Managing heart rates while road cycling.

MatthewRuch
MatthewRuch Posts: 165 Member
edited November 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all you fitness buffs,

I am looking for a little bit of help here, I recently added a road bike into my work out routine. I have been using polar products for years and am very confident in the accuracy of their chest strap heart monitors that I use to guide my workouts.

The issue I have is that even trying to moderately cycle at 12-14 mph and keep a cadence around 70 using both cadence and speed sensors my HR goes unbelievably high even when using really easy gears.

Can any of you give me tips for how to keep my HR down into a more healthy range. I don't mind doing a bit of max training but not this much.

Thanks in advance!

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Replies

  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    Does this occur on flat rides, or does the HR spike during climbs? My longer rides are generally done with a goal of keeping my HR in Zone 2, (121bpm max) but as soon as I start to climb, the increased effort makes my HR climb.

    Assuming you do not have a power meter, I would suggest using a higher cadence (85-90&) and lower gears to "smooth out the ride" and reduce the spikes in your HR. It may simply be that as a new rider, you are not able to maintain that speed yet at a low heart rate. Time in the saddle will bring improvements.
  • MatthewRuch
    MatthewRuch Posts: 165 Member
    Thanks for the honest reply...my routes are mostly flat at the moment with just a few rolling hills. It is just frustrating because even during warm up the HR spikes. But you may be right that my body just has not adjusted to the new activity and more time in the saddle will bring things under control.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Average cadence looks very low. As upthread keeping it between 80-90 average would probably help a bit.

    Some of it might just be adaptation.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Cycling uses a bunch of unusual muscles an it could take a while to build them up. I typically have to push myself to get my HR up while cycling, whereas running pegs it right away.
  • MatthewRuch
    MatthewRuch Posts: 165 Member

    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    Average cadence looks very low. As upthread keeping it between 80-90 average would probably help a bit.

    Some of it might just be adaptation.

    I have tried to get my cadence up there, but my legs just can't maintain that yet...is that another metric that will come with adaptation?
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    Yes, it will come with more time on the road. You might try experimenting with using the small ring to allow you to spin quicker, particularly on inclines. The idea is to spin quicker, as opposed to mashing the pedals as hard as you can, which spikes the HR and burns out the legs faster.

    Also, if you start doing group rides, you will notice that experienced cyclists seem to know just exactly when to shift gears to make pedaling easier, allowing them to maintain speed. That comes with practice.

    With a bit of patience and practice, its not at all unusual to see improvements fairly quickly.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @Djproulx is totally right here. I spin 90RPM almost all the time (except on steep climbs) and I don't even think about it. Just remind yourself to gear down. If you want metrics, you can get them from Wahoo Fitness pretty cheaply (via Amazon). Just don't ride on roads while looking at your phone!

    Amazon link:

    http://a.co/hB5wniM
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Try and keep your cadence between 80 & 100 - it's hard to reset your natural cadence but it does pay dividends in the end. My natural cadence was about 60rpm and I've had to be very disciplined to get it up to to 80+.

    Leg power is a very finite resource, cardio goes on all day long.

    I found indoor training under very controlled parameters very helpful. Made big improvements in average power output purely from increasing my cadence.

  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    How do you feel when riding? Are you gulping for air, legs going numb, getting dizzy- any indicator beyond the hrm that you are maxed out? I maintain a higher heart rate cycling than anything else I do. I spend about 50% of my rides in the top 2 zones, but I go at a pace I can maintain and am comfortable doing. It's possible your max hr needs to be adjusted, or your zones adjusted more for cycling. If you really are maxed out, then it would make sense to slack back on the goals until you have more time in the saddle.
  • luckywizard
    luckywizard Posts: 71 Member
    Tacking onto all the good suggestions above, have you thought about just biking more slowly? At the start of each season I always try to go as fast as I did at the end of last season... And I wear myself out :lol: be patient with yourself and know that more time on your bike will improve your efficiency :smile:
  • MatthewRuch
    MatthewRuch Posts: 165 Member
    amandaeve wrote: »
    How do you feel when riding? Are you gulping for air, legs going numb, getting dizzy- any indicator beyond the hrm that you are maxed out? I maintain a higher heart rate cycling than anything else I do. I spend about 50% of my rides in the top 2 zones, but I go at a pace I can maintain and am comfortable doing. It's possible your max hr needs to be adjusted, or your zones adjusted more for cycling. If you really are maxed out, then it would make sense to slack back on the goals until you have more time in the saddle.

    Good thoughts, I honestly feel good when doing it, legs aren't sore...a bit winded, but basicially because it is a new activity for me. But being an asthmatic I have absolutely no problems with breathing even though it is heavy. I will see if I do indeed need to change my HR zones a bit!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    You're new to road cycling, it'll get easier.

    I agree with the advice above, about trying to keep your cadence in the 90 to 100 rpm range. It's textbook wisdom. It'll actually exacerbate what you're seeing for a while because low cadence mostly uses leg muscle strength while higher cadence shifts the load to your cardiovascular system. But, this will protect and strengthen your knees, and it won't be long before you adapt and this becomes easy.

    I naturally tend to pedal at about 60 rpm but this leads me to fatigue too quickly and take too long to recover. I got used to spinning instead of mashing and it became my new normal.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    MatthewRuch wrote: »
    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    Average cadence looks very low. As upthread keeping it between 80-90 average would probably help a bit.

    Some of it might just be adaptation.

    I have tried to get my cadence up there, but my legs just can't maintain that yet...is that another metric that will come with adaptation?

    Pretty much the advice above, use your gearing to manage the resistance and allow yourself to pedal faster. The main thing you're looking for is the ability to go on for longer at the moment.

    As others are saying I've had to train myself to pedal at a good rate, recognising that over time that makes a greater contribution to success than anything else.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I don't worry about trying to keep my heart rate below a certain point. I find that as I have gotten fitter my average heart rate has dropped for the same amount of effort.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,399 Member
    @MatthewRuch

    What other workouts have you been doing, for how long? And size/weight is very important as well. If you're a bigger person with little cardio base but lots of muscle and/or fat, your aero profile will suffer and moving more mass is simply harder.

    Though I agree with the cadence suggestions, one of the bigger factors on a bike is simply weight. And that includes bike and rider. Combined with gearing selection (cadence) it's easy to put a lot more effort in than needed. Acceleration events, winds, hills, etc all exaggerate HR increases even more if you are in a higher gear than needed. Like others have mentioned I also tend to like a lower cadence and have to force it upward to be the most efficient.


    Cardio base improvements take time, regardless of your starting point. It took me a lot of time on our elliptical and comparing notes when on my bike to realize when I was wasting energy due to poor gear choices, accelerating harder than justified for the energy expense, etc. And I was terrible about wanting to hit set paces, not a good thing with the wind we get in my area. Once it started coming together I now more of less ride in a heart rate zone and I've figured out how to keep myself in that zone depending on the ride.
  • Johncalvinfields
    Johncalvinfields Posts: 179 Member
    35r9nd0fr4w4.jpg
    Cardio and strength training this morning
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    MatthewRuch wrote: »
    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    Average cadence looks very low. As upthread keeping it between 80-90 average would probably help a bit.

    Some of it might just be adaptation.

    I have tried to get my cadence up there, but my legs just can't maintain that yet...is that another metric that will come with adaptation?

    If you can't keep the cadence up try shifting to a slightly lower gear, you're not really doing yourself any favours by grinding it out on a bigger gear (you may not have a choice will climbing hills but on flat surfaces it shouldn't be a problem) I see people riding on too high a gear frequently and you actually make it more work than is necessary.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    I don't worry about trying to keep my heart rate below a certain point. I find that as I have gotten fitter my average heart rate has dropped for the same amount of effort.

    This is my approach too, and I've had the same result. It's not a coincidence.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Where did you get your heart rate zones?

    You mentioned you have asthma. If you are on inhalers your heart rate zones might be higher than the default age based zones. My husband's are crazy high even at 45 years old. His max is about 210 and he can ride for hours around 190.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    You could do a threshold test to determine you ranges:
    https://lwcoaching.com/183/
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
    LTHR from a 30 min timed trial is defacto standard for cycling. See https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/joe-friel-s-quick-guide-to-setting-zones/#. You might want to repeat the test a few times as your fitness, pacing, and pain tolerance improves. Once you determine it correctly, you don't really need to test again.

    Try using intervals to improve your cadence. Do 3x1 minute bursts (spin as fast as you can in a small gear without bouncing) with 1 minute rest as part of your warmup. As you get more comfortable, add 10 minute (work up to 20 minutes) spin at 5+ above your normal cadence twice a week.
  • 35dollars
    35dollars Posts: 832 Member
    You say you're using "really easy gears" - what bike do you have, how many gears and which cogs on the rear cassette and front rings are you mainly cycling in?

    Those stats in your post look weird - the calorie burn is incredibly high for the distance & speed, and as you say the HR is as well. Did it feel like your heart was racing while you were riding or that you were out of breath? Does your Polar monitor give you realistic HR numbers during other exercise?
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