I usually (last two years in a row) only hit my max HR in the early season, when I don’t have a lot of CTL in my legs, during a specific race-like outdoor group ride. The sprint at the one hour turnaround has a two minute lead up and then it’s out of the saddle for 30 seconds full gas. On my last two ramp tests, I was only able to get to 95% of max before my legs gave out. Maybe if I had gotten out of the saddle I could have driven the heart rate a bit further in those final seconds if that was the goal of the test…
I perform performance tests in a lab fairly regularly. I often observe what I believe to be many people’s maximum HR, but it is easier to do this in a lab than at your house. Mostly, other data from a metabolic cart can help confirm whether or not an individual was able to hit their true maximal workload. Additionally, we usually have lab staff that cheer on an individual, which has been demonstrated to help people achieve their true max.
I would venture a guess that for most people who truly give it their all, will be pretty darn close in a ramp test, especially if it feels like your heart/lungs were the driving factor for fatigue (most often on the bike, the legs go first).
Just to be nit-picky… this is likely not most people’s highest heart rate they could achieve (usually a max test while running yields higher heart rates than maximal cycling). However, since these are prescribing training zones for cycling, using the highest recorded HR at any point on a bike would be the best to use.
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So far I have hit the highest HR whilst mountain biking (XC marathon)
Followed by VO2 max and lactate test
Then ramp test
Then on the road
We’re only talking 1 or 2 beats between the different tests but that’s the general trend.
Just looked back at my last half dozen ramp tests. Noticed the following:
- Max HR in tests varied from 168 to 177bpm
- There is a strong correlation between max HR in the test and how “good” the result was. I.e. The tests with high HR were also the ones where I felt I did my fitness justice and was happy with the FTP number I got back. Guess this is a function of being fresher and/or having higher motivation for those tests
- Highest HR I’ve ever seen in tests is still only ~95% of my max HR outside, and I get over 180bpm fairly regularly outside. Think that’s partly the nature of the test - my HR spikes higher with maximal efforts like a sprint than with the cumulative fatigue of a ramp. And again motivation - there’s nothing quite like burying yourself in a group sprint when it comes to emptying the tank
Without knowing anything specific about you as an individual and as an athlete, that’s seems perfectly reasonable for a 22 year old. When I was 16 my max heart rate was around 225. 20 years later I’m now 36 and if my heart rate goes above 190 then I’m probably in deep deep trouble.
If it was me then I would use my max HR during a ramp test as max HR for subsequent workouts and then adjust in the future if other rides/workouts produce a higher max.
I think it’s time for a new metric because “MaxHR” seems to be causing confusion.
I’m going to call this metric “TRmax”. It isn’t the maximum heart rate you’ve ever achieved. It’s the maximum heart rate you’ve achieved:
- on the Turbo Trainer
- sitting down
- doing Trainer Road.
Yes, you can get a higher “max” heart rate if you stand up and sprint, because that uses more muscles. But if you’re doing a vo2 interval sitting down, and it says you’re at 90% of max, you want that to be 90% of your maximum achieved while seated, or else the metric is meaningless.
You could probably make your heart rate even higher by repeatedly hitting a punching bag while doing the last 5 minutes of the ramp test. Or by getting off the bike and doing some nordic skiing. But again, it’d be meaningless.
It can also get you into trouble other ways. Let’s say you get your HR up to 185 sprinting out of the saddle at the end of a hard 5 minute climb on a warm day. This might lead you to believe that your aerobic threshold is around 130-138. But for seated efforts, which is how you’d be doing most aerobic threshold, your actual maxHR is a fair bit lower. So you end up making your easy steady ride too hard.
TL:DR - do the ramp test. Stay seated. Take your highest HR from that and maybe add 2-3 for good luck. That’s your “TRmax”.
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But this is where so many issues with HR as a training metric creep in.
Things like coffee, sleep, stress etc will all change your HR in the same way as the nature of your intervals. So if you start making differentiations between different factors then you open the door for lots of variables, some of which could be unknown or uncontrollable to you at that time.
I think HR is still extremely useful as a metric alongside power, but keeping is as simple as possible is surely going to yield the best results for the amateur athlete
I think you actually have to be well-trained to hit your maximum heart rate. First few ramp tests I did, I was not able to hit it even though I trained to failure. Eventually, I was able to get to something closer to what I think it is, but given this experience, I would think it’s quite dependent on your willingness to push it that far and your fitness to be able to do so in a 20 minute test. I wouldn’t trust it.
I have acheived a max heartrate of 197 indoors. During my latest ramptest I reached 196bpm seconds before I threw in the towel. 
So I’d say that you’ll get within a couple of beats of your max heartrate when doing the ramptest.
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Pulled a 208bpm max in my ramp test tonight, pretty crazy for a 46 year old, my max has always been high though…
Didn’t come close during my ramp test. Only way mine hits max is a flat out sprint or last 1k of a TT where my eyes are bleeding and no longer breathing
I don’t get too close to my max heart rate during the ramp test either… Alway my legs that go first.
Maybe I should go into a ramp test more rested but assume that should give me a FTP number too high to complete workouts?
Just for reference the max HR I’ve seen during my ramp test is 187, I base my zones off a 195 max but the absolute max I’ve seen recently was during a mock race on an Indoor velodrome which was 203.
If you want to hit your maxHR, I would actually suggest doing a ramp test on a treadmill. You’ll have a better chance of hitting max hr
Running and cycling will most likely have different max values, due to the load carrying differential. It’s not a good idea to use the max from one for the other.
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I hit 176 on my last ramp test which I absolutely destroyed. I was cooked. Have seen 183 since in a sprint finish though and I think that’s within a few beats of my max. I don’t let it worry me to be honest. I use resting heart rate for fatigue tracking but otherwise I pretty much ignore it.
True. If I make it to 180bpm on a bike I’m dying. 180 running is what I’ll maintain for a 10km though.
I did mean though just to know what your absolute max hr is
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