Hi
Im in my mid 60s and when I ride I can get my heart rate to 198bpm my doctor says it too high and I should not let it go that high. He also said my heart would be more efficient at a lower pace.
When doing a half monty it says my max is 194 and my cthr is 180. My resting has always been high at around 64.
So question should I try and keep it down and if so how do I work out the different zones?
Thanks in advance for any help
Pete
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heart rate is a very individual thing. 220 minus age applies to roundabout 50% of people. similar to the probability that my pregnant girlfriend is gonna have a girl. max heart rate needs to be determined in a lab test. this doesn’t mean that you should go all out on each workout. a good rule of thumb is to stay in Zone 2 roundabout 80% of your training time and high intensity for the rest
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So you’re saying at my age 194 bpm is ok just don’t do it all the time and my zones are right. Thanks
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Welcome to the forums, @PennyfarthingPete !
First and foremost, I’m going to say to listen to the advice of medical professionals, of which we’re not (mostly).
@IsiSchneider_KoS is right - all hearts are different. That said, a 198 MHR for a male mid-60’s is pretty high. As is (in my opinion) a 64 RHR for a fit cyclist. You don’t mention any medical complications or medications, both of which could have an effect on your heart rate and rhythm, are you perhaps dealing with tachycardia?
Without knowing any further, personal details, I would again say to listen to your doctor and work with them to determine an appropriate exercise range. Maybe find a doc who works with older athletes more than just any random GP? Have them help you figure out what a “safe” max heart rate should be, and then plot your training paces off of that?
Be safe and happy riding!
[queue all of the 70 year olds with “MY MAX HR IS OVER 200 AND I RIDE CENTURIES TWICE A WEEK” crowd… 
]
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Thanks
Just for more info I dont take any medication and ride appropriately 6000 to 7000 miles a year inc several 100 miles rides and 1x 200mile ride. I’m 6’6" 86kg.
I’ll try and find a sports Dr but don’t think it will be easy in the uk
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I agree with the previous comments, but I’d now say this, based on what you just told us: Ride whatever you feel like doing and don’t worry too much about HR… UNLESS you do have any heart issues that your doctor was basing his recommendations on.
I’m guessing otherwise because you didn’t mention he is a cardiologist, and if you had such issues, I would think you’d already be seeing one, or at least have been advised to or referred to someone.
It sounds like you’re in excellent health and take good care of yourself. I’m 67 years, in same ballpark as you in miles ridden per year and multiple hundred-mile rides also (have done one every month this year and plan to keep that up, with hopefully extras thrown in this summer.) I consider my max HR to be +/- 170 only because I see that only occasionally on rides, usually mid to upper 160’s when I know I pushed it, but now and then see 180’s or 190’s and I assume they are just malfunctions of my device or my actual HR but I’m not concerned either way since these are pretty rare occurrences.
My Fenix 7 and EDGE 840 Garmin measured LTHR usually is about 153, give or take, and based on my observations, that’s quite accurate. It fluctuates some with variations in my riding history.
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Thanks for that. It was just my gp when having a check up and we we’re talking about my high resting hr. When i said my hr regularly gets well over 180 and on most rides over 190 he seem concerned.
I was thinking was he right in saying there’s no benifits to going that high?
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Here is a cycling specific article about HR and power zones from training peaks:
And one from a UK fitness group:
Zone 2 Training and Lactate: Dissecting Inigo San Millan's Advice — High North Performance.
If setting up a cardiac stress test (to put your mind at ease - you sound very fit to me) with the NHS is challenging, you can buy a lactate measuring device for around $300 in the US, which would provide a way to determine your aerobic threshold more precisely.
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@PennyfarthingPete Wow! In this years TDF, I remember one of the professionals, I believe it was MVP, stating “I was at my MAX HR of 194Bpm’s during that effort” and here you are in your mid 60’s hitting 198Bpm’s. Impressive!!
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Thanks for the compliment and It would be if my resting hear rate was as low as his, mines 64. My heart rate goes up but I don’t think it pumps any more volume, just gets faster
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My understanding is that heart rate is different for everyone and that the main thing to look for from a training perspective is HR “headroom”. Generally speaking I think the fitter you are, the bigger difference there is between resting and max. I think it’s also true that you can’t really train your max up but you can train your resting down. For most people, max HR decreases as they age which makes keeping, or even maintaining, the same amount of headroom increasingly difficult.
Anybody can feel free to tell me that’s all rubbish. 
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I can attest, from my own personal perspective, it is not rubbish 
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I agree heart rate is very personal, even resting heart rate and how it relates to your fitness. I always had somewhat higher resting hr and higher endurance HR and I felt pretty down about it. Then I realized, plenty of those dudes with the lower HR I was toasting in races. Like, multiple minutes ahead in a 5k vs a dude humble bragging about how their doctor was worried about their “low HR”. So I kinda just decided I wouldn’t worry about comparing myself to others and only track vs my own baseline and it’s been very liberating.
Relationship of HR to age is personal too, so it’s vpossible there’s nothing “wrong” w yours. That said, I’m not a doctor so I can’t encourage you to ignore yours. You could always keep it lower for a while and see what happens.
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I find that GPs don’t always understand the latest (or even somewhat old) in exercise science, especially for those of us who exercise a LOT - and especially endurance athletes.
When I complained to my GP about an elevated HR they said my HR was normal. But then I explained what my “normal” HR and RHR was and I could see the light click when they said, “Oh, I see. It’s in the normal range, but it’s high for YOU.”
So if your GP is just giving you blanket warnings about high HR without doing any other backing data like tests or comparisons or referrals to a cardiologist then you should take it with a grain of salt and ask them more questions like “why are you saying I should avoid raising my Hr that high?” and “what is you’re reasoning?” and “can you refer me to a cardiologist or a doc with a specialty in exercise science if you think it’s not normal?”
Your high HR could be a symptom of something underlying, or it could be your normal. But you won’t know without some testing. And a blanket warning from your GP isn’t really that helpful without knowing their reasoning.
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Exactly this.
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