Cycling UK Forum

Sitting at computer after walking about the house & just typed something about a subject that infuriates me..heart rate 68
I'm going to fit the old Polar HR chest strap and see what my true resting HR is without guessing..lol
My maximal heart rate is 176 bpm, that is 208 -(age x0.7)

Usually around 53.

I'd like to credit cycling but it's always been lowish. I remember being the odd one in the class when we looked at this in A level biology (a while ago now!), but I did do a slow potter 5mile round trip to school.

In a fit of gadget geekery a while ago a bought a heart rate monitor which while I no longer use for exercise, I still use the fitness test occasionally because I still get a kick out it being told that by my age, gender etc I'm rated an elite athlete due to heart rate variability. The height of my sporting career was reserve in the primary school netball team.

Hi,
If you have a low BP and you are not passing out your GP will not give you any treatment, low BP means that you will probably live longer.

If you say you have a low HR then the GP will just say you are fit, assuming you have no other symtoms which problemmatic.
I am sure if you are woried about it then the GP will give further tests.

Regular cyclist need not apply and all evidence says that if you are used to high HR then thats OK.

The age calculation means nowt.

All these figures are some what academic as we are all different and are working at different rates too.

A HRM is only really usefull for working in zones for training purposes, 50 - 65 % of max HR for health, 65 - 80 % of max HR for fitness.

57

What is a hematocrit level?

Lucyhan wrote:What is a hematocrit level?

"haematocrit" this side of the pond. According to wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematocrit it's the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood, and the average for men is 45% and for women 40%. Now whether men have more red blood cells or just larger ones I don't know. There maybe some relationship between blood pressure, heart rate and haematocrit level according to some articles on the web. http://www.biosbcc.net/doohan/sample/htm/Blood%20cells.htm and http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/20/3/319.full.pdf
You learn something everyday.

Haemocrit carries oxygen to the muscles,higher H/crit level more oxygen so better performance,hence why pro riders seek to raise the level,sometimes illegally.

Hi,
Do you think if you can afford it that training at altitude / reduced oxygen tent which raises the hematocrit level in morally OK

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Do you think if you can afford it that training at altitude / reduced oxygen tent which raises the hematocrit level in morally OK

Define morals!

A colleague just showed me an app on his iphone that can read your heart rate, by holding your finger over the camera on the back. It seems to think my resting rate is 49 bpm, and my colleague thinks I'm about to die! (His is about 80 bpm)

I guess with the amount of cycling I do (average 150 miles a week), I'm fairly fit, but I wasn't expecting it to be that low. I don't have a heart rate monitor, and so I've never measured it before.

I was wondering what resting heart rates all you other cyclists had?

Hi,
You have answered your own question, your mate (80) is high for a man
I remember when I used to run just over five miles in my dinner hour, once it was 85 two hours after, I thought that was high.

Our heart rates go down as we get older so to compare two peoples resting heart rate they need to be of similar age, Rhodrich, are you and your colleague the same age? I am not a medical professional but guessing that a heart rate in the 80's is not too bad for a twenty something. Of course if Rhodrich is only 20 something may as well tell the Sky team you are available.

Lucyhan wrote:Our heart rates go down as we get older..........

Mine didn't,in my forties and early fifties it was regularly 40bpm,it's now in the mid to high 40's

82bhp.

60, 47 years old and a iffy ticker, apparently