Expert: Daphne E Brown MS CPRP - 6/21/2004

Question
Hi,
I am a healthy 55 yr old male. 160#. I bike about 6 to 10 hrs a week and also play table tennis 3 to 4 hrs pr week. My resting heart rate is 50. I recently had a nuclear stress test done because my heart rate (during a bike racing event) exceeded 220. It was during a sprint at the finish of the race. I felt great...like a runners high, but it took several minutes for my heart rate to come down to 170 and it didn't return to normal until I finally got off my bike and rested.

The stress test revealed no abnormalities, but they did take my heart rate up to 195. Can I assume that is my max heart rate? and at what heart rate should I train to improve my endurance and speed? Also, is it dangerous to push myself to that level during a race? Can some people just push themselves beyond normal limits?

Thank you for your time,
Steve Schuler  

Answer
***Suggestions offered here may or may not help you in your unique situation.  Please consult with your physician before changing or adding an exercise/nutritional regimen***

Hi Steve.  Congratulations on your pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.  Quick points:
*Usually many exercise tests use the very general 220-age=Maximum predicted Heart Rate, in your case would be 220-55=165 as a guideline when testing submaximally.  Usually thallium (nuclear) tests are submaximal tests.
*220-age usually is not a good indicator for determining MPHR, especially if a person is very fit and or is on metabolic/heart rate/blood pressure altering medications

To answer your questions:
**Can I assume that is my max heart rate?  
   If you accually counted your heart rate for a full minute and got 195, then yes, that may ba very close to your actual max heart rate.
**At what heart rate should I train to improvee my endurance and speed?
    75-90%MPHR
**Is it edangerous to push myself to that level during a race?
      Go by what your doctor told you after your exercise test.  I would recommend pushing your self to 95+%MPHR during interval training and no more than 2-3 times a week.
**Can some people just push themselves beyond normal limits
    Of course.  Also keep in mind that everyone is different physiologically, biomecanically and so on, so what you push yourself to do, another 55year old man may not be able to.

If you are interested in improving your endurance, I would suggest that you have a maximal execise test done that measures your VO2.  VO2 is a unit of measurement that indicates the rate of Oxygen uptake by your muscles.  A;sp known as aerobic capacity measurement.

 Most elite athletes have this done and they know their VO2 max.  Go to any college or university in your area that has an exercise science department.  There may be many of grad students happy to perform an maximal test on you (saves you money rather than to go to a clinic or exercise specialty.  It's a good value to know.  Go to this website
http://www.coolrunning.com/major/97/training/hampson.html
http://www.runnersweb.com/running/vo2.shtml

Hope this helps you.  GOOD LUCK
Sincerely, Daphne