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I'm 40 (just), so using the very rough rule of thumb, my max heart rate is likely to be about 180bpm. (appreciate this is only a guide)
When I first got my HRM, I cained it up a big hill to the point where I was about to explode and the HRM recorded max of 182 so I assumed this was about right.
Recently on the bike I've occasionally got home to see a max of ~210 recorded. These are solo road rides so no interference from other HRM.
Are these rogue readings or could I possibly be hitting these figures?
i very much doubt it.... if you were, you'd know about it.
deleted for bleh factor
I'm 51 and can maintain a heart rate of 170 (my theoretical max) for quite a while. I'm not super fit and I'd be very surprised if I could get my maximum to much over 200 without collapsing.
HRM do have spurious readings sometimes
Mine used to spike as I went very close to a big pylon
Probably rouge readings caused by poor contact with your chest.
Can you view your HR over the length of the ride on your PC and see if the high points make any sense?
For me it will be in the first few minutes until the sweat has formed a decent electrical connection.
I usually get a few rogue readings that are very high at the start of rides. I think it is because it takes a while to start sweating and establish a strong connection with the HRM strap. Also, if you wear synthetic clothes they can build up a static charge which can confuse the HRM strap and cause over readings.
I'm 27 and I have seen my heart rate up to 5 above my theoretical max but never by that much. If you do believe it then I would look at the break down of where it happened and see if you were climbing or over exerting yourself to confirm it.
If it's on a downhill section then its just false data.
I'm 53 and have seen readings in the 190s regularly enough to know that it's not an error, so the 220-age thing can pretty much be ignored.
Theory is just that, theory.
People work differently, and different exercises can reap a different max in my experience, whiich has an obvious effect on the results.
I have a theoretical max of 189, and to be fair, I would struggle to hit that on the bike. I seem to max out around ~180 before the world starts to go fuzzy, however doing a more 'total body' exercise, like squash I can hit 200 before I reach the same point of fuzziness.
I'm 53 and have seen readings in the 190s regularly enough
I'm 53 too and my max is ~195, like you I regularly see 190+
Here's an example from a race two weeks ago. The strap was too loose and dropped down to my waist half way through, but you can also see the high spikes caused by the poor connection.
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No expert, but I have a mate (43) who regulary hits north of 200bpm. On a recent 4hr ride his ave was 175bpm with a max of 220! Check out flamme rouge website, he talks in reasonable detail about high bpm.
I personally would be concerned but as been said before we're all made up different.
On road rides mine regularly goes over 200, often up to 250 but that's because of my Afib!
208 - 0.7 x AGE is the most recent I noticed. Also from the data below, that is a MEAN value. The [b]prediction interval[/b], i.e. range for which an observation is considered to be within the model is about +/- 10-15 bpm. So I'm 44, that gives 207 - 0.7 x 44 = 189, hence anything between about 200 and 178 would be within bounds. 220-44 = 176, so not far away. Original studies didn't have many persons of age for analysis. Hence the prediction may be poor as we age. Abstract is linked from the image for those interested:
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