I used a HRM a few years ago and established training zones based on my self-tested LT and max HR. Two years later I am thinking about using the HRM again. I plan on retesting myself to see how my zones may have changed. So here is the question: do heart rate measurements change much over the years with increased fitness? How much of a change could I expect to see if, for example, over the two years I have improved from 8:00 miles to 7:00 miles at the same effort?
I used a HRM a few years ago and established training zones based on my self-tested LT and max HR. Two years later I am thinking about using the HRM again. I plan on retesting myself to see how my zones may have changed. So here is the question: do heart rate measurements change much over the years with increased fitness? How much of a change could I expect to see if, for example, over the two years I have improved from 8:00 miles to 7:00 miles at the same effort?
Heart rate zones do not change based on increased fitness. As you become fitter, you will be able to go faster within the same zones. Heart rate zones do however change as you get older.
Heart rate zones do not change based on increased fitness. As you become fitter, you will be able to go faster within the same zones. Heart rate zones do however change as you get older.
I disagree, from personal experience. Having done some decent endurance work since I came into tri (I am still a short course athlete), my RHR and maxHRs have decreased, even within a year. My RHR has dropped from 42 to 35 and my max HR (run) has fallen from 196 to 188 - both over the space of about 3 years (that’s 3 years of tough enough training!). This, I understand, is due to my heart growing larger from all the training.
Heart rate zones do not change based on increased fitness. As you become fitter, you will be able to go faster within the same zones. Heart rate zones do however change as you get older.
I disagree, from personal experience. Having done some decent endurance work since I came into tri (I am still a short course athlete), my RHR and maxHRs have decreased, even within a year. My RHR has dropped from 42 to 35 and my max HR (run) has fallen from 196 to 188 - both over the space of about 3 years (that’s 3 years of tough enough training!). This, I understand, is due to my heart growing larger from all the training.
You are three years older. I would expect both your mHR and rHR to drop. In your case, your max hr has dropped by 8 beats. I suspect that your max HR is higher than 188 if it was really 196 three years ago, though now somewhat lower than 196. Testing max hr is very difficult to do and even very tough to approximate (as well as not healthy). With respect to resting hr, resting hr can improve with fitness, however it also decreases as you age. I do not calculate hr zones based on resting hr, though there are methods for calculating hr zones based on mhr and rhr…
Regarding the changing of HRs with age, your reasoning would mean that if my rate of change is sustained, my RHR would be 0 in 15 years. 3 years is not a significant amount of time to have seen such a change in heart beats, which is where training comes into play.
My max HRs have been tested in the lab and I am confident they are correct. Initially, I was suprised and confused of getting a “lower” results but my physiologist explained that this is a common side effect of having an enlarged heart from training. My RPE wrt HR zones have all shifted consistently with these changes (ie 5-8 beats lower), something I have been concerned about when racing but now I am not alarmed when my race running steady state HRs might have been 180 - 184 and is now 174 - 178.
Consequently, I feel my HR changes are related to training … or else I might be dead soon!!
I’d say you would want to retest the LT value and ignore the max value entirely. In my opinion, since LT heart rate can vary with fitness, for the better and worse, it makes sense to me to establish HR zones on current LT.
I started with triathlon at 43 and am now just shy of 58. I got my first HRM at 45, and used it regularly for 10 years. Over that time I could detect no discernible change in any of my key stats: MHR, LT, RHR, various zones. I haven’t had it on for the past two years, and the skid may have begun. My peak fitness based on race times, at least for the bike, was at 55, so changes in fitness may have forestalled age-related declines in HR. I’m definitely feeling the years now and probably should check again. Maybe in the spring…
Now that confuses me. When I started running, I couldn’t hold a high heart rate for very long. Now I can hold a high heart rate for a sustained period of time. Wouldn’t that mean my training zones have shifted, since I can go longer at a higher heart rate than previously? Or does that mean I’ve just increased my endurance at LT?
I’m no exercise physiologist, but I have read McArdle, Katch and Katch and do watch my physiology pretty closely. I mainly gauge my aerobic fitness level on the bike because speed there is less influenced by technique than it is in either running or swimming. My experience is that as I become more fit, I go faster for a given HR. Still, my LT is right around 160. Now, if I’m particularly well rested (but not detrained), I can spend more time flirting with that zone without folding up completely, presumably because my glycogen levels are higher going in, but it’s still the wall eventually. Also, I cast any of the so-called “points” as regions. My LT and MHR are probably within ± 3 of 160 and 185 respectively. That’s particularly true of MHR, since I’m sure I’m not a big enough punishment glutton to actually get there.
You are saying RHR decreases with age? I have not heard that before. Many people claim that MHR decreases with age. I agree with most of what you are saying, but, like NM123, I have also seen a lowering of my observed MHR (say at the end of an all-out effort 5K race) from 194 to 178, as a result of training over several months.
Yes, maximum heart rate and resting heart rate decrease with age, though maximum heart rate decreases at an accelerated rate relative to resting heart rate and once in adulthood, because of the are small, any changes from year to year are not as noticeable. I don’t have time right now to cite all the relevant science on this, but a quick search on wikipedia confirms.
Maximum heart rate (also called MHR, or HRmax) is the maximum heart rate that a person should achieve during maximal physical exertion. Research indicates it is most closely linked to a person’s age; a person’s HRmax will decline as they age. See Physical Activity for Everyone. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on May 1, 2007.
When resting, the average adult human heart beats at about 70 bpm (males) and 75 bpm (females); however, this rate varies among people and can be significantly lower in athletes. The infant/neonatal rate of heartbeat is around 130-150 bpm, the toddler’s about 100–130 bpm, the older child’s about 90–110 bpm, and the adolescent’s about 80–100 bpm.
perhaps a naive question, but what happens when a human hits (or exceeds) maximum heart rate. In all seriousness, can you die from it?