The most commented post here on Training4cyclists.com so far was my question: What is your lowest heart rate ever? Maximum heart rate is often calculated as 220 minus your age, but there is a standard deviation on about 10 which means that 95% of us would fit into a formula called: 220 minus age +/- 20 beats. Thus, as you’ve already experienced, this formula does not have any practical usability for a serious endurance athlete.
But back to the topic, what is your highest maximum heart rate ever?
{ 71 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been testing in the morning before I get out of bed and my lowest has been 47. The highest I’ve ever had it go was 240, this might have been a bad reading as I was going 40 mph down a hill, it is a hill I do quite often so it wasn’t scary. I typically spike at 181, but have seen it go to 194 during steep climbs.
My most recent total max hr measured on a monitor during some sort of training or racing activity is 189. I’m a 38yr male so the 220-age formula would give me 182.
Max of 194 this is my running max. My cycling max varies from 184 (unfit) to 194 (fully fit). As a 37yr old male I have a predicted max of 183.
in the mornings i have 45-47 bpm wen im in good shape and my max is 202 even some day i reach 214 in a sprint, im 31 and my predicted max for my age is 189
Recently I took part of my first competition and my heart rate went up to 198, I am 20 years old.
Did a conconi test when I was around 18 years old. It went up to 213. My coach at that time told me it was the highest I have ever meassured… And he have been a coach for the national danish mtb team…
205 bpm in a sprint at the last 100 feet of a marathon.
I have two very different levels in spin class my heart rate tops out at about 187. On the road I am consistantly 10 to 15 beats higher, does anyone know why???
Thanks
Min 41 (when conditioned and unstressed) / lowest ever 37
Max 191 (after a couple of all-out sprints in a group ride on a 4% uphill and VERY WELL conditioned)
Once I saw 204 on my HRM during an intense mountain bike ride (with the goal of hitting my max HR.) Funny thing is, I think I was 16 at the time, meaning that 220 minus you age formula actually had it right!
But other than that day I don’t remember going over 196.
202-203 also during a good condition
I got a 225 on a sprint downhill, im only 14 though
i got mine up to 204 running up a hill with a bag of sand, i knew someone who got it up to 211
Occurred during a “lactate threshhold” swim practice in high school when I was 17. Was 5’11″ and 170 lbs at the time. Did 5 x 200 yard free on 4 minutes, each one at an all-out race pace. Holding 1:46.00 or better throughout the set, my HR was between 215-220 BPM at the end of each.
. Highest I’ve had with in the last few years on my bike (I’m 23 now) was 202 BPM. I would be scared to even try and hit 220 these days, I’m not in good enough shape to take that kind of punishment anymore 
, plus I’ve grown taller and heavier since!
After number five, the electronics and manual pulse checks both got me at 224 BPM
at 48 i hit 196 on an indoor trainer. now at 53 i am blowing up at 175-180. 169 is good, just 2 higher than the formulae. comfy at 146 for distance and speed.
In a 10 mile time trial my heart rate average is 163ish with a peak of 175bpm. In the finishing sprint of a road race I’ve hit 185bpm.
I’m 62 years of age!
Recently, I wiped out on my bike I had my HR monitor on. After the crash, I was bandaging myself up and thought it would be interesting to see my highest heart rate for the day and it was 232!!
53 years old. According to monitor, hit 222 today playing squash. Previous max was 192 on monitor. Avg was about 160 for 45 minutes. Wondering if 222 is dangerous.
I’m a road cyclist. My highest ever HR was 202, with my “normal” max around 200. While I’ve not formally tested my max in at least a decade, I’ve not found it to have decreased much, if at all in the past dozen years since I started using a monitor. I’m now 51 years old, and still frequently get into the mid and occasionally high 190s on really hard efforts. it seems that even with +- 20 bpm, the age-related formula doesn’t apply well to those who stay fit.
i have only hit 173. this is durring races and self tests. i am an experienced rider and push my self hard. i dont understand why its so low. i am 30 years old. resting hrt 29-38.
Highest in the last 10 years was while pushing my bike thru deep snow in a winter race – 174 bpm while at age 43. Lowest was 37 bpm at age 42. Highest this year (age 48) was 162 bpm, lowest was 45 bpm. I wish my rev limiter was set a bit higher (without a loss in pumping efficiency!).
I wonder how high heart rate gets during a maximum lift. If your body is working anaerobically and you are holding your breath (like many powerlifters do)- I wonder if the heart rate soars unbelievably high — even though it is momentary, it makes me wonder. I have heard of blood vessels blowing out in the eyes during these times. I would imagine worse things could happen.
I have a medically diagnosed enlarged heart, just starting out in racing, i’ve clocked 227 bpm as my highest on a number of occasions, though i’m not sure whether that has ties to my phsiology/heart size
Just like Bob, the highest bpm I’ve recorded with my Timex Data Recorder is 173 bpm. This is at very high intensities. I’m 28, so this formula really is not working for me. I hope there’s nothing wrong with my heart, since most people on this post have much higher peak bpm. Resting heart rate is about 40 bpm. Does anyone have an explanation for this? Am I just at the tail end of the Gaussian curve?
I have an example where HR very greatly. We (4-person team) were training for RAAM and were all tested the same day at a performance center. 2 were 26yrs of age and 2 were 36yrs of age. All of us were close in our abilities being regular club and distance riders. Riding with a race club every Saturday (50-80miles) and riding the occasional double century. Normal per the charts for the 26yr would be 194 and for 36yr would be 184. This made for interesting training and held true on the road throughout our training. As I was the one with the low 175 max, whether in a pace line, sprinting or climbing I was almost exactly 20 beats different than the other 36yr old.
1 – 26 age HR = max 211
2 – 26 age HR = max 190
3 – 36 age HR = max 195
4 – 36 age HR = max 175
I am 65, 178 lbs, 5’10″ and not a racer – highest maximum I have hit = 181 bpm for about 15 seconds of all out effort. I found two cardiac max formulae online – 220- age = 155bpm; more complicated formula using age, weight, gender = 172bpm. As 153-155 seems to be my maximum sustainable HR, I am guessing the second one is more accurate.
Hi
I’m 62 have a resting heart rate of 42 (lowest a few years ago 39)and a max of 183 in a road race sprint finish this year.
I’m 44 yo male 215 lb, 6’1″ and getting into shape. My max today during 4-on-4 basketball was 205 with an average of 156 over a two hour and twenty minute period. I bicycled to and from the gym with a 38 minute ride to the gym HR Max 160 Ave 143 and returned from the gym with a 52 minute ride HR Max 161 Ave 138. I used a polar heart rate monitor and measured 27% fat on the bod pod four days ago. It was my first day wearing a mouth guard (worn for the entire riding and playing period) and am wondering if this somehow contributed to the higher max reading. My previous four basketball work-outs had a maximum heart rate high of 181. I think my max is supposed to be 189, so the 205 is 116% of the expected max.
I checked with a dietician/certified trainer after the work-out, and she did not seem concerned. I am planning on calling the nurse tomorrow to see if I need to be concerned with this reading.
My normal max is about 195 (I’m 43 years old)
Last year during a couple of weeks I have been overtrained and I could not get my heart rate over 170.
3 years ago about a month before I was hospitalized with a unknown viral of bacterial infection, during a steep climb my heart rate went up to 229 in just a couple of seconds, I stopped immediately being afraid of an arrest.
I was having some problems riding consistently. The Doc had me ride with a hospital supplied heart monitor, and I had a max heart rate of 248 bpm. This was repeated again on the treadmill for a stress test. I was diagnosed with Atrial Flutter and had to have two heart procedures which were only partially successful. I have to take medication every day and when I exercise I am now limited to a max heart rate 165. I am 47 and have been competing in one sport or another since I was 5.
If you think you have a problem see a Doctor!
In 1983 I was 45 and trained for the first Ironman in the continental United States. (May 1…Ricoh Ironman in Santa Monica) My highest heart rate after spinning would hit 210. Am not sure what it is now…maybe 155+/- Nowadays my lowest sometimes is lower than 50, but usually 54-56. Depends on what you ate the night before!
I normally run 4 miles on mondays and fridays and 2.5 on wednesdays. during the winter in below 30 temps my time drops and and when jumping through 3 feet of snow they drop even more.
but my heart rate on my watch/chest band runs avg 144 and I peak at 164-168 (I have 4 major hills I run up on my cross country track I run) I finished my 4 mile and was by my car looking up this nice 75 foot maybe 65 degree hill and thought I would see if I could run up it. well this 51 yr old made the run in less then 11 seconds but my hp monitor peaked at 240 and it was at 111 at bottom before I started. funny I felt winded but did not feel the high rate. took me off guard to see such a high number.
im a soilder in iraq im 21 i cycle and i hit 210 and maintained it for under 3 min. and i felt fine breathing was fine and state of mind was good. not dizy faint or shakey
I am a 40 year old male, so my max would be around 180 bpm. Yesterday while traing for the Argus Cycle Tour I hit a max of 194 – was sucking a lot of air at the time but nothing too serious.
Got home and told the wife, she freaked and told me to slow down…
When I was racing at 25, I hit 208 pretty often. in a crit I maintained over 200 for over 5 minutes. My max is now 200, can do it running or in an uphill sprint. i’m 38, been riding/racing since I was 23. In season, LT is around 190-192.
36yr male. Spinning RHR 55. MHR 220- age method = 184. Highest ever 188 = 102% of MHR. highest ave 85% = 156 for 45 min.
Today in a swim sprint I hit 198. Today was the first day I had a heart monitor and I know I’ve gotten it a bit higher during more intense sprints on other days. I’m 38 with a target max of 182, so I started to research this and what I’ve seen here makes me feel a bit better about this rate.
I was running the pacer one day, While using my heart rate monitor. Right before I stopped I looked at my heart rate. 214 BPM and id say my resting heart rate was around 45… not sure on that one though. I am a 15 year old male. My MHR is 205.
well i thought i was getting spik reading from electric fences or something as seconds after a hill climb on mtb i can sipk up over 220 had mesurements up to 226 (last year, didnt feel like i had come to the end) then it dives fast after only 20-30 sec towards average curving off as come back to average.
This week started using pulse meter when waight lifting spiked a 208 today didnt feel like i was pushing it too hard
Does this mean that all of us that are getting these readings should be training at a higher bpm?
33 year old male with a heart of a -6 year old
oh year isnt it 210-(age/2)=max heart rate for us that have been pushing it long time? That make my heart -32 coool
in an MTB race when i was 21 y.o i hit 211 on a slippery, muddy 200m steep incline that i chose to ride instead of walk like everyone else.
i paid for it once i hit the top though.
just today (at 36 y.o.), just getting back into cycling after 14 years away i did a VO2 max and got up to 189 to exhaustion.
I’m 22 years old. 220-22=198. This is incorrect for me. This is the maximum that I can maintain for any period of time. Went out riding the other day, a shorter sprint ride where I was hitting some of my favorite hills. Stayed above 200 for a good period of time…peaking at 248. It does seem a bit hight, but it’s still early in the season though. It will come back down, I’m used to seeing maximum values in the 220′s when I ride this route.
I’m 26 220-26= 194 this is close as my max recorded is 195 which was whilst I was rowing rather than cycling. Highest on the bike is 188.
I am 22; I reached 210bpm on a long steep climb on my mountain bike.
In my swimming years, would often reach 220-240; now, at 51, will hit 180-200 on occassion – max this year 204.
220-age = bs
!!
i’m active duty, and have hit 224 during a prt on an elliptical at 20 y/o. now after a heart attack 7 months ago (long story) i reached 212ish (manual count) on a bike.
I am 42 year old and have been cycling more seriously the last 3 – 4 years. I was releived to find that so many cyclists have experienced high maximum heart rates. My highest recorded Hr was 226 during a 50 mile ride. I have hit 215 more often since the 226, but routinely hit 200. My average HR is 167 when cycling and I feel very comfortable at this rate. I can hold an avg 175 BPM for hours. Concerned that my numbers were way off what is considered normal from my age I did go see a cardiologist for stress tests etc. Results were I had normal sinus and the doc said I had an athletic heart. This is all fine and good, but I thought my HR would drop as fitness improved. This has not happened. In any event after reading everyone’s post I am a little less concerned about cardiac arrest during cycling.
I thought I was high. I have had 189 bpm and am 47 years old. I ran the Los Angeles Marathon last month and maintained above 165 virtually the whole race. I feel I am dogging it if my heart rate drops below 165. My resting heart rate is mid 50′s. It doesn’t take long after very hard workouts for my heart rate to drop low which is what I understand is the important determiner of health.
Jim
I am a 51 year old male and hit 194 at the end of a 5K.
I am 30 and mine reached 226 today on my HR monitor, whilst punching mits with a trainer in boxing. Not sure if it’s accurate and if so if it’s safe.. I reached 213 last week doing the same activity.