Set Max Heart Rate and Lactate Threshold manually or not?

Hi guys,

On the watch, one can choose whether to let the watch calculate one's maximum heart rate and Lactate Threshold automatically or enter one's own values manually. However, I can't find any documentation, neither from Garmin nor in this forum, on what's preferable? I have NOT done a lab test of my values, yet I've always set them manually and here's why;

The auto heart rate seems to use the old 220-age general rule for it's calculation, as I'm 46 that would put me at 174 as my maximum heart rate, which to me seems a bit low, as I have several sessions where I've gone into the 180s or even 190s as my max recorded rate? So my questions are:

1. Will this value be updated over time? Let's say that it puts me at 174 and then let's say that I record 5-10 sessions where I surpass that during a season, will it be bumped up to reflect the real value?

2. I've read the FirstBeat Whitepaper, but I can't find any information on how much the maximum heart rate affects the Vo2Max calculation? For example, I now have my watch set at 190, if I drop it down to the 174 suggested... would that mean that my Vo2Max would also drop from the present 46 to in the 30s somewhere as the obvious effect of dropping the max heart rate would be that what's now a Zone 3 run will become a Zone 4 run? Which I guess could be seen as my fitness being worse as I'd be closer to my max heart rate?

I probably should add that the 190 mentioned above is a pure assumption. But I have some time somewhere read that if one tries to do a manual max heart rate test, your brain will actually make you stop some 10-15 beats under the real value as a self-preservation thing? So if I run up a hill and down again a few times, I feel miserable after a while and max out at 176, but if someone would be there putting a figurative gun to my head, I would probably be able to push myself to 185ish or even 190?

Kind regards/Mike

P.S. I really did try to search forth and back in the forum before posting, but didn't find any threads of a similar character?

0 TrippyZ over 6 years ago

Complete the following test to identify your MaxHR then type it into settings on GC;
Run to exhaustion over a period of 25 minutes. The first 5 mins at warm up increasing speed gradually. The last 10 minutes should be difficult. The last 5 minutes should be very hard. The last 2 minutes very very hard. You should feel terribly ill at the end. MaxHR is the highest recorded rate.

If you die during this test please contact your doctor.

A few days later complete the on device LT test to set that. I then recommend that you set you running zone to use HRR%.

0 WillNorthYork over 6 years ago

1. Yes, Max HR should be automatically updated if the watch sees a higher value. Personally, if my max HR gets set to a very high value (5-10 beats over what I normally see), but under unusual circumstances (e.g. hot temperatures or when I'm in pretty bad shape), I tend to ignore it as an outlier, and reset the value to what I see at least a few times regularly under normal circumstances. The reason is that your absolute max HR (physiologically speaking) may not be as useful for training as the max HR you will ever see during a given sport. (This is why some Garmins have separate max HR/HR zones for running, cycling and swimming). e.g. My "cycling max HR" is much lower than my "running max HR" (I really only run).

2. Yes, if your max HR is set "too high", it will produce an inflated VO2Max.

Another way to determine your max HR is to do a hill test (scroll to the bottom):
https://www.polar.com/blog/calculate...-rate-running/

0 MichaelAnderberg over 6 years ago

Complete the following test to identify your MaxHR then type it into settings on GC;
Run to exhaustion over a period of 25 minutes. The first 5 mins at warm up increasing speed gradually. The last 10 minutes should be difficult. The last 5 minutes should be very hard. The last 2 minutes very very hard. You should feel terribly ill at the end. MaxHR is the highest recorded rate.

If you die during this test please contact your doctor.

A few days later complete the on device LT test to set that. I then recommend that you set you running zone to use HRR%.

Haha - hopefully, I will not experience the dying part, but if I do - please pause my Garmin :) I will try the suggested things and see where I end up? Thanks!