• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Become a Premium Member
  • About

Road Bike Rider Cycling Site

Expert road cycling advice, since 2001

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Bikes & Gear
  • Training & Health
  • Reviews
  • Cycling Ebooks
    • Ebooks Training
    • Ebooks Skills
    • E-Articles Training
    • E-Articles Nutrition
  • Member Area
  • Newsletter

Is My Training Heart Rate High Enough?

Question: I’m 49 and don’t monitor my heart rate when I ride outside. But the exercise bike at the gym has a heart monitor, so I’m trying it. I’ve heard that I should exercise at 40-60% of my max heart rate, but I don’t feel like I am getting a workout when I’m below 60%. I routinely hit 160 bpm and never drop much below 135. Is this okay? — Henry W.

Coach Fred Matheny Replies: For starters, realize that heart monitors on exercise bikes are likely to be inaccurate. Unless the unit uses a chest strap (rather than a grip or other type of sensor), you may get misleading readings.

You also didn’t mention whether you’ve been tested (or done a test on a bike or trainer) to determine your max heart rate. Remember that the “220 minus your age” formula is a statistical average with a wide variance and not really very useful.

It’s very likely to be off by a few to a lot of beats per minute for you or any other individual. You need a stress test or a similar means of determining how fast your heart can actually beat.

As for your approach, 60% of max is pretty low — lower than the commonly accepted low-end target for getting aerobic improvement. A better training range is 70-85%. I’d guess that your numbers (135-160 bpm) are about right for you.

Without knowing your true max, the best thing to do is to keep your effort up as you are and ride like you feel. That may be a more accurate approach than relying the exercise bike’s monitor.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Articles

  • Monumental History of the Climb to Kaiser Bicycle Ride Published
  • Ornot Cycling Winter Gear Review Roundup
  • The Important Role of Carbohydrates
  • How far can you bike tour per day?

Recent Newsletters

Newsletter Issue No. 1060

Newsletter Issue No. 1059

Newsletter Issue No. 1057

Newsletter Issue No. 1056

Newsletter Issue No. 1055

Footer

Affiliate Disclosure

Our cycling expert editors and writers choose every product we review. We may earn an affiliate commission if you buy from one of our product links, at no extra cost to you. This income supports our site.

Follow Us

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook

Privacy Policy

Still Haven’t Found What You’re Looking For?

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in