:?: I recently acquired a heart rate monitor and I have a question. Is it normal to struggle to keep your heart rate DOWN during a 2 mile moderate run and then struggle to keep your heart rate UP immediately after on a bike trainer. I have found I need to bike a lot harder than I think I should just to keep my HR up. I have to stay above 22.5 mph on the trainer just to keep my HR above 111, even though I'm not breathing real hard my legs start to burn after 25 minutes or so at that speed.

Confused.

You are using many more muscles when running, so yes it is easier to achieve a higher heart rate. You actually will have a different max heart rate running vs biking and should know both for calculating your target zones. My running max is 10 bpm higher than my cycling max. Sounds like you need more tension on the trainer though to get the rate up on the bike. I have no problem getting in my upper aerobic range on my trainer. I do need to get on a spin bike to achieve a good aenorobic workout however.
 
[img:7c60f52a7e]http://www.team-pinnacle.org/albums/bc_personal/120x90.png[/img:7c60f52a7e]

With the little amount of running I do I have found that my HR does get up faster and stay there longer than when I ride. It's a lot more work to run. On a spinning bike I have found fast cadence gets my HR higher faster than heavy slower work. I think the HR comes back to normal faster on a bike because there are less muscles screaming for air. Come to PJ's spin class he'll get your HR up for longer than you want.

Thanks for the replies guys.

It's interesting I find I have to maintain about the same speed on the bike to keep my HR up. It doesn't seem to matter what gear I'm in, I just have to compensate with a much higher cadence if I'm in the small ring up front to achieve the same speed. It is however, really difficult for me to maintain a HR high enough to stay in the zone in the small ring.

Ryan

Your Heart rate isn't real time, either. If you do interval training your heart rate can still climb after you have completed your interval and are cooling down.

I would bet your resistance on your trainer is a bit weak. Do a test based on RPM's and gearing. Keep your RPM's at 110 and keep it up for a minute at like 53X 21, then rest for a minute, do 53X 18, then X15, Your heartrate will climb, unless there is something wrong with the bike or trainer. If your a real stud get 110 rpms at 53X11. IF you can't use the big ring use the little ring, but I suspect that your trainer doesn' t give much tension.

If all else fails come to a spin class, and I will max you out.

PJ

We did a "race day" spinning class with Joe. That was a lot of fun. The bikes were setup in two rows facing each other so that you were facing your partner. There were no required sprints, climbs, intervels, ect... The only rule was that you had to keep your heart rate above 85% of you max. To win, you had to match or better your partner, meaning that if he/she sprints, then you have to sprint, if they climb, you climb. I think we should do this as a team some time soon. What do people think?

-- Ken
 
"If you brake, you don't win." Racer Mario Cipollini

Thank you all for the responses. Here is an interesting article I found that talks about Running vs Biking heart rate:

[url]http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/coachcorn/cyclingrate.html[/url]

Additionally this is a great article from Wikipedia which includes training zones and a bunch of heart rate info. The quote below is an excerpt from this article:
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate[/url]
[quote:81176ba76b][b:81176ba76b]Karvonen method[/b:81176ba76b]

The Karvonen method factors in Resting Heart Rate (HRrest) to calculate Target Heart Rate (THR):

THR = ((HRmax ? HRrest) ? %Intensity) + HRrest
Example for someone with a HRmax of 180 and a HRrest of 70:
50% intensity: ((180 − 70) ? 0.50) + 70 = 125 bpm
85% intensity: ((180 − 70) ? 0.85) + 70 = 163 bpm
[/quote:81176ba76b]

I have a resting HR of around 45, the Karvonen Method seems to be better for me, but I'm still trying to figure things out, seems I'm tired a lot more than I feel I am.

I haven't measured my max HR yet but it is calculated to be around 185 (HRmax = 220 - Age). I'm very curious to see if mine is actually a bit higher. This method of calculating the Max HR seems to fall among the average for all the formulas I've seen, however I think this alternate formula is interesting but perhaps not accurate: HRmax = 210 - (1/2 age) - (1% body weight). Seems to make sense body weight could play a factor, but this could be an oversimplification of overall physiology.

Ryan