I have recently bought a new heart rate monitor to help with my training. It records my average and maximum HR over my training sessions. Using the standard max HR calculation I should be maxing out at 192. I have seen my HR hit 190 while doing a hill rep session. However, on almost every long run I have done, it tells me that my max HR has been somwhere between 205 and 225. I do push hard on hills but I don't watch my HRM 100% of the time so I have never actually seen my HR work its way up to that maximum.
Can anyone tell me if it is at all possible for me to have a max HR as high as that, or is it more likely a fault with the gadget? (To give an idea of my level of fitness, my resting HR is 44.)
Heart Rate Monitor training question
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Heart Rate Monitor training question
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King Tim - off string
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The standard method of calculating your HR max simply gives you a prediction for your age. Some people conform to that prediction (I do, almost exactly), others are nowhere near, although a gradual drop in your HR max as you get older is pretty universal.
So it's perfectly possible for you to max at well over 200. Many moons ago I used to work on the sports science course at what is now Leeds Metropolitan Uni. We were doing heart rate work with a group of elite athletes, one of whom was able to work quite happily at over 210 bpm, and maxed out at over 230. Only around 50% conformed to within a few percent of the prediction.
As far as I can remember, your resting heart rate is irrelevant.
A seed of doubt is that you only achieve 190 on a hill session. If that is the case, it does strike me as unlikely that you would max out in a longer run at so much higher. A tough hill rep session should see you hit your max or close. But if you're watching your monitor, you're not working as hard as you could do.....?!
So it's perfectly possible for you to max at well over 200. Many moons ago I used to work on the sports science course at what is now Leeds Metropolitan Uni. We were doing heart rate work with a group of elite athletes, one of whom was able to work quite happily at over 210 bpm, and maxed out at over 230. Only around 50% conformed to within a few percent of the prediction.
As far as I can remember, your resting heart rate is irrelevant.
A seed of doubt is that you only achieve 190 on a hill session. If that is the case, it does strike me as unlikely that you would max out in a longer run at so much higher. A tough hill rep session should see you hit your max or close. But if you're watching your monitor, you're not working as hard as you could do.....?!
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awk - god
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If you only reach 190 on a hill's session it's probably a monitor glitch to go that high. If it hasn't settled properly or you get interference it can easily get anomalous readings like those ones, I used to get them all the time until I switched to the newer form of Polar strap when I smashed my old HRM. There was a conversation about it on nope a few months ago, can't be bothered to look for it I'm afraid!
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Becks - god
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May depend on how long your reps are. It takes a wee while to reach max heartrate, and if the monitor averages pulse rate over a minute (I don't know if it does - check the manual) it may always include rest/startup sections.
I do know my altimeter is useless when running up/down hills for this reason... always tens of meters behind.
I do know my altimeter is useless when running up/down hills for this reason... always tens of meters behind.
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graeme - god
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Thanks for your responses guys. Interesting stuff. When I said I hit 190 on a hill session, I meant that was the highest I've actually seen it go, but of course I'm not watching it the whole time. The long runs I refered to where I have apparently hit 220 have all included several long hills which I do push hard up, so it could well be recording my real heart rate.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
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King Tim - off string
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as Becks says - you will max in a hill reps session,
even on a long steady hill you are never going to hit max. If you were to run to a max of 220 you could expect to collapse in a heap of lactate jelly - I'm assuming you don't do that several times in a long run..?!
its the monitor - they do it, they also have a low reading glitch - mine is 80something.
even on a long steady hill you are never going to hit max. If you were to run to a max of 220 you could expect to collapse in a heap of lactate jelly - I'm assuming you don't do that several times in a long run..?!
its the monitor - they do it, they also have a low reading glitch - mine is 80something.
If you could run forever ......
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Kitch - god
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I have recently started using a HRM so that I can keep my heart rate low (I'm not supposed to go faster than 130ish) - so I am constantly monitoring it. I often see much more rapid and obviously wrong heart rates in the first few minutes of a run. I am guessing this is because of poor contact on the electrodes until I get sufficiently sweaty.
Next time you do a long hill run take splits for each climb/descent/flat bit and see where the 200+ is occurring.
Next time you do a long hill run take splits for each climb/descent/flat bit and see where the 200+ is occurring.
- Neil M35
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Mine regularly reads 240 which I think is the max the unit can report - it soon settles in to something sensible. While everyone is different, I very much doubt 220 is an attainable heart rate for somebody in their 20's. General theory seems to be to wear it for a while before you train to get it to settle in, but having experimented a bit recently I find this is actually worse because the electrodes dry out.
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FatBoy - addict
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Thanks Alan - you clearly don't sweat enough if your electrodes dry out while training!
(by the way, can you please tell your brother to email me at my tiscali address seeing as my work's server seems to dislike his profanities.)
Neil - I did actually try recordinng splits on a hill session yesterday. That told me that my max was around 197 on a couple of reps. The overall max of 222 that it recorded must have been on either the 10 minute warm-up trot to the hill or on the 15 minute stagger back home afterwards.
(by the way, can you please tell your brother to email me at my tiscali address seeing as my work's server seems to dislike his profanities.)
Neil - I did actually try recordinng splits on a hill session yesterday. That told me that my max was around 197 on a couple of reps. The overall max of 222 that it recorded must have been on either the 10 minute warm-up trot to the hill or on the 15 minute stagger back home afterwards.
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King Tim - off string
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If the reading is high when you first start excercising ensure that the two contact points are nice and wet. A bit of saliva normally works.
It is worth taking the effort to figure out what your actual maximum and resting heart rates are if you want to get the most out of your monitor. There are plenty of quick guides on the web.
It is worth taking the effort to figure out what your actual maximum and resting heart rates are if you want to get the most out of your monitor. There are plenty of quick guides on the web.
- redkite
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I'll tell him if he ever returns my calls. Hey maybe he'll read this and do both.
Yes sweat gets the reading accurate, but the saliva put on before dries out if I put it on too early, resulting in bad readings for the first 5 mins or so until I'm sweating like a pig. Today there was plenty of moisture so I didn't have that problem! Fallen trees across the road were a problem instead.
Yes sweat gets the reading accurate, but the saliva put on before dries out if I put it on too early, resulting in bad readings for the first 5 mins or so until I'm sweating like a pig. Today there was plenty of moisture so I didn't have that problem! Fallen trees across the road were a problem instead.
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FatBoy - addict
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With my Polar heart rate monitors, both have suffered from a very high reading after I have gone near a strong electrical current, i.e pylon. Usually with a max reading about 230. Try using the lap counter at various corners and see if it is happening at a particular point. The chances are there is a pylon nearby.
Hope this helps. Ems Dad
Hope this helps. Ems Dad
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Whenever I cycle alongside the East Coast railway near my house I will hit 109 km/h with a heart rate of 239
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Lil' God'rs - orange
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Em's Dad (I presume that's code for Nigel) - thanks for that. I can't think of any overhead pylons around Bristol, other than the small telegraph cables. Would they have the same effect? I think you might be on to something there though because this evening I did a long run in the woods before running back to my house on road through the city. For the first hour the HR was reading fine, but at some point in the last 20 mins (on road) it recorded 217. I'll keep my eyes looking upwards tomorrow!
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King Tim - off string
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