Is this only with cycling?
Are you fairly new to cycling, or do you not bike very many hours per week? (10 or less?)

If so, pretty normal.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

 
my max HR is 173ish
some of us just have lower heart rates. what matters more is what is your anerobic threshold relative to your max HR? 80€€ percent, 85 percent? the higher the better and that's what will change with these adaptations we call 'fitness'

This is just cycling but even when I was running it wasn't much higher. I cycle between 9-12 hours a week. I was really just curious if it could be limiting me in any way, there isn't much that I can actually do about it I'm guessing.

Generally whatever limiters you have are all improved on in the same way anyway. Ride more.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Your heart rate sounds low. When do you do VO2 sessions are you falling off the bike at the end of 5 minutes?

Only other thing I can think of is chronic fatigue if you've been overtraining for some time and can't get your heart rate above that level.

Wait till you become my age,66 yo! 162 bpm and my heart is totally maxed out. Getting old sucks! The bpm range between zone2 and zone 4 is extremely narrow.

can I ask what cadence you are using? yes it can be a red herring, but lower cadence burns legs more, higher races heart more. If I had to guess, I'd guess your vo2 cadence is in the less than 85rpm range and normal riding in the 70s

I have guessed wrong many times

We do differ, but don't discount the possibility that you're simply not going hard enough. I am in no way trying to suggest that you don't do a lot of work, rather that perhaps you may need to polarize a little more.

I'm very similar to you. 37 year old. Max out 160ish. I've often wondered about but have always performed pretty well. Endurance athlete for over half my life. What is your resting HR range? I'm regularly under 40.

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Arete Endurance

Yes. It does. But it sure beats the alternative!

I usually try to spin between 95-100. When I lower my cadence my HR goes even lower. I don't think it's over training either. My only thought is I'm not pushing hard enough but I absolutely am falling off the bike after 5 minute vo2 max work. I just found it interesting that my HR is so much lower than pretty much everyone I can compare myself to.

I’m a 34 year old male if it matters. //

It does not matter, and comparing your HR to others is apples and oranges, unless you know that you absolutely track with that person. What you probably have is a lower max HR, thus all your zones will be lower. It has "0"% to do with performance. I knew a double world champion who at 20 years old raced in the high 140's and low 150's, winning the world championships. He just had a very low max, in the high 160's, and that as a young 20 something.


Before you do anything to change training, or stress more about this, you need to figure out your max/LT rates. I'm guessing they are in the high 170's/low 180's..

When you lower your cadence and your heart rate goes even lower what happens to your power output?

My HR is similar, at 38 during vo2max workouts on the bike I max at 156, my easy ride HR is 112-115. On the run side, I generally finish 5ks with my HR in the low 160s and my easy run HR is 125-128. Just low all around. My resting HR is also very low, when I am in good shape it generally is 32-34 bpm, and it is almost never above 40. Doesn't seem to either help or hurt in any particular way, just how my body operates. I would guess you are the same.

Spencer?

This sounds exactly like me. Resting HR is right around 40. Recovery rides have me at around 100-105. Good to know that I'm not the only one.

Ha it is spencer, you would go crazy comparing his hr to yours

There is a fair amount of variation in top end heart rates. You're might be a bit on the low, low side, but I know lots of people who bike raced at a high level with HR's not much higher than that.

Question about your post though, you mentioned legs burning. That's not really directly related to HR. Are you gasping for breath at that level? That's the important question. If it's just that your legs hurt then you really aren't going hard enough.

What kind of cadence do you tend to. Higher cadences put more stress on the aerobic system than lower cadences. i.e. pushing a 53x12 up a long climb will make my legs hurt more than it will make my aerobic system work. On the other hand racing up that hill in an appropriate gear in the 90-110 rpm range will work my aerobic system harder.

Some cyclists have a stronger aerobic system (I'm in that camp) and others have a stronger muscular system (bad wording I'm sure). While I might find it easier to push a light gear on a climb, another rider might get dropped doing that but do well by pushing a much larger gear than me.

Hope that helps.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

Has everything to do with your hearts stroke volume. Mine is similar. Max is around 170ish and that me falling on the floor puking. My FTP HR is around 158-160 and Im pushing 330 watts. HR doesn't matter so much. Your heart just pumps more blood "per beat" that someone else with a higher rate that's all. My legs "burn up" as well long before my HR gets into my racing pace (FTP) My cardio is more than my legs can handle at this time in the season. As I start to increase the intensity with hard efforts and races, the legs eventually catch up. Im 48 and my resting HR ranges from 34-38 at the lowest but I usually check it at work after coffee and breakfast then it goes up to 42 -50

I am in your camp also... My max heart rate tested was 170. zone 2 sits at 128-138. Most of my friends when we do zone 2 runs laugh at my heart rate as they are sitting in the high 140's - 150's for zone 2. When I am racing all out on the bike I may peek in to 160s on the flats and 164 on a hill before I feel that sudden wave of nausea. Just like the others when i do a true resting HR i am in the low 40's and always get the double take at the Dr's office when it comes to my HR.

I use to worry it was too low to do well but my coach assured me that people are just different and it has no determining factor on how fast you can/will go

That seems really low for VO2 max stuff. I did a 20' effort last week on the trainer and my HR hit 188 for the last minute or more. I regularly hit above 170 when riding hard on the trainer for a longer period of time. Threshold stuff it usually stays below 170 - low 160's even. Maybe my small fan doesn't help with the overheating effect. Is there something wrong with me? Yikes.

Your heart likely does more per pump then someone who has a hr max of 200 and hits 185 all day in workouts. Seems a good thing not a bad thing.

^^^^ yes. The heart pumps more effecientcy at slower rates. Reason why is when pumping at a slower rate the ventricle has time to completely fill

I'd be more concerned with the 135-150 range most of the time and barely cracking 160 all out. Sounds like you might be riding too hard most of the time.

I think I have a 70-80 bpm differential between most of the time riding and 5 min all out.