High HR readings

**Beo20** · 18th April 2012

What sort of max HR do you get when training?
I have noticed that my (relatively) new POLAR is giving me very high Heart Rate readings. It could well be that it is right but ...193? It's a hill but still I felt I could give more and it was ...well ...193. Is this normal?
Could it be a problem with the transmitter? I was looking around the POLAR site but nothing very helpful about this king of irregularities.
Average for 100kms rides is 153 which seems more right.

**coolboarder** · 18th April 2012

How old are you Beo, is 193 a reasonable heart rate for someone of you age? Have you used a HRM before and if so what readings did you get with that? I would say 193 is a respectable near maximum for a male athlete in their mid thirties. Near maximum on a hill doesn't relate to average on a long ride so you can't compare, however, an average of 153 sounds a bit high to me for a 100km ride at a steady pace anyway. Do you feel any fluttering in your chest that might indicate an irregular heart rhythm? It would be useful to feel your pulse at the same time and see if you are dropping beats which may indicate this - difficult on the road but possible on a turbo trainer. Finally, is it always the same hill? Sometimes local interference can effect the HRM, I had this issue myself - always in one place but it worked fine elsewhere.

**Mike the bike** · 18th April 2012

Christ alive cb, the poor bloke's got a technical problem and you've sown the seed of doubt about his ticker.

Surely you must know we are men; we don't want to know anything about ill health, ours or anyone else's. But particularly ours.

**coolboarder** · 18th April 2012

Originally Posted by Mike the bike

Surely you must know we are men; we don't want to know anything about ill health, ours or anyone else's. But particularly ours.

Some people don't want to know about their pets health either Mike - or at least they don't want to have to pay to find out what the problem is or give it any treatment they expect me to know instinctively and wave a magic wand but sadly I've misplaced that for now. Its been a bad day at the office for this, sometimes I feel like banging my head on the wall.

**Greg Quinn** · 18th April 2012

193 is about normal for a max effort. My max is 187 but I'm an old git. I can average 170 on a TT. Heart rates can vary quite a bit depending on the individual. The important thing for me is the range I like to know I have some BPM available when I hit a hill.

**Pete Appleby 3** · 18th April 2012

Im an even older git than Greg and can hit 187 with a max of 195,avg on a tt is about 175 I still recover to 65 in about 5 mins

**ls28harry** · 18th April 2012

Not had my polar long so I've only had three attempts at maximum, all of which were on the turbo after a training session. Each one has been slightly higher than the previous with the highest being 183, which is bang on for the 220 minus your age, which is nonsense anyway. I feel I can go slightly higher so will try again soon and keep trying until I am happy.

**VLAD (the Friendly Vamp)** · 18th April 2012

CB probley thinks his a CAT.

**Martin Moore** · 18th April 2012

I got 210 3 yrs ago in the gym on a bike (be 44 yrs old then), so I wouldn't be unduly concerned. See your Dr if genuinely worried.

**Beo20** · 18th April 2012

thanks for the replies everyone. not worried about health -although after cb I immediately went to NHS direct

....
Age is 33 -so from what people are saying here HR readings are probably OK. I thought there was something wrong with the HRM and did not know if this was normal -never used one before and have it only for 1 year.