they define it? 4mmol? "lactate threshold" as defined by most excercise physiologists will yield a power (and heart rate as well, of course) well lower than what you could do for a 1-hr time trial.

LT has been a 'heart rate' for a long time. Only recently has power been in common use in cycling. - TF

 

[TurboTurtle]

You need to get your lactate threshold tested at a sports fitness clinic. The cost is usually around $90 and takes about an hour. You can also find it out pretty accurately yourself by doing about an hour time trial or hour ride at a pace that you could keep up for one hour but not much longer. Wear a HR monitor for the TT or hard ride and look at the average HR at the end, that will be pretty close to your LT. I tested myself by doing a hard hour climb and my average HR was 157. I then had my LT tested at a clinic (probably about a week or so later) and they came up with 154. My max is around 175-180 for cycling.

The net is that if you actually know your max, most fit people's LT will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 85% to 90% of max. Keep in mind, training can increase your LT but not your max (your max is what it is, like your height).

Actually if you are defining your max as 'max for cycling', it can change. You do have a max 'defined' by your heart, but it has no idea where that blood is going or what type of exercise you are doing. - TF

 

[whoawhoa]

LT has been a 'heart rate' for a long time. Only recently has power been in common use in cycling. - TF

LT is a workload. Power meter or no power meter, it's not, and has never been, a heart rate. You can confirm this by checking various scientific literature.

 

[LyncStar]

Boys boys boys

LT is a workload. Power meter or no power meter, it's not, and has never been, a heart rate. You can confirm this by checking various scientific literature.

Stop confusing everyone. LT is simply a measure of the point where your body is removing lactic acid at the same rate it is creating it (usually around 4milimols of lactic acid per liter of blood). Well trained and motivated individuals can maintain this "equilibrium" level for an hour or more, hence the use of the hour measure above. Serious cyclist and fitness folk like to know this number as it helps design efficient workouts.

To aid in training, metrics are used to help the athlete/exerciser to identify when they are aproximately (this is all aproximate keep in mind) at their LT. Metrics are used to avoid having to stick oneself with a needle while pedaling and having a friend analyze the blood in a vehicle next to you. The most common metric used is HR. Another metric to identify when one is at their LT is power. The unit of measure for power is watts. Since most people don't have power meters on their bikes, most folk, LA included, tend to use the HR number for training purposes.

Keep in mind, with training, one can increase their LT, which is a good thing. As your LT threshold improves so does your power (which is the real important metric). As your power improves you go faster (assuming of course you don't proportionally increase your body weight or start wearing suits of armor when you ride).