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Average heart rate for races.
Can anyone advise what your average heart rate should be over an enduro race - 50 k's for me but I don't suppose it matters too much.
My last race (the Fling) I averaged 106% max heart rate. A few people have told me I'll kill myself (not likley) and others haven't raised an eyebrow, so I'm wondering what everyone else averages while racing? Surely the top guys average at least 100% or higher?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Romano Gaspardis on -
Im too busy remembering to breath and pedal and oh steer... heart rate can sort itself out...
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Permalink Reply by Nigel Jefferys on -
I'm with you Romano.....I did 20 events last year and my hearts still going so thing must be OK.....some of those were adrenalin filled sharp races thru to 8 hours solo and 24 hour team events....depends how serious you are, I know the top riders have a range to stay in and that's all part of the race plan and training program they are on.....if you are doing the rides for fun (like me) then as long as you know your bodies limits you'll be fine.....if in doubt stop and have a break and watch the fast guys zoom past :-)
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Wells on -
106% max can't be done, what is your max HR and how did you work it out, your max HR is 100%. Max Threshold HR is different are you talking about that? Everyone is different with HR and it varies so much like heat, stress dehydration, etc. The only way you can tell a good zone to aim for, is by you testing different zones in training, and knowing your body and how long you can sustain the efforts for. All I can advise is do some reading (not just internet but good books) and form your own opinion on how to train and race by heart rate. This might be a good start: http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/training-heart-rate-monito... or http://www.electricblues.com/html/JoeFrielsQuickGuide.pdf but go for books like Joe Friel, his blog is here: http://www.joefrielsblog.com/ or check out Mark Fenners website and I'm sure there was some stuff on Enduro Pulse somewhere with programs etc. So you can work out a good program to train right, then race right.
Work out what will suit and work with you but training and racing by threshold rather than max is the way to go IMO.
If you want to get serious you can't just race serious, you need to train serious to know yourself and your limits.
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Permalink Reply by Noodle on -
I wear a polar heart rate monitor around my chest. You set it up with all your details, age, weight etc and it works out what your max heart rate is and then measures it as your ride. My average after that ride was 106% according to the heart rate monitor. Doesn't it just mean that I have averaged over my max which is 220 minus your age? For me that is 186 - that is pretty easy to exceed.
I was competing for a podium in the series which I managed to hold onto - normally I wouldn't flog myself quite that hard but it was all or nothing. I do have a training regime that I follow and I have a pretty good idea of what I am capable of. But I was going down fighting that day. As it turned out - it was worth it.
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Permalink Reply by Steve K on -
Yeah the "220 - age" thing is a bit of a kludge and doesn't necessarily bear any resemblance to anything. Like Kev says, more than 100% really is impossible. 100% is 100% so if it's saying over 100% then the max it's assigning to you isn't right.
If you want to use HR properly then you'll need to work out your own Max HR. Then you can work out your zones and go from there :)
(I haven't physically done this btw, I just learned about it when I got my HRM, got interested in the nerdiness of it, but was too lazy to do it for real.)
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Permalink Reply by Craig Martin on
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A girl who worked for me had a heart condition, and one day the ambos clocked her ticker at over 300bpm, at which rate the blood has stopped flowing, and she passed out. Is that 100%?
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Wells on
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It generally is made more complicated than it has to be with Max HR. You can never really tell what your max HR is. If you can work out your threshold HR as per Joes links above, run you ploar by number not % and then in a race if you can display your average HR and current HR, all you have to do is try to keep your average HR just below your threshold. If you are aware that every time you go above that threshold you are burning matches that may hurt you later in the race.
BTW your threshold should be just below the level of riding where you get a build up lactic acid that your body can not process. This does change with fitness, etc. I know my 20min max efforts I could only hold 164bpm, now I can sustain about 172bpm. I think some of that was mental tho. But everyone is different, I know some riders who struggle to get over 170 and others who can get over 200 and it definately does not mean the guy who get over 200 is the better rider because in this case he is not.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Wells on
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Ooops what I meant when I said the other riders and 170 and 200 I was talking about max HR not threshold.
Kevin Wells said:It generally is made more complicated than it has to be with Max HR. You can never really tell what your max HR is. If you can work out your threshold HR as per Joes links above, run you ploar by number not % and then in a race if you can display your average HR and current HR, all you have to do is try to keep your average HR just below your threshold. If you are aware that every time you go above that threshold you are burning matches that may hurt you later in the race.
BTW your threshold should be just below the level of riding where you get a build up lactic acid that your body can not process. This does change with fitness, etc. I know my 20min max efforts I could only hold 164bpm, now I can sustain about 172bpm. I think some of that was mental tho. But everyone is different, I know some riders who struggle to get over 170 and others who can get over 200 and it definately does not mean the guy who get over 200 is the better rider because in this case he is not.
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Permalink Reply by Romano Gaspardis on
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Like I said Ill just concentrate on breathing......
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Permalink Reply by Ed Garnett on
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My resting HR is 46, I struggle to maintain higher than 140 ( begin to pass out), can go all day at 120... I'm the other side of 50. 220 minus my age, load of rubbish.
May I suggest you follow the advice of some of the above posts in terms of having to determine what works for you, you simply can't rely on 'general' advice in terms of max HR, trainging and HR zones now that's likely another matter.
EJG
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