Can I use my new Max Heart Rate for training zones?
admin September 24th, 2007
A recent question about Maximum Heart rate involved a rider who sprinted through an intersection at the last second while going downhill. His question was whether or not this heart rate caputured on his monitor (189) was valid, and why it appeared while riding downhill. Most coaches suggest that there is no real value in identifiying your maximum heart rate. After one forum member suggested that Max Heart Rate served no purpose, I replied with the following:
Max HR doesn’t serve NO purpose, but it serves no useful purpose for designing a training plan using HR zones.
Max HR is pretty much fixed and non-trainable and declines steadily with age, while your fitness continues to improve if you are training, even as you get older. So it doesn’t make any sense to use your Max HR, weather by testing or by equation, to figure into a training program.
Your SUB Max HR, however, is extremely valuable in determining yoru responses to a training plan, your response ot a particular workout, or your results of a particular test.
There is no value in going to a MAX Hr during testing as the submax HR tells you MORE, including an estimation of your VO2 Max.
Max HR efforts are great for research studies, and add to the wealth of information that show the sub max HR is a great predictor of aerobic fitness, and a great indicator of our response to aerobic training.