In early January, I wrote a post about the different ways of calculating Maximum Heart Rate.
I said that you can either calculate your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) by using one of the many different formulae or by actually taking a MHR test.
At the time of writing, I had just recovered from a hernia operation. I hadn’t done anything physical for the previous 6 weeks and therefore, I was quite unfit. I took an MHR test in order to work out my training levels. The result was a MHR of 193bpm. This gave me the following training levels:
| Level | Type | % of MHR | BPM |
| Recovery | Recovery | 50%-70% | 97-135 BPM |
| Level 1 | Stamina | 70%-75% | 135-145 BPM |
| Level 2 | Extensive endurance | 75%-80% | 145-154 BPM |
| Level 3 | Intensive endurance | 80%-85% | 154-164 BPM |
| Level 4 | Racing pace/Power | 85%-92% | 164-178 BPM |
| Level 5 | Lactate tolerance/Power | 92%-100% | 178-193 BPM |
The trouble is that since then, I’ve been training quite a bit and as a result, my fitness level has increased. At the time, I couldn’t find anything to suggest that the MHR of an unfit rider was higher than that of a fit rider and so, carried on training to those levels. Last week-end, I went for a 34mile ride with Toby Field. The intensity of that ride was probably 1 level lower than I would normally do. At the end, I felt really quite fresh and possibly able to do another good few miles quite easily.
Today, after taking an MHR test, I find that my current MHR is now 181bpm. Using this new result, my new Training levels should be as follow:
| Level | Type | % of MHR | BPM |
| Recovery | Recovery | 50%-70% | 91-127 BPM |
| Level 1 | Stamina | 70%-75% | 127-136 BPM |
| Level 2 | Extensive endurance | 75%-80% | 136-145 BPM |
| Level 3 | Intensive endurance | 80%-85% | 145-154 BPM |
| Level 4 | Racing pace/Power | 85%-92% | 154-167 BPM |
| Level 5 | Lactate tolerance/Power | 92%-100% | 167-181 BPM |
Therefore, my MHR for my current fitness level has obviously come down: a factor which I hadn’t taken into consideration. As a consequence, some of my recent rides have been done at an higher intensity than I had intended.
I have updated my profile on my Garmin Edge GPS and will now be training to these levels.
