Login required to started new threads

Login required to post replies

Heart Rate Zones
Quote | Reply
I'm reading "IronFit - Triathlon Training for Women" and one chapter mentions heart rate zones. It states that:

.... the '220 Minus Your Age' formula was based on males and not females .... and due to generally slightly higher MHR for women .... the formula is often adjusted slightly to '226 Minus Your Age' for women."

So, for my case, my maximum heart rate estimate would be around 226-38 .... 188.

The book then goes on to state:

.... because cycling stresses our bodies in different ways than running (eg. sitting vs standing and more balanced vs less balanced), our heart rates for cycling are usually about 5% lower than our running heart rate zones."

So, for my case, my maximum heart rate estimate .... for cycling .... would be around 178.6.

The book does not mention anything about heart rate zones for swimming.

So, what's the general consensus on the Forum .... do you all adjust your heart rate numbers for specific activities? If so, how does swimming play a role? I have a Garmin 920xt, and I can change my running, cycling, and swimming heart rate zones in Garmin Connect. Is this something that you all do, or have done? Should I change my cycling numbers compared to my running numbers? And swimming?

Also, the 188 seems high to me .... if I leave it as '220 Minus Your Age' (without a gender specific formula) then it's 182, which seems more reasonable to me. Should I be adjusting based on my female gender?

Thanks for any help! :-)
Quote Reply
Re: Heart Rate Zones [FiveBlessings] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
The 220-age maxim is not at all helpful in my experience. It may get you in a ballpark, but the variable is 'you' and your level of fitness.

Accurate and repeated testing of your actual capacity is what counts.

Yes, generally speaking your HR is highest while running, 10-15 beats lower when cycling, and another 15-20beats lower when swimming.

Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com
Quote Reply
Re: Heart Rate Zones [ABarnes] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Thanks for the reply .... so I should go ahead and start with 100% maximum heart rate for running; around 95% of maximum heart rate when cycling; and around 90% of maximum heart rate when swimming .... to set my zones?

I was guessing the "# minus age" formula had flaws, but I needed a starting point since I'm new to all this. :-)

Thank you again the reply and any other help/suggestions others may have.
Quote Reply