How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

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ItsDank
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby ItsDank » Mon Nov 09, 2015 10:59 pm

Derny Driver wrote:
ItsDank wrote:
I just had an ECG stress test, echo stress test ultrasound and all the relevant bloods checked.

My HR max recorded is 252 BPM ....
220 PLUS your age? :D :D :D
Unfortunately. The ECG spikes in my left vent show that I'm pumping less blood at 240 and above than what I would at 200-210. Getting the HR down during a crit generally involves dropping a few spots and sitting in the bunch :(
https://www.strava.com/activities/423298906/analysis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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peterlip
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby peterlip » Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:52 pm

I accidentally tested my max HR one night a few years ago. I was out training on my local street, after 10:00pm, and a car came from the opposite direction. As it approached, it started to slowly veer towards my lane. The road was quite wide, and I was on the left side of the lane so didn't really feel in danger, just surprised that people don't pay attention to what they are doing.
Anyway, just as the car passes me, I feel something hit me. A second or two later, I realised that someone from the car threw an egg at me. I was slowing to stop to check the damage, and suddenly had urge to chase. If only just to get a rego number. So u-turn, and I hot tailed it after the car.
I had already been riding for about half an hour, I was well warmed up, and the adrenaline was now pumping.
I only gave chase for about 40 seconds, before I settled down and gave up the chase.
Below is an extract from the ride, and you can definitely see the HR climb and plateau at 190 (the red line), before it started to drop.

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A few months after this I started racing (amateur of course), I upped the training, and it was pretty common in the final sprint of a crit that I would peak between 190 and 192. Never more than that.
This was a few years ago now, and I only raced for a couple of years. I don't think I've been over 180 since.

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kb
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby kb » Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:18 pm

So raw eggs are good for training after all :-)

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BenGr
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby BenGr » Tue Nov 17, 2015 7:25 pm

Whilst i've never specifically tested it my max recorded heart rate of ~185 is well below the 220-age (I'm 26). Someday i'll try testing it myself, and maybe get it done properly.

I was quite happy with 175bpm average for 30mins on almost no warmup trying to keep in touch of a group up a climb.

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby warthog1 » Tue Nov 17, 2015 7:53 pm

ItsDank wrote:
I just had an ECG stress test, echo stress test ultrasound and all the relevant bloods checked.

My HR max recorded is 252 BPM and I'll get up to 220 average with highs of 240 during a crit race. The chest straps are pretty accurate, my Garmin strap was within 2 BPM of the ECG the entire test.

Image.
That is not normal lead placement.

Image

Do you know why they were placed that way in your photo?
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ItsDank
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby ItsDank » Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:18 pm

warthog1 wrote:
ItsDank wrote:
I just had an ECG stress test, echo stress test ultrasound and all the relevant bloods checked.

My HR max recorded is 252 BPM and I'll get up to 220 average with highs of 240 during a crit race. The chest straps are pretty accurate, my Garmin strap was within 2 BPM of the ECG the entire test.

Image.
That is not normal lead placement.

Image

Do you know why they were placed that way in your photo?
I literally have no idea. They only seemed to be interested in the data coming from the left ventrical anyhow as that's the one that showed the ectopic heart beats. They drew some circles here and there in relation to the ectopic beats, you can see this below.

Image

This was stage 4 recovery, ramping down from 242 beats per minute (they were getting a little worried there). Anyways the ultrasound and echo stress test showed that my heart structure is fine and my bloods all checked out. I've exhausted all diagnostic measures at this point so the default advice is just keep it below 240 bpm if possible. Again, I've got no symptoms at these high HR's, I can even maintain conversation at 240bpm.

It gets a bit high when racing : http://www.strava.com/activities/423298906/analysis" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby warthog1 » Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:39 pm

I'm no cardiologist, I don't understand that lead placement. It looks to me that they have placed the leads away from the left ventricle, or are not going to see as much of it as in the picture I placed.
There is lots I don't understand however.
You must have a small heart/stroke volume. As is mine I assume, as I spend most of my time in the high 170's - 190 when going hard.
Cardiac output = Stroke volume x Heart rate
At 240bpm there isn't a lot of filling time so that may be why the output drops off. The blood can't flow into the ventricle adequately to fill properly, with such a short interval between contractions, is my limited understanding.
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby trailgumby » Tue Nov 17, 2015 11:15 pm

My peak HR is 183. I find it is highest when i first hop back on the bike after an illness. After that, as my fitness comes back it drops. This is expected - heart volume and blood density both increase as fitness improves.

A cup of filter coffee or a 350ml bottle of V is good for lift of 10bpm at threshhold. :lol: Unfortunately due to the side effects of caffeine on suppression of melbomium (sp?) gland oil production in my eyes, I can no longer do caffeine. :cry:

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby spirro » Thu Nov 19, 2015 7:01 am

I have similar concerns with my heart rate. Every ride I do my average is in the 150`s and my max is in the 180`s. I do tend to have a naturally fast heart rate.
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g-boaf
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby g-boaf » Thu Nov 19, 2015 8:32 am

trailgumby wrote:My peak HR is 183. I find it is highest when i first hop back on the bike after an illness. After that, as my fitness comes back it drops. This is expected - heart volume and blood density both increase as fitness improves.

A cup of filter coffee or a 350ml bottle of V is good for lift of 10bpm at threshhold. :lol: Unfortunately due to the side effects of caffeine on suppression of melbomium (sp?) gland oil production in my eyes, I can no longer do caffeine. :cry:
Mine was pretty high yesterday, sat at 170 average for 25 laps, peaked at 197bpm near the end. I was riding fairly hard, but also getting back after being sick. I was pretty happy to max out at over 56km/h on the last lap. Normally my average would be a bit lower than that.

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby mikesbytes » Thu Nov 19, 2015 9:34 am

I use a max heart rate that's 42bpm higher than 220-age. Never done formal testing, just know that I've hit that a couple of times
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby chriscole » Tue Jan 26, 2016 10:52 pm

jerrah wrote:The max heart rate calculation seems a bit cludgy. Is it really possible than 220 - AGE is the same for everyone and every year your max heart rate decreases by 1?

My max heart rate is calculated as 185 yet on a recent ride I topped 195 and spent a reasonable amount of time really pushing it. I didn't feel like I was pushing my heart at the time. Is this likely to be an accurate number or is my Garmin strap inflating my numbers? Should I be riding slower even though I feel fine? :shock:

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No.

There are a bunch of formulas for _estimating_ (very roughly) what your maximum heart rate should be. 220 - [your age] is the simplest of them. And they all suck, to greater or lesser degrees. Averaged over a population, some of them produce pretty good approximations, but they are useless for individuals.

Presuming you have no other health concerns, the most accurate way to determine your max HR is quite simply to maximally exert yourself and measure your HR. That's your max HR.

If you have, or are likely to have, any potentially disastrous cardiopulmonary conditions that might preclude maximal exertion, then chat to your doctor first and possibly get your parameters measured in a controlled environment like an exercise physiology lab (they can also tell you other things, like your VO2max and your lactate threshold).

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby princessbumblebee » Sat Feb 06, 2016 9:19 pm

Add me to the list of people with high heart rates - gets well over 200 regularly even though I am nearly 30. Sports doctor says it's okay and everyone is different. I've had an ECG but no other testing.

Despite this, in general I think a high heart rate is definitely worth following up on though, especially if you have any other symptoms or feel poorly.

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby spirro » Wed Feb 10, 2016 8:37 pm

I got a stress echo test done on my heart today. I was concerned with my consistently high average heart rate on rides up to 160 bpm with peaks over 190.

During the stress test the specialist saw my heart rate go above 190bpm. Any way he said everything has come back fine and I'm right to continue doing what I'm doing. Yes my heart rate is a little fast but he said it's nothing to worry about and structurally the heart is normal.

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John B
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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby John B » Fri Apr 08, 2016 2:04 pm

My age max would be 169, after about 20 rides, my garmin shows many 'max' of 178 - 180 so, 220-age is not really accurate but if you are monitoring your rate through a monitor then it will show you. Work back from that regarding your zones for 90% 80% etc. One way is a rough guide, one way is actual and as many have said, it's the individual that counts.

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Re: How accurate is max heart rate calculation?

Postby DrShifty » Tue Apr 26, 2016 10:59 pm

When I was cycling a lot in my early to mid twenties (back in the early 1970s) I was reading up on aerobics, which was back then becoming widely popular. The wisdom then was to calculate a heart rate that gave what they called 'maximum training effect'. This was not max heart rate but a reasonably high rate that could be maintained over time to most efficiently build physical capacity. My calculation gave me 160 bpm.

I would ride with a diver's watch with sweep second hand on the bars. I'd put one hand on my chest and count 40 beats in 15 seconds very often. That was a pace that I could keep up for quite a while back then, probably half hour to one hour in the middle of a two hour ride session. I was average height and fairly skinny with little muscle sculpting, ie. pushy rider body.

Without HR monitors I don't recall anyone who was chasing max heart rate back then.

About two years ago, I was 65, I had a health event that got me sent off for a heart stress test. They wired me up and connected me to the monitors and I got on the treadmill. The doc controlled the speed and angle and they stopped every few minutes to do blood pressure tests.

I pushed the thing to 160 fairly easily, which took me beyond the 220 minus age point, and kept going. I don't recall where I ended up as I'd already passed the point the doc reckoned he wanted to test me to but I kept going until I thought I'd proved something to myself. I think he was checking me to 135 or so and I got up towards 200.

When we were done he said that he hoped when he gets to my age he will be able to do as well on the test.

I don't know if that old 'training effect' view still has validity, but it's a point of view that still informs my cycling.

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