HR issues

[addictR1]

i remember when i first started riding about 1.5 yrs ago.. even small climbs of 300-500ft elevation with cadence of 50rpm or so would easily send my HR up into 174bpm range and by then i'll feel like i'm fainting.

but this year alone.. i notice my HR remained around 160-165bpm range and wouldn't even go up higher than that. i could climb Mt. Hamilton and grind my way up with 55rpm or 70rpm and my HR will just be around 165bpm. likewise with another local mountain in Saratoga call Montebello which is shorter in distance and much steeper.. same thing.. 55rpm and 165bpm.

i don't know if it's because i started running late last year and swimming earlier this year that's keeping my HR down?

i always see people suggesting to train in zones and with my age and zone, per garmin connect, my zone 5 would be in 175 range.

am i doing something wrong with my training?

[mentok]

heart rate is pretty arbitrary, i wouldn't let it get you down. HR vs kW and HR vs PE changes due to a whole variety of factors to the point that it is of limited value as a scale of intensity. get a powermeter if that's what you are really looking for.

also, any formula for training zones that uses your age as a variable is a waste of time. back away slowly and get your advice from somewhere else.

fwiw, my FTP is about 360W at the moment and my LThr was about 170. then i went to the tropics for work for a few months and continued training. when i got back i was nowhere near the same LThr. very rarely do i actually see my HR above 170 unless i'm racing at the velodrome and i'm bursting a lung.

[ITTY]

50 rpm is a ridiculously low cadence. I would expect your heart rate, and your overall power to increase at a higher cadence, since it will be a more aerobic effort. Anyway, to echo mentok, heart rate is a pretty wishy-washy metric for day to day use. Sometimes I go just as fast with a significantly lower heart rate, and a similar RPE.

[addictR1]

Thanks guys.. Ok.. now I feel better. For awhile I thought I was training wrong. Guess it's time to add a powermeter to the mix. Hopefully there are some good deals during black Friday for powermeters.

[goldb328]

I wouldn't spend that much money on a scale... but it is worth having one around to make sure your weight stays where it should. I got one for ~70usd and it has all the fancy features of estimated body fat%, bone weight, and water weight%. I don't think those features are very worthwhile to keep track of since they are fairly unreliable (hence "estimated").

[bungis]

After a few solid months of training my max heart rate now never exceeds 170bpm. I just did some intense interval training and at the apex my heart was pounding, lungs gasping for air, sweat spraying everywhere, 10/10 perceived effort...166bpm.

Yet I see more highly trained cyclist at around 190bpm, does it normally increase with leg muscle development?

[mattr]

No. It's mostly genetic.

Ignore everyone elses heart rate.