Here’s what got me in a quandry. Last night I went for a ride with a few friends. My neighbor and I both decided to wear are brand new Timex S+D heart rate monitors. He’s 38 and I’m 36.
We were riding the same route and I’m in better shape than him, going up the hills faster and with less effort, then everytime we called out what our heart rate was, I was always at least 10-15 beats faster than him.
Does this mean anything? I know it’s very unscientific but it did make us wonder.
It means that your heart rate was higher. That’s all.
Actual heart rate is very personal. What is more important is your heart rate relative to max / AT heartrate, as a %age.
i trained with a guy who had a max around 228. he could cruise all day at 190. my max is 194
I will start by saying that I’m not an expert and that these are just my opinions.
Heart rate is an indicator of intensity and not of fitness. It will vary from person to person and even from day to day. When I say indicator I mean it can be used as an approximation of effort, but it is not gospel.
A lot of factors can influence heart rate. Some examples my be the amount of sleep you’ve had, hydration, how fueled you are, injuries and sickness. There are many more but those are from the top of my head. You may find that the better shape you are in, the lower your HR may be, but just because it is lower that someone else’s it doesn’t mean your in better shape.
Your heart rate numbers are just for you and shouldn’t be compared to anyone else to see if you are more or less fit. I know plenty of people with higher HRs than mine that are much more fit.
My 2 cents
jaretj
Stroke volume is different among people. Smaller heart has to pump faster to get the same amount of blood to the muscles.
Ken Lehner