Tips on calculating Max HR

abcdggs

I know there are a lot of pros and cons to training by max hr but at the moment it is my best option, but now i need to calculate it. from what i understand i need to do a balls out effort uphill. any other tips? where would it be possible to go uphill for an hour around dublin.
Many Thanks

CheGuedara

Here's a link to a whole pile of calculators using (and descrbing different formulas used) LINK

markcroninbsc

abcdggs wrote: »

I know there are a lot of pros and cons to training by max hr but at the moment it is my best option, but now i need to calculate it. from what i understand i need to do a balls out effort uphill. any other tips? where would it be possible to go uphill for an hour around dublin.
Many Thanks

you could start in spepaside, go upto johnnyfoxes, turn right over to stocking lane, turn left upto glencree and on up to the cross roads at the top. that would take around the hour. not all up hill but its a hard enough road all the way

markcroninbsc

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/ie/stillorgan/242128151217425193

Lumen

abcdggs wrote: »

I know there are a lot of pros and cons to training by max hr but at the moment it is my best option, but now i need to calculate it. from what i understand i need to do a balls out effort uphill. any other tips? where would it be possible to go uphill for an hour around dublin.
Many Thanks

I think you're mixing up threshold HR and max HR.

For threshold HR, you need (ideally) around an hours effort on flattish roads with no traffic lights.

Max HR is an instantaneous reading, so you just need enough gradient to avoid spinning out.

abcdggs

Lumen wrote: »

I think you're mixing up threshold HR and max HR.

For threshold HR, you need (ideally) around an hours effort on flattish roads with no traffic lights.

Max HR is an instantaneous reading, so you just need enough gradient to avoid spinning out.

The difference being? Some references would be exceptionally helpful.

Lumen

abcdggs wrote: »

The difference being? Some references would be exceptionally helpful.

A bit of Googling should sort it out. Joe Friel probably has some useful stuff that isn't too power-centric.

Max HR is the maximum instantaneous HR you can achieve on the bike.

Threshold effort is your maximal steady state aerobic effort, i.e. the power you can sustain for a long period, theoretically indefinitely but in practice until you run out of energy stores or lose the will to live. Threshold HR is the steady state HR you will achieve when cycling at this effort for a few minutes.

More discussion on here.

abcdggs

Lumen wrote: »

More discussion on here.

thanks for that. ninja edit earlier aswell

lafors

Those Max HR formulae aren't worth a ****
I had a cardiac stress test recently and asked the doc doing it about my max hr. She said they go with the 220 - age formula but its never right (mine would be 189), the only real way to find out is to do the test, or as some others said here, find a hill and bust yourself up it. She was also explaining to me about threshold hr as lumen called it, can't remember the name she used. She was also explaining recovery hr which is important...taken over a fixed time after exercise.
BTW my max HR during the stress test was 209 on the 5th level, I think they change every 3 minutes.

Lumen

lafors wrote: »

I had a cardiac stress test recently...my max HR during the stress test was 209 on the 5th level, I think they change every 3 minutes.

Probably not something to attempt on your own up Stocking Lane.

BryanL

Your own Max Hr is different for different sports and on the bike it'll be different seated or standing.
Just warm up, then for all out for a few minutes and use the highest number as your eyesight starts to fade!

seanie500

lafors wrote: »

Those Max HR formulae aren't worth a ****
I had a cardiac stress test recently and asked the doc doing it about my max hr. She said they go with the 220 - age formula but its never right (mine would be 189), the only real way to find out is to do the test, or as some others said here, find a hill and bust yourself up it. She was also explaining to me about threshold hr as lumen called it, can't remember the name she used. She was also explaining recovery hr which is important...taken over a fixed time after exercise.
BTW my max HR during the stress test was 209 on the 5th level, I think they change every 3 minutes.

Hi lafors where did ya get the stress test done if ya don't mind me asking. looking to get this done at some stage

lafors

seanie500 wrote: »

Hi lafors where did ya get the stress test done if ya don't mind me asking. looking to get this done at some stage

In the hemitage in Lucan, had a full round of heart tests, was having chest pains so doc set up all the tests. Not cheap approx €400 for the stress test iirc.
VHI will pay some of it but you've to pay up front and claim it back, I'm sure I can do the same with the med1 form. You might get it done cheaper elsewhere I was just in a rush to get it done and the hemitage had the quickest appointment.

blorg

I base mine simply on max I have ever seen. This went up over a period of years until I hit my current highest in a sprint at the end of a race last year. So the number you discover from a balls out effort today may not actually be your max; you may develop the capacity to put out more of an effort. FWIW mine is 204 and I am 34 so yes, 220-age is only a rule of thumb.

Hungrycol

I too had to get a battery of tests done last year (have to every few years) and following the tests asked the Sudden Cardiac Death Specialist Consultant what my max HR would be. Like your test Lafors he could only tell me to use 200 - age. So I used this as a rule of thumb and have exceeded it many times meaning I have recently changed my HR computer from 185 to 190.

BTW he said they used to do the stress tests on an exercise bike but had to scrap it because not everyone is comfortable on a saddle!

Hungrycol

blorg wrote: »

I base mine simply on max I have ever seen. This went up over a period of years until I hit my current highest in a sprint at the end of a race last year. So the number you discover from a balls out effort today may not actually be your max; you may develop the capacity to put out more of an effort. FWIW mine is 204 and I am 34 so yes, 220-age is only a rule of thumb.

Does that mean you got effectively got the heart of an average (maybe fit) 16 year old? Does it kinda work like that?

blorg

Hungrycol wrote: »

Does that mean you got effectively got the heart of an average (maybe fit) 16 year old? Does it kinda work like that?

I don't think so, I think it is just a rule of thumb. Max HR is after all not a particularly meaningful metric to compare between different people; you could have a larger heart and pump the same amount of blood with a lower heart rate. Your blood could have a higher hematocrit and thus carry more oxygen with a lower HR.

It is only useful to set your own training zones and get a handle on what you can sustain, and even there threshold is the more useful but can be inferred from max HR.

victorcarrera

seanie500 wrote: »

Hi lafors where did ya get the stress test done if ya don't mind me asking. looking to get this done at some stage

Bon Secours Glasnevin, Dr Gumbriel. 145 Euro for the stress test @ 2008 prices.
Referred by GP but maybe you could try skipping the GP and arranging it directly if they allow this.

The test consisetd of a Haulter heart monitor which you wear for 24 Hrs (60 or 80Euro exrta for this).
You record the time of any episodes you may have and they download and analyse the recorded data.
Ultrasound test (cant remember the cost 100 Euro approx) which shows your heart beating on a B+W monitor.
Supervised stress test on running machine (145 Euro).

If anybody else out there like me have caffeine induced palpatations, cut down on the tea and coffee. You may not have to do the test.

Hungrycol

@victorc, that might be the cost of the stress test itself but the analysis, IMO the most important aspect, should be done by a heart specialist and this is where it starts to get expennie. Handing me a graph of my heart rhythm means jacksh!t.*

(*having said that I still have MRI scan of my brain I got done a few years ago that I think looks pretty cool in an artsy kinda way!)

lafors

victorcarrera wrote: »

Bon Secours Glasnevin, Dr Gumbriel. 145 Euro for the stress test @ 2008 prices.
Referred by GP but maybe you could try skipping the GP and arranging it directly if they allow this.

The test consisetd of a Haulter heart monitor which you wear for 24 Hrs (60 or 80Euro exrta for this).
You record the time of any episodes you may have and they download and analyse the recorded data.
Ultrasound test (cant remember the cost 100 Euro approx) which shows your heart beating on a B+W monitor.
Supervised stress test on running machine (145 Euro).

If anybody else out there like me have caffeine induced palpatations, cut down on the tea and coffee. You may not have to do the test.

Gumbriel is one of the best in the country if not the best.
You can get the ultrasound done for free if you're with the VHI.
I that done in the mater private, just signed a form, didn't have to pay.