Max Heart Rate

[[old] gaffano]

I read somewhere that it does not matter what your max heart rate # is, in terms of your cardiac abilities. Is that true? <br /><br />Also, I read that you have diffferent max heart rates for different sports. How can that be? Shouldn't it always be able to max out to its potential???

[[old] Byron Drachman]

<!--QuoteBegin-gaffano+Jul 6 2005, 05:00 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(gaffano @ Jul 6 2005, 05:00 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I read somewhere that it does not matter what your max heart rate # is, in terms of your cardiac abilities. Is that true? <br /><br />Also, I read that you have diffferent max heart rates for different sports. How can that be? Shouldn't it always be able to max out to its potential??? <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />You might find this site interesting:<br /><br /><br /><a href='http://home.hia.no/%7Estephens/index.html' target='_blank'>http://home.hia.no/%7Estephens/index.html</a><br /><br />I know from experience that the max heart rate does depend on the activity. For me my max heart rate on the C2 is 182. It's much higher than that on a stairmaster, where I'm more vertical. It seems to be rather complicated about what having a high max heart rate means. In some instances it can indicate bad health and a low stroke volume. But having a high max heart rate along with a very low resting heart rate is generally good to have.<br /><br />Byron

[[old] jamesg]

Some sports use more muscle than others. Skating up hill on skis will devastate the CV system quite soon, while twiddling my thumbs however hard will probably not shift the HR at all.<br /><br />In some sports such as freestyle, I've read that a balance has to be struck between legs and shoulders; the shoulders have to be used being very efficient propulsion, but if the legs are used too much, they subtract resources from the shoulders, so we swim slower.<br /><br />I've seen that in a kayak it's quite hard for me to get above HR 120. In a 1x, I can't stay below 140.<br /><br />No doubt the ideal athlete would reach all his limits, muscular and CV, at the same time. Presumably weights are useful mainly in those sports where we reach a strength limit first.

[[old] Cran]

<!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I know from experience that the max heart rate does depend on the activity </td></tr></table><br />Your max heart rate is your max heart rate...<br /><br />just because you can't get to your max heart rate on an erg doesn't make your max heart rate any lower...

[[old] Byron Drachman]

<!--QuoteBegin-Cran+Jul 7 2005, 09:05 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Cran @ Jul 7 2005, 09:05 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I know from experience that the max heart rate does depend on the activity </td></tr></table><br />Your max heart rate is your max heart rate...<br /><br />just because you can't get to your max heart rate on an erg doesn't make your max heart rate any lower... <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Here is a quote from the above source:<br /><br /><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Your Maximal heart Rate Differs in Different Activities. Cardiac hemodynamics and maximal sympathetic drive are influenced by 1) body position during exercise and 2) muscle mass involvement. So, a triathlete with a max heart rate during running of 180, may only hit 176 on the bike, and 171 during swimming. In this case we call the running heart rate "Maximal Heart Rate" and the highest heart rate observed in cycling and swimming, "Peak" heart rate, for that event. Knowing your peak heart rate for each discipline will help you to more accurately guage the intensity of your training. If the activity is restricted to upper-body muscle mass, peak heart rate will generally be considerably lower than in whole body activities. Examples include kayaking and double poling during cross-country skiing. Highly trained athletes can achieve a higher percentage of true max heart rate when performing small muscle mass activities. </td></tr></table> <br /><br />Byron

[[old] Coach Gus]

<!--QuoteBegin-Byron Drachman+Jul 7 2005, 07:16 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Byron Drachman @ Jul 7 2005, 07:16 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Cran+Jul 7 2005, 09:05 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Cran @ Jul 7 2005, 09:05 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I know from experience that the max heart rate does depend on the activity </td></tr></table><br />Your max heart rate is your max heart rate...<br /><br />just because you can't get to your max heart rate on an erg doesn't make your max heart rate any lower... <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Here is a quote from the above source:<br /><br /><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Your Maximal heart Rate Differs in Different Activities</b>. Cardiac hemodynamics and maximal sympathetic drive are influenced by 1) body position during exercise and 2) muscle mass involvement. So, a triathlete with a max heart rate during running of 180, may only hit 176 on the bike, and 171 during swimming. <b>In this case we call the running heart rate "Maximal Heart Rate" and the highest heart rate observed in cycling and swimming, "Peak" heart rate, for that event.</b> Knowing your peak heart rate for each discipline will help you to more accurately guage the intensity of your training. If the activity is restricted to upper-body muscle mass, peak heart rate will generally be considerably lower than in whole body activities. Examples include kayaking and double poling during cross-country skiing. Highly trained athletes can achieve a higher percentage of true max heart rate when performing small muscle mass activities. </td></tr></table><br /><br />Byron <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Doest anyone else find the above highlighted statements contradictory? I agree with Cran in that you have one max HR. Just because your peak HR in a certain activity is lower than your max doesn't mean your max HR is now less than your max.

[[old] andyArvid]

<!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Doest anyone else find the above highlighted statements contradictory?  I agree with Cran in that you have one max HR.  Just because your peak HR in a certain activity is lower than your max doesn't mean your max HR is now less than your max. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />It is a bit of semantic nit-picking but note the use of the word <b>maximal</b> instead of <b>maximum</b>. <i>Maximal</i> usually denotes a maximum among an interval or subgroup or subset. There can only be one absolute maximum value but there could be several maximal values.

[[old] Coach Gus]

<!--QuoteBegin-andyArvid+Jul 7 2005, 12:04 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(andyArvid @ Jul 7 2005, 12:04 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Doest anyone else find the above highlighted statements contradictory?  I agree with Cran in that you have one max HR.  Just because your peak HR in a certain activity is lower than your max doesn't mean your max HR is now less than your max. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />It is a bit of semantic nit-picking but note the use of the word <b>maximal</b> instead of <b>maximum</b>. <i>Maximal</i> usually denotes a maximum among an interval or subgroup or subset. There can only be one absolute maximum value but there could be several maximal values. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />OK, I understand that and appreciate your clarification. <br /><br />Then I have a problem with "In this case we call the running heart rate "Maximal Heart Rate" and the highest heart rate observed in cycling and swimming, "Peak" heart rate, for that event."<br /><br />The highest HR you see in each part of the three events would be the Maximal HR for that event, i.e. maximal for running, maximal for cycling and maximal for swimming? (As a side note, it's quite likely none of these would be your absolute maximum HR.) Why then use the term "peak" instead of "maximal?"

[[old] sucol]

Thank you for the link, Byron ... very interesting and informative.