NSMB - 2023 - Hardtails Leaning Against Stuff Thread

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

Yeah I had a check up a couple months back and mentioned how high my heart rate tends to go.  It comes back down to normal levels at a reasonable rate, my heart sounded fine on their stethoscope and my blood pressure is 120/80.  I'm having blood work done for all the regular stuff for my age.  I know my liver was a bit out of line in previous tests but I think that was a combination of being on meds for a toe fungus (cleared up now) and drinking (moderate drinker--I love my IPA's.)  They weren't too concerned about the hitting that high bpm but said that it wasn't going to help my overall fitness because at that point you're going beyond where the effective range is.  They said I should be able to carry on a conversation at work out levels.  I admitted that I like to get to that point where I feel a bit dizzy and numb from the adrenaline.  They said I should dial it back as it doesn't help.

I haven't done my blood work yet (keep forgetting about it and the fasting) but will do it soon.  For my build (always been skinnier ectomorph, runner type) and height 5 11, I've found in the past my fitness seems to be best when I'm in the 170-175 lbs range and now I'm in the 188-192 lb range (beer belly) so I guess I shouldn't be surprised my fitness is frustrating me.

I'm 46 and in a similar situation. My HR is always super high, even at my fittest at the end of the season. I can pedal at 170 for a very long time and my average HR is generaly around 165 for pretty much all my rides. I reach 180-185 on most climbs, but over 190 is the suffer zone. I have absolutely no issue recovering form these high HR episodes and reaching over 190 has no impact on the rest of my ride. I just take a short break at the top and I'm good to go. I got checked out and it seems everything is normal. I guess I'm just built like that. Maybe my heart is small and doesn't push a lot of blood... Maybe my lungs are damaged from a bad pneumonia I got several years ago.. I don't know.

That leaves me with a narrow range of acceptable HR, which really prevents me from pushing hard on the climbs, as I hit the redline really easily. The frustrating part is that I can't really go on pedally rides with friends of my skill level if they are not willing to wait for me on long climbs.

If you don't already own a HR monitor, I suggest getting one. I have a Garmin Edge 520 and it's great. I constantly monitor my HR during my ride. After a while, you get to know yourself and using the HR monitor is really helpful to pace your effort. 

I used to make fun of people riding their MTB with a HR monitor. I was thinking they were a bunch of wannabe-racerboi-wankers. Still eating crow about this on every ride... :)

Interesting. Sorry to hear you’re in a similar boat. I use an Apple Watch to monitor my heart rate.  It’s pretty cool that it gives lots of data during and after a ride.  I do wonder how accurate it is tho.  My doc even questioned the accuracy of it.  But it seems accurate between my resting rate all the way to my overdoing it rate. So I’m going to assume it’s fairly accurate

Are you guys doing any other exercise apart from riding? I find that the older I get, the more maintenance I need to do on my body and just riding is not enough. My exercise routine has made me much stronger and I find that climbing is now so much easier: lower heart rate, less sweating, I feel less gassed after grunting up a steep climb. Improved posture has also opened up my chest and made me breath much better, I had asthmatic bronchitis for decades and it all but disappeared. For me yoga and swimming do the trick, they complement riding nicely, but everyone is different and you need to find something that you enjoy so that you keep doing it.

I completely agree, Niels, I just got 50 orbits of the sun under my belt and the push is now to maintain, strengthen and repair so I can go do mtb/DH/Snowboard/Surf - oh yeah, and I really do have to warm up properly now. Once I paid attention to heart rates, climbing became a lot easier and if I ride with people that don't want to wait around, then fine, that's what that is and I'll be at my own pace. I found that a winter on Peloton didn't make me an exponentially faster rider, it made me the same rider who recovered faster and was able to go further between stops, the work was still the work.

It's really important to look after the joints and the tendons too, Henry Rollin's perspective is a good one :

• You recently turned 56. How do you approach the gym nowadays?

" At this point, my goal is longevity. I want to keep my body in shape, which—hopefully—will keep my mind limber, so I can continue doing stuff five, even seven years after my “use-by date.” It’s not about lifting heavy. My general rule for selecting weight is if I can’t lift it 10 times, then I take it down.

"

Posted by: [email protected]

Are you guys doing any other exercise apart from riding? I find that the older I get, the more maintenance I need to do on my body and just riding is not enough. My exercise routine has made me much stronger and I find that climbing is now so much easier: lower heart rate, less sweating, I feel less gassed after grunting up a steep climb. Improved posture has also opened up my chest and made me breath much better, I had asthmatic bronchitis for decades and it all but disappeared. For me yoga and swimming do the trick, they complement riding nicely, but everyone is different and you need to find something that you enjoy so that you keep doing it.

That’s part of my issue.  This time of year riding is my only exercise beyond walking tge dog or shoveling snow. Summer I’m paddle boarding and swimming a bit more.  Hiking too.  The shorter days in winter mess with my desire to be active.  I have depression issues that are definitely worse in the winter too.

Yoga definitely helps - if nothing else it's good to calm your mind. On a good week I'll do 2-3 sessions (Yoga with Adriene on Youtube) but want to do more as I get older.

Does anyone have any bike specific yoga they do?

Posted by: [email protected]

Are you guys doing any other exercise apart from riding? I find that the older I get, the more maintenance I need to do on my body and just riding is not enough. My exercise routine has made me much stronger and I find that climbing is now so much easier: lower heart rate, less sweating, I feel less gassed after grunting up a steep climb. Improved posture has also opened up my chest and made me breath much better, I had asthmatic bronchitis for decades and it all but disappeared. For me yoga and swimming do the trick, they complement riding nicely, but everyone is different and you need to find something that you enjoy so that you keep doing it.

Good point, but does BMX on a pumptrack and road riding count as other exercises? I agree most of my exercise is 2 wheels related, plus some stairs climbing here and there (I live near a cliff with tons of stairs going up and down near the coast).

I never tried yoga. Adding more variety could help indeed.

Swimming is what keeps me moving properly, without it my back inevitably goes out.  I throw some Peleton yoga in there as well occasionally  

Under 40 you train to be better on the bike.

Over 40 you train to be able to bike.

My mountain bike group chat is like 20% ride planning, 10% mountain bike talk and 60% therapy/training talk.

My Dad always said to me "you exercise to play Squash, not play Squash to exercise" and that's started to be brutally clear

220 minus your age is based on statistical averages. Like height we are all different. When I was 31 I volunteered to be be the display model at the Ontario Science Centre for a max VO2 test. I was running on the treadmill at about 185 when the tester told the crowd that I was about to max out. I knew from racing xc that I could ride at 185 for a few hours. Anyway I hit 213 when I gave up. I have always had a high pulse. My resting now is 55 or so. I hit 181 a few times this season Nordic skiing. I’m now 65 years old. I cruise around on the bike these days or on Nordic skis at around 165-170.

Posted by: BC_Nuggets

That’s part of my issue.  This time of year riding is my only exercise beyond walking tge dog or shoveling snow. Summer I’m paddle boarding and swimming a bit more.  Hiking too.  The shorter days in winter mess with my desire to be active.  I have depression issues that are definitely worse in the winter too.

Get a couple of kettlebells and do a routine at home. They take up next to no space and you only need a small amount of floor space to get a workout in. There are tons of sites of the web that have all sorts of exercises and routines so it's pretty easy to put something together. You could put together a routine of 3-4 exercises that would take you 15-20 minutes to do, including a basic warmup. Put together two separate routines that you each do 2x/wk for a total of four workouts. Form the time input you'll be amazed with the results you'll get and it will greatly improve your mobility at the same time as you're getting stronger.

I should probably do:

Kettlebell workouts

Yoga

Ride more (morning rides with lights)

Eat better. God I love the less healthy of food options.

Not fret my heart rate too much but understand that wiping myself out doesn’t help.

Posted by: BC_Nuggets
 They weren't too concerned about the hitting that high bpm but said that it wasn't going to help my overall fitness because at that point you're going beyond where the effective range is.  They said I should be able to carry on a conversation at work out levels.  I admitted that I like to get to that point where I feel a bit dizzy and numb from the adrenaline.  They said I should dial it back as it doesn't help.

I've heard the "you should be able to carry out a conversation" thing for running, and I do not understand it. I run so I can keep my HR pegged at 165-170bpm for half an hour, that seems to be the sweet spot for training for me, and there's no way I can keep up a conversation during that.

I'm also 30, though, so that probably helps.

After some umming, ahhing, head scratching, internet research, studying of geo charts and most importantly looking at what colours are available with the big kid, we ordered a Cotic BFeMax in Matte Smoke on Saturday night.

I'm now gathering a box of parts as he's going to get a few little upgrades from my spares bin - DMR Vault pedals, 4 Pot Brakes, new grips etc. 

He is quite excited and I've told him he'll be doing most of the build himself.