Any practical advice to reduce heart rate?

[Rich_S]

Hi Everyone,

I've been cycling for about 2 years, last year managed my 1st 100 miles (flat) so rewarded myself with a nice carbon road bike in the Autumn end of season sales. I've done a few routes since then - but feel I can increase my output if I can get my heart rate down.

I currently average a heart rate of 165 - 175 over a 1-3 hour ride.

I've heard the term 'you've got to get slower to get faster' - A friend recommended the 'Lance Armstrong Performance Program' - Has anyone got any practical experience of this? I've bought the book but I'm waiting for the sun to come out before I take it seriously.

Any advice welcome!

[LollyKat]

A friend recommended the 'Lance Armstrong Performance Program'

I'm not sure what effect EPO has on the heart rate.



(sorry - I'll get my coat...)

[Paulatic]

Your figures don't mean a lot without knowing your max and min HR. Also your age will come into it too. I'm 63 min HR 42 max is 164.
I like to do the majority of my riding around 105 which puts me my zone 2. I believe, others might disagree, this builds up my fitness and increases my endurance stamina.
When I rode Audax aged fifty I would try never to go over 125 and sit around 110 most of the time.
I imagine riding 3hrs at your HR must leave you feeling quite tired? Did you hold that rate for your century too?

[Malaconotus]

How fast are you going?

[Vorpal]

Bike Radar had this getting started article last year... http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... sts-28838/

[fluffybunnyuk]

If you can get it to spike to 250-300 for a bit I'm fairly sure it'll almost immediately reduce down to zero...
not sure if it helps you though?
On a more serious note I found that riding at 65-70% of MHR suits me just fine over long distance...thats about 130-140 for me. and 190-200 going up hills. I asked a heart specialist if it was ok....he said i need to go out ride more hills ....sadist...

[Rich_S]

Your figures don't mean a lot without knowing your max and min HR. Also your age will come into it too. I'm 63 min HR 42 max is 164.
I like to do the majority of my riding around 105 which puts me my zone 2. I believe, others might disagree, this builds up my fitness and increases my endurance stamina.
When I rode Audax aged fifty I would try never to go over 125 and sit around 110 most of the time.
I imagine riding 3hrs at your HR must leave you feeling quite tired? Did you hold that rate for your century too?

I'm 30, with a max HR of 195
I took it a bit steady for the century - averaged 163 (it was a very flat ride)

How fast are you going?

In the summer I was averaging 19 on a 1 hour ride, or 18mph over a 50 mile ride

Bike Radar had this getting started article last year... http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... sts-28838/

Thanks I'll take a look


Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Rich

[Rich_S]

If you can get it to spike to 250-300 for a bit I'm fairly sure it'll almost immediately reduce down to zero...
not sure if it helps you though?
On a more serious note I found that riding at 65-70% of MHR suits me just fine over long distance...thats about 130-140 for me. and 190-200 going up hills. I asked a heart specialist if it was ok....he said i need to go out ride more hills ....sadist...

- Then all of my problems would be over

So, if you were me, you'd be averaging 125bpm (ish) - How do I get there?

[fluffybunnyuk]

So, if you were me, you'd be averaging 125bpm (ish) - How do I get there?

go slower...ride longer... i'm 41 and as soon as i touch my bike before i get on it my heart jumps to 130...i think its a conditioned response...
The long and short is vary your exercise, and route. Hill climbs one day,long distance another, and speedy gonzalez another with a rest day.
Im older and also doubt my heart is as healthy as yours for one reason or another. anyway i did 198 this morning going up the hill next to greenwich park so i dont believe the standard formula for a second. This is normal for me, so i felt fine.

fast isnt necessarily good. unless your really in a hurry to get someplace... better is exercise in the required zone...

I can do london-brighton-london sameday in jeans and sweatop after 18months of cycling, without too many worries. I do need a large cod&chips though, and a couple litres of drink before i turn around. I aim for 15mph loaded with touring gear.

[NUKe]

Personally unless your a racing pro or have aspirations to be one, I'd throw the heart rate monitor in the bin. As per LollyKats comment( Brilliant by the way), Lance just cheated. Unless there is something wrong with heart and lung function, heart rate is regulated by the body to get the right amount of oxygen, If you change it artificially you will have also sort of affects on the body and brain. That said training at altitude enriches the blood and then when you come down to lower altitudes your heart rate is lower as the blood has more platelets. Chris Boardman and More recently guy martin have created oxyen deplated roons to turbo train in to recreate this affect.

Throw the heart rate monitor away and stop worrying

[Mark1978]

Hi Everyone,

I've been cycling for about 2 years, last year managed my 1st 100 miles (flat) so rewarded myself with a nice carbon road bike in the Autumn end of season sales. I've done a few routes since then - but feel I can increase my output if I can get my heart rate down.

I currently average a heart rate of 165 - 175 over a 1-3 hour ride.

I've heard the term 'you've got to get slower to get faster' - A friend recommended the 'Lance Armstrong Performance Program' - Has anyone got any practical experience of this? I've bought the book but I'm waiting for the sun to come out before I take it seriously.

Any advice welcome!

I think you're looking at it from the wrong direction. It isn't your heart rate you need to focus on, it's your fitness.

The ride slower thing is for two reasons, firstly increased proportion of fat burning at that level, but mostly that if you keep your heart rate below a certain threshold then you'll be able to cycle much further, thus increasing your endurance fitness. However for outright speed then high heart rate workouts like intervals is what you're looking at.

So to answer your question, how do you get a lower heart rate average on your ride - just put in less effort, it's really that simple. You need to balance out that less effort with longer duration, obviously.

Throw the heart rate monitor away and stop worrying

Several occasions I've thought about getting a cycling computer which displays heart rate and cadence etc, I did so even recently, got a Garmin 810 - but I'm about to send it back because it's not necessary, I know when I'm working hard and when I'm not, and my main aim is covering a distance not particularly bothered about how fast I do it. I still use a HRM connected to my phone for post ride analysis but I can't see that when I'm riding.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/h ... sts-28838/
""The problem with HR training is that it requires discipline. The bigger problem is that it demands even more humility. Last September, when I embarked on what I’d decided would be my final attempt to use an HR monitor properly, I was only a few weeks into my programme when I very nearly threw the towel in. I was doing a four-hour base-building session and trying to keep my HR between 121-131bpm when I heard whistling behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see a bloke on an ancient Dawes touring bike complete with tatty old panniers coming past. Then I noticed the sandals… "

I would normally train at 80% Max HR
Long day rides you simply could not maintain that.................or you are very fit..............your young (you are).........some details are wrong like Max HR How do you work that out, its actually rather difficult and hard work.
Returning from sickness that's six weeks off the bike rendered me at 86 % Max HR and slower too, so there it is that unfit is high.
But remember that we are all different so sort your zones out and then decide on your training and what its for
At 30 odd I was no club rider but could manage over 200 bpm easy so your max might be off / or you need to get fitter................

"I’ll always remember that day as the day I learnt to train properly with a monitor, and it’s fair to say that I’m a convert: I’ve been training with one religiously for 12 months and the improvements in my cycling are obvious. I’m fitter, faster, leaner and stronger. What’s more, blokes in sandals don’t blast past me any more."

[Rich_S]

Sounds like it's going to be a slow ride this weekend.

Thanks guys!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Sounds like it's going to be a slow ride this weekend.

Thanks guys!

Only applicable if you aim is to fat burn
I spent all last year on a 50 Ib MTB bike, road course with 20 % off road lots of stop starts and a couple of step hills thrown in, all at 80 % Max HR.
For me this has been my best training...................for road endurance on a road bike.
Its thought that working in one zone improves the other as you sway in and out of zones.
I don't think it needs to be religiously sticking to a particular HR.

[The fat commuter]

Which bit of you is holding you back? Is it your aerobic capacity or your power or something else?

Are you out of breath when you train or is it that you haven't got enough strength? If you are training with an elevated heart rate at the level that you say you are then I would say that you maybe need to look at other aspects of your training.

Someone else has mentioned varying your training regime. See if you can find a long gentle slope. This is easier in some parts of the UK than others. Where I live in Sheffield about half of my eight mile ride home is up a constant uphill slope - that's about four miles of continual uphill. I can use this for strength training for legs - obviously also raises my heart rate. Going the other way, I can pedal with little load on my legs but fast - improves my aerobic capacity. Also look at fartlec interval training.

There is more than just cardio to think about with training. I'm no sports scientist but I'm sure that there are things like how much glycogen your muscles can store. How easily can they get rid of lactic acid.

I'm wondering whether strength training at a gym maybe of some use.

One question, I'm assuming that you're not carrying around excess weight because I know first hand that that makes for a slow ride.