Does Ramp Test give Max HR? How do you determine it?

basically it… that if you hit you highest HR on an effort basis that some impact may arise in the heart. Also, considering you are 100% healthy and no medical condition has been diagnosed, can something arouse from hitting the “max” from time to time or can your body absorb it.

thanks for the answer!!

Last swim coach I had rarely said anything. Basically prescribed same sets for 20 people and then vanished. A remote coach that says stuff would be far superior to a local invisible one.

The other ‘swimming power’ one I’ve seen is where you lie on a bench and yank on a wire with each arm. I don’t include that as I don’t believe in the absence water it is swimming.

The palm things look interesting. I might even get one of the Platysens Seals when they’re released, but more for the symmetry and patterns than belief in any “power” number. I have a Platysens Marlin: I was amazed the effect of wind speed on open water swimming speed. I never thought it had that much of an effect till I had live speeds whilst swimming big loops.

1 Like

It can. I think it depends if you’re strength limited or cardiovascularly limited. It also varies depending on freshness (form), air temperature and perhaps hydration levels. My max heart rate is often what’s achieved in a race fighting for a place.

Some examples of my Max HR:
May 2018 Crit Race 1st place Max HR 180
Jun 2018 MTB Race 1st place Max HR 182
Jul 2018 MTB Race 1st place Max HR 177
Oct 2018 Road Race 2nd place Max HR 174
Dec 2018 MTB Race 2nd place Max HR 175
Jan 2019 TR Ramp Test Max HR 176
Mar 2019 MTB Race 2nd place Max HR 184

26 April 2019 TR Ramp Test Max HR 175
29 April 2019 Zwift Tour of Watopia Stage 1 ~40th place Max HR 176
30 April 2019 Zwift Tour of Watopia Stage 2 ~20th place Max HR 179

It can be quite variable so I don’t tend to attach too much significance to Max HR for training. But I do watch my HR for recovery rides.

i’ve read that your max HR on the bike is lower than your max HR running. Can anyone back this up?

I take the average HR from a CX race assuming not drop outs and divide by 0.9 to estimate my maximum. This assumes your threshold is at 90% of max HR.

MaxHR is always sport specific. It differs, because different sports use a different amount of muscles, which will put a bit different strain on your body.

If you’re tracking HR in more than one sport, you’ll want to track what your highest observed HR is for each.

In the past 3 weeks I’ve high
189 Ramp test max HR
189 max HR pinning the finish of a 13 minute climb
192 poor decision to bridge in a gravel race.

Running HR for me has been over 200 on sprint finishes, once was 209 in an uphill sprint. Bad day.

What I use for zones: 200 Bike, 205 Run.

I’ve never hit 200 on the bike, but that fits the zones to match my measured threshold HR from VO2 testing.

That said, my HR at measured FTP is a smidge lower, more like 170 than 175, but that’s usually less than 20 min at threshold.

For me ramp test is enough to push my heart to its limits. I never get that high HR on the bike even in races. Yesterday’s pulse 204 and I am 40.