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I had a weird conversation with my wife today (in other words an argument).
I went for a great ride on the South Downs with a friend. About 3 hours and quite intense. I arrived home and both her and my daughter thought I was surprisingly out of breath (not different from the usual).
I pushed quite hard up to the point where I got home and went straight upstairs where they were.
I am 47 with mild asthma (that rarely manifest itself).
She reckons I push myself too hard and I will have a heart attack.
I did push quite hard but I felt great and totally within my level of fitness.
One thing though : the last mile was in fairly heavy traffic. Not sure if pollution is at play or if it would trigger asthma.
Should I take it easier ?
No, Do the exact opposite, It gets you out of the house, You see the countryside, meet other people, It will get you fit and will keep you fit. it keeps you out of the Wife & kids way and whilst they are upsatirs indoors you are out enjoying yourself.
If you are that concerned First of all see your Doctor and then stay away from heavy traffic.
Your body is pretty good at stopping you before you have a heart attack..
You can only push yourself so hard before anaerobic respiration kicks in and you crack (watch a mountain race stage of a grand tour and watch the pros crack after too much effort)..
Pushing yourself is good for your fitness and makes you stronger..
Your wife should be pleased you are out getting some exercise and having fun.. not drinking / smoking / down the pub etc
What they said, plus exercise and social playing out excellent for your mental wellbeing.
Absolutely not, sounds like your wife is just a bit worried about you.
I think at 47 if you had a pre-disposition to cardiac trouble you'd have gone back to the mud before now.
How long have you been riding for? If it's for years and years, and your wife is alarmed at your condition, then that's definitely worth paying attention to. If you're newer to it then likely your wife is just talking bobbins as she doesn't know what's involved.
I too have mild asthma and wearing my heartrate monitor today on a long (7 hour) MTB ride I was quite concerned to note that my HR was consistently about 20 BPM higher then both my riding companions. I put this down to my lungs being inefficient meaning that the heart has to pump harder and faster to move the same amount of oxygen around my body of that of a non asthmatic person. The result must be that my heart (being nothing more than a muscle) is super fit and in tip top condition and I am therefore far LESS likely to have a heart attack than others whose hearts don't have to work as hard 🙂
Your body is pretty good at stopping you before you have a heart attack..
Evidence would suggest otherwise sadly
OP if necessary buy a heart monitor and tell your wife you will keep an eye on it and not overdo it. As for asthma thats more tricky re pollution but I would have to think the excersize is good for your lung capacity, my wife suffers amd certainky damp cold air is bad for her but I wouold think any stress would show in the heartbeat.
I would bet that if you really were ill then there would be other symptoms present that you weren't expecting, or you were taking a lot longer to recover than expected.
crack on 🙂
^ None of the above people are medically trained*. Potentially, yes, repeated sessions of prolonged high-intensity threshold aerobic exercise could be bad for you in the longer term. Then again, it might not. All depends on your genes and their proclivities.
* Neither am I, but it was suggested to me by a cardiologist that, having had a couple of bouts of exercised-induced atrial fibrillations, I should take it a bit easier, from time to time, as opposed to hammering it out for hours. Some advice that I probably regularly fail to do.
Look up papers on endurance athletes and incidence of heart problems (long term AF) - there's plenty of studies into this phenomenon. The body is simply not adapted to be able to push it as hard, or as long as some of us might like to do again and again for years and years.
Then again, you might be alright... 😉
Ianad.
It sounds like you're in great nick, keep it up.
Look up papers on endurance athletes and incidence of heart problems (long term AF) - there's plenty of studies into this phenomenon. The body is simply not adapted to be able to push it as hard, or as long as some of us might like to do again and again for years and years.
That only really applies to a handful of people, though. People who do hundreds of miles a week may well be putting themselves at risk of some problems (E.g. AF), but they're also less likely to have an MI / hypertension / stroke etc.
Most people on here do not fit into that category anyway, and most people in general should do more exercise than they do. I would be disappointed if people sat on a couch instead of riding because they didn't want to overdo it, and I think advocating doing less exercise is likely to be wrong for 99% of people.
IAAD
As with everything, if you're worried, speak to your doctor.
I'm not sure how a heart rate monitor would be useful?
Hey Welshfarmer. You should never compare your heart rate to someone else's, especially the actual BPM at a specific time. We're all different (luckily)and a straight comparison is meaningless.
She reckons I push myself too hard and I will have a heart attack.
Unfit people have heart attacks when they push themselves hard and aren't used to it. And people with actual faulty hearts.
People who are fit tend not to.
I was quite concerned to note that my HR was consistently about 20 BPM higher then both my riding companions.
It's nothing. Heart rates are entirely personal, range of heart rates is dictated by the relative size of atria and ventricles or some such statistic and it's genetic. Myself and a mate ride together and are not that different in performance; he will be riding at about 110bpm to my 160bpm at the same pace. He can't go over 150bpm though whereas I can top 182 flat out.
It might aid your recovery if you backed off 10min before home and tapered to a slow plod gradually.
Is this a case of you going on STW looking for reasons for why MTB is good for you while she goes on Mumsnet looking for reasons why MTB is going to drive you to an early grave. 😆
Suggest this might be a case of letting her know that you will take her thoughtful words to heart and be careful while explaining that MTB is important for de-stressing you and keeping you fit.
Tapering at the end of the ride, or even better taking a pit stop after the ride to refuel and recover would mean you arrive back home in a better state.
A HRM might not be particularly useful for guarding against cardiac arrest but it does sound like an awesome opportunity to show that you are thinking of your beloveds concerns and get a new toy to play with at the same time.
After a bit of familiarisation a HRM is a useful indicator as to how hard you are pushing yourself on a ride - i.e. if your usual tempo 3hr ride you do 150BPMish but mate is already pushing the pace to 170BPMish within the first few miles then this metric can bring to mind that you need ask them to ease off the pace; rather than you trying to meet their pace and struggling for the last hour.
Carrying an inhaler as a just in case measure could give your beloveds some reassurance.
qwerty - Member
It might aid your recovery if you backed off 10min before home and tapered to a slow plod gradually.
Perhaps via the pub?
advocating doing less exercise is likely to be wrong for 99% of people.
I wasn't avocating doing less exercise - the OP was referring to intensity of exercise (for sustained periods) - for which I've had some personal experience - and received medical advice. The whole long term AF thing in athletes is something to be mindful of... That's all. Sure, go out for a ride, but consider that if you are regularly pushing your body's limits for sustained periods (hours), you run a reasonable risk of picking up long term AF in later life. I've ridden with someone who has this - and had a few 'warning' signs myself.
Like I suggested - you might all have great genes 😀
Myself: essential hypertension, two bouts of exercise induced AF and a very fit cyclist father who died of a heart attack while running age 63.
I'm 39.
His'n'hers ebikes
Yes it is.
You should give me your bikes. Now. It's the only way to save yourself. Think of your children.
I'm not sure how a heart rate monitor would be useful?
Because it will show you how much stress you are putting on your heart. No its not the be all and end all of information but its a very important indicator. OP it will reassure your wife and be useful info for you too.
Crazy idea I know, but have you thought about going to a trained medical doctor who specializes in these things and getting professional advice on whether you are actually at risk of a heart attack?
How's about a replacement sandbag...
I got home from a longish, hardish road ride the other day and the next door neighbour was on the drive, she asked me a couple of times if I was OK, and seem quite concerned.
I didn't feel any better/worse than normal, maybe I just look worse than I feel. 😉
I'm 51, have an annual medical and my risk of having a heart-attack in the next 10 years is estimated at less than 1%. According to some on here my risk of dropping-dead is somewhat higher. I did a ride on the Southdowns on Saturday, only it was 10 hours and the argument with my wife after was whether I could have planned it better so I wasn't late for my dinner... 😯
Just point out that she doesn't know what the hell she's talking about. It'll be fine after that
Thanks for all the feedback guys - I think it was just nagging from the wife who got a bit emotional as it was my daughter who "spotted it" (whatever it was). They've been pestering me to get a routine health check for months anyway.
So I booked one for next week anyway. I haven't seen a doctor for about 15 years...
I have never felt so fit on the bike as I have been gymming for a few months on interval training. But I take the argument that my legs might be too good for my breathing (I have been MTBing for 20 years+ on and off and I do believe in "muscle memory" effect).
The advice of a cool down is totally right, not sure why I felt the need to hammer it until the last yard...pretty stupid of me.
I do feel a bit wheezy with slight asthma obstruction so will monitor peak flow, I might have a cold.
The other factor might also be my gearing as I recently changed my 32 single ring for a 34 while still running the same 10-speed 12-34 cassette.
not sure why I felt the need to hammer it until the last yard...pretty stupid of me.
Maybe because of the universal rule of he who arrives back at the car first wins 😆
nick, I think you're right about the emotional aspect, I think all the other stuff's a bit secondary.
Seeing someone at full exertion can be pretty alarming if you're not used to seeing it, even more so if you're not the sort of person who likes to go that hard themselves.
My wife's fairly active, runs, bit of yoga, mtb and road, but she's not interested in pushing it into the red. If we're out together and I've decided to hammer up a hill, I'll be recovered by the time she gets to the top, so she never sees me really blowing.
The only times she has done were years ago when we did circuits together a couple of times, and more recently when I've got a turbo trainer. She's expressed alarm each time about how hard I'm pushing.
Your daughter saw her dad suffering and she didn't like it. I think that's it in a nutshell. Knocking it back on the last few hundred metres is probably going to be a more straightforward solution than trying to explain to your nearest and dearest that you love suffering!
Aside from all that, it's got to be a good idea to knock it back in heavy traffic. I always do if it's fumey.
Good luck for the health check too!
I think it was just nagging from the wife who got a bit emotional as it was my daughter who "spotted it" (whatever it was).
Never underestimate the ability of others to spot things you don't. Might be worth asking your daughter what she spotted and doing the health check for peace of mind. Chances are it's just a bit of over-worrying - my missus does it all the time and I switch off.
On the other hand, mother-in-law noticing father-in-laws painful indegestion ended up in an ICU stay and 5 stents being placed in arteries.
Father in law is fine now but was surprised as he keeps fit and wasn't exppecting any health issues.
Only the docs know for sure.