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Just looking at the results from a zwift tt I did and in general heart rates seem lower than mine for similar effort.
I'm 43, max hr of 185. Average about 170-175 in a tt at full pelt, and about 160 when at around 80 % of ftp for 90 min-2 hrs
According to Dr coggan's zones that seems to be correct, but doesn't tie in with what I seen on zwift leaderboards and strava.
Post CV19, I can't get above 175. Usually, 185 or so.
Age 61.
No idea who Dr. Coggan is and FTP is a means of transferring data over the Internet.
in general heart rates seem lower than mine for similar effort.
So? We are all unique in that respect, your HR is specific to your body, metabolism, surroundings, ambient temp, core temp, effort level etc.
Comparing it is not a validation.
163-166bpm is race 2-4hr race effort fwiw.
Yes pointless to compare HR with others.
Unless it's resting, cos I used to win that one.
Age 34
203bpm is the absolute max I've seen recently (last week)at the end of a crit.
Historical data shows I've seen 210 on a few occasions in races(going back 15 years) ....and it really is a rare occasion when I've turned my self inside out pushing for some reason or other .
While it's not compatible I have noticed that my hr is significantly higher than most others when you look at the ZP data after events.
I do wonder if folk are using their optical hr watches to transmit (shows low at hard efforts consistantly for me)
Another aspect is that some of the freakishly low numbers you see higher up the boards may be sandbaggers keeping their 20min power low and pushing on the 5 and 15 second numbers to do well but fly under the radaron the 20 min power (the one zwift sets your cat off currently)
We are all unique in that respect, your HR is specific to your body, metabolism, surroundings, ambient temp, core temp, effort level etc.
Comparing it is not a validation.
Yeah, but when you've bought every possible performance upgrade and tried every possible training plan and you're still a loser, it's natural to look for an excuse.
I don't have zwift or power meters or know what an ftp is to be honest, but I do have an HR monitor and my Wahoo telling me that on every ride I do, (10 mile or the MTB or 50 on the road) my HR averages nothing less than 155-165 when riding, max's out around 192.
For context I'm 48, 77kg and pretty fit and healthy. Went through a load of tests last year and was found to be fine by the local hospital after having some pretty painful episodes down the left hand side and chest.
I've got a mate I occasionally ride with who's 61 and av's around 140, he's a bit overweight and not riding anywhere near as much as me.
Similar to OP - max 182 although I go a bit steadier on the TTs. 165 or so wouldl be typical avg.
Avg is generally a bit lower on zwift as I generally can't be arsed with a proper warm up so it starts low and rises. IRL you're usually quite hyped up on the start line so will be starting with a decent HR.
Got beaten in a crit yesterday on zwift by a lad averaging 5.6 W/Kg at 120 bpm 🙂 So there's plenty of nonsense out there - even then some people can have really surprisingly low HR.
Wasn't sure what my max HR was, turns out you can find it from Veloviewer. Higher than I thought - seems I can hit 195 when sprinting (running) and sustained above 190 for 2.5 minutes on the final straight of Sa Calobra in Mallorca.
Anyway - max is apparently about 193 on the bike. Seems I can do about 75% of FTP (225w) for about 2.5 hours, though that's based on a sportive where i recall i was trying most of the way round - rare I really push hard for over an hour.
If i'm trying for a shortish KOM on strava, above 180 HR would be fairly normal to sustain.
As Kryton says, an irrelevant comparison between individuals. My best man and I are similar builds with similar resting HR but our HR profile during efforts is completely different: mine will rise rapidly with even moderate effort but then rise more slowly whereas his is constant.
I've seen a sustained max of 178 with a peak of 180 when on a bike but I've no idea if it's my true maximum. I'm 61.
I asked this question a while back. I was comparing to someone who does less riding than me but can ride 100 mile on mixed surface at 12mph avg and hardly leave zone 2. I can sustain that sort of avg for maybe 50 miles but I will spending almost all my time in zone 3/4 doing it.
It bothered me for a while, then I moved onto something else.
Similar to you OP, I'm a few years older though.
Low 180s max.
160-170 when going hard
130-140 steady climbing or cruising on flat
Then 170+ when going for a Strava time on MTB descents.
My max HR is about 188, I can get into the 170's on a strong effort, over 180 is an all out effort and I don't think I've seen that level for a while.
When running I can stay at 145-150 for a an hour or more. Longer runs over 10k I try and keep my HR down under 150 if I can, usually averages 155 or so. Cycling is a bit easier, a normal ride with no massive climbs would be 130ish average.
My resting HR according to my Garmin forerunner is 38-41 (confirmed by taking a manual count).
I'm 38 and 78kg or so, 6ft 3in - so "lean" 😁
Max I’ve ever seen is 206 on a ramp test, don’t normally hit anywhere near that.
Normal max on a road ride/zwift race is mid to high 180s. Ftp gives me about 165-170ish average in the last (and only) 2 zwift races I’ve done is 183 and 184bpm.
My resting HR is in the mid 40s
Some people just have much lower heart rate. I’ve watched a few Lionel Sanders videos after learning about him and his absolute max is in the 160bpm range so his threshold is much lower than mine, but his power is loads higher.
Mine hasn't been above 161 this year on a chest strap, I'm 54
Below 120 feels easy. I can get above 140 for a chunk of time
But I'll be way less fit than most here
Age 47 and pretty bike fit. Max is early 190s which I regularly hit on
bunch rides or races. Last year my average was 175/180 in a 10 TT.
47 here, max is about 185, average 'going hard' on the road pace is about 165-170. Interestingly to your question, it's generally lower on the trainer than outdoors.
As mentioned above, HR is not a good metric for comparison as it's completely dependent on physiology, time of day, how recently you ate/drank/poo'ed, whether you are ill, getting ill, been recently ill and temperature.
Only thing to really measure performance with on a consistant basis is power and even then you can't compare with others as power meter/smart trainer power readings vary from one to the next, you can only really use it to measure your own performance delta's.
Every time this comes up there is always big difference in the individual person. When I've seen figures for my own age group they can be as much as 40-50bpm different.
My max is 186bpm and I can ride for well over an hour 170bpm, I'll be 70 in a few months but they are just numbers for me to work with.
Only time I've got into this was battle on the beach. Completely blew up after one lap the first year I did it. Thought it would be worth trying to work out how to have myself.
Turns out I can push hard, bouncing off lactic burn, 175 ish for about 45 mins, but then it's bonk city. If I keep it hovering at or just below 170, I can keep going for a few hours.
smug b*stards
😉
I could still get over 200 well into my 40s, but since passing 50 it's more like in the 190s and probably as much to do with training for longer, endurance events rather than road racing and CX where you'd spend an hour at between 190 and 195, with the 190bpm the 'recovery' My current RHR is about 38. Comparing yourself to others can be a bit pointless, as it's like the difference between a high-revving, small capacity engine vs a long-stroke diesel - they might both have the same rated power output, but very different ways of delivering it.
46 here, I've hit 189bpm recently, I've got 194bpm listed as my max but couldn't say when in last ~40 months that was.
My LTHR is ~162bpm, was ~175bpm again a few months back.
Max I've reached in past 3 yrs or so has been 172
I could merrily ride at 155 for a long stretch - at least an hour - but couldn't get above that for very long at all until I had to back off
Since COVID I've kept myself to a strictish limit of 150 (dropped out of one of weeksy's rides when I couldn't hold below that) as I want to be fit but strong as a bit of an at-risker
It'll be interesting to see where I get back to if/when I start going harder again
46 yo. Current resting HR is 42/43.
I've not seen above 179 in the last 18 months of tracking, and that was recorded interval training on a machine in the gym.
Typical ball park off-road averages are 140 ish, but as we all know its really spiky off-roading.
170 max 168 is an average max
145 average over a ride
46 years old, if pushing hard enough to throw up on the bike 172 max, 45 resting.
However in the month after I was ill with whatever I had and self isolated with I saw over 200 on a fairly relaxed ride with similar numbers for a few rides around that.
Back down to 157 max on the last ride. No big efforts though.
I’m 43, max hr of 185. Average about 170-175 in a tt at full pelt, and about 160 when at around 80 % of ftp for 90 min-2 hrs
I'm similar to you, and from what I understand, that is roughly normal, or average, or whatever you want to call it.
There are plenty of people who can batter our over 200bpm.
But Chris Froome allegedly has a max HR of 165, so it's clearly no indicator of actual performance and means nothing when comparing with others.
Similar. 37yo. Max about 180. 170 ish for a 20 minute. 160+ for an hour or so. 150 is pretty steady.
I wouldn't worry about other peoples heart rates on Zwift. They will be as reliable as their weights.
I think someone up there said it as well but HR is largely personal so you can't compare too much.
It’s just a pump isn’t it? Analogy is a little hand pump to a track pump. 150 pumps to get a road tyre up to pressure with a diddly little hand pump. Say 30 pumps on a beefy track pump. Both do the same job but in a different style.
35 and I've never seen > 187 bpm (even when I was in my 20s).
I've always had a really low resting HR even before I was remotely fit so it sort of makes sense.
for those of us who are a bit older, max efforts aren't as safe in all cases as for younger folks. Just look at Andrew Marr..
I had some problems last year and was diagnosed with non restrictive heart disease, which is common for my age (54) and geography (west of Scotland) even though I eat well and weigh the right amount. My lab max is 193, so on doctors orders I have my Garmin alarms set to keep me largely below threshold, so it beeps at 162. I find it hard not to trigger the alarms when riding off road, much easier to control on road and gravel rides, hence I have gone ebike for proper MTB trails.
Yep, as said above, when I've raced on Zwift my heart rate seemed low compared to my competitors, despite overheating and properly turning myself inside out. Tried different devices and concluded its just the way my heart rate is.
1HR threshold is 178bpm. Max about 187. I'm 52. A lot of variability based on VO2max and basically size.
Sh1te since my ticker threw a con rod
On Beta blockers so very restricted flat out about 140-160
Still... Better than death
Max this year is 184. I'm 36 and 59kg. Usually average about 155 on the mtb with a mixture of hills and easy bits.
Post CV19, I can’t get above 175. Usually, 185 or so
That interesting as I'm fairly similar and although I haven't had cv19 to my knowledge there has been a distinct drop in what I can manage since the start of March
Ramp test 185 or so, although a Crit would be in the 190s (avg in low 180s). Can't get near that max in training, there seems to be a safety valve. Red mist needs to be down.
Optical HR always reads low, as mentioned above.
39, 71kg, Optical HR on Apple Watch. 182 is max recorded. Typical resting is 49. Typical Z2 1 hour commute will be 140bpm at an average speed of 29-31kph. A zone 4 commute would be an average of 163+ with a speed of 34-37kph. I can typically ride at 75-80% of max HR (182) for 3-4 hours.
184BPM, 36yr, 85kg.
That was on Rococorba after averaging 173BPM for 45 minutes. I got similar results 'testing' it on a gradual local climb with a sprint finish.
sustained above 190 for 2.5 minutes on the final straight of Sa Calobra in Mallorca
So you over-cooked it around the loop-di-loop as well did you? Twice I've done the climb and both times have died on that final straight after a 'victorious' smash around the loop...
Wasn’t sure what my max HR was, turns out you can find it from Veloviewer.
Nice, so you can! So my max was actually 185BPM on Els Angels, which makes sense as I knew how to pace that one and was both chasing another mate's time AND trying to outsprint the much faster friend who had started after me and still caught me, he obviously wasn't expecting me to manage a sprint though 😀
So you over-cooked it around the loop-di-loop as well did you? Twice I’ve done the climb and both times have died on that final straight after a ‘victorious’ smash around the loop…
Yep - there were a load of people on it who cheered me on! How could I not bury myself 🙂
Great climb - every car that passed me had people opening the window and yelling "Allez!!"
49yr here. True resting HR is 43-45bpm and max I have hit this year is 188bpm.
Some people have naturally high or naturally low heart rates, I don`t think its anything of a gauge of fitness against others.
Where HR demonstrates fitness is the ability to hit your red zones, and then drop back down BPM quickly ... or to maintain a high HR for significant length of time.