V-CLUB TRAINING CORNER

We’ve teamed up with Marilyn Trout, certified USA Cycling Elite Coach to answer V-Club members’ training questions. You can view her coach profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mountainpedalscoaching80903

Send your cycling inquiries to Marilyn, and for a limited time, if yours is selected to be answered in our V-Club column, VeloWear will send you a $20 gift certificate that can be used towards any purchase on VeloWear.com. To submit your inquiry, e-mail her at trout_mic@msn.com, and type “V-Club Training Question” in the subject line of the e-mail.

Is My Potential Related to My Max Heart Rate?

Dear Coach,

How do you know what your max heart rate really is?  
I don't mean the 220 minus your age because that is not accurate. I go above that often and I'm the slow rider trying to get faster.  I realize health plays a major role and one's exercise.  How do I know if I have reached my full potential and max heart rate?

Thanks!

Brenda Smith

Brenda,

Your leading question is the simple part of your inquiry. Obtaining your maximum heart rate is determined when a rider exerts a maximal effort. When you are feeling energetic, go for a ride that includes a good warm-up followed by a few challenging efforts, perhaps a climb, that pushes you to your limit. Take your heart rate at that point. Believe me, it won’t be hard to find it if you are motivated.

Generally, maximum heart rate peaks at about 200 beats per minute around age 20 and declines by .6 beats per minute each year after that. A drop of about 6 beats every 10 years. Thus, the general formula that you see posted in the gym, 220 minus your age.  Like you, I have never fit into the max heart rate formula, which normally topped out for me at about 215 bpm regardless of my age. I remember one laboratory testing while on the Canadian National Team, the lab technician remarked that I had a “hummingbird heart.”

Your max heart rate is very much a part of genetics.   Basically, what your parents gave you is what you have to work with. Maximum heart rate is not something that can be trained.  No need to fret though, it is NOT the determining factor of an endurance athlete’s potential fitness. Rather it is the highest percentage of max HR or VO2max (measurement of the amount of oxygen the body can consume during all-out endurance exercise) that separates the faster riders from the slower riders. The higher this percentage is, the faster the athlete will ride. Years ago during my studies at the University of Toronto, I ran a number of top ranked competitive cyclists through a battery of physiological tests. Although the male riders were relatively the same age and fitness level (as seen in VO2 max and lactate threshold scores), their maximum heart rates were drastically different ranging from 178-214 bpm. A great example for the need of customized training schedules.

Another way to look at this “value” is to consider the lactate that is produced by the working muscles. As exercise intensity increases so does the production of lactate. Eventually, lactate levels rise to a point in which more is in the blood than the body can remove and it begins to accumulate. This is referred to lactate threshold (LT) also known as anaerobic threshold since the rider is operating in an oxygen-deprived state. Once you have determined your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR)*, you’ll be able to determine your training zones to specifically train to your full potential.

So how do you know if you have reached your full potential? Indeed that is the question we all have both on and off the bike. It is all about maximizing your gifts, training smart and fanning the motivational flame.
 
Marilyn
 
*Check out the Voler archives, “Training Through a Collar Bone Fracture”, to find out how to perform a LTHR self-test.

Print | posted on Wednesday, September 08, 2010 12:38 PM