Cycling can be a good source of exercise, but take note of its effects on your heart rate. While the overall health benefits of cycling can make your heart stronger, take steps to avoid too much strain. Keep track of your heart rate during exercise and be conscious of your maximum heart rate to ensure that you get the most out of cycling.
Benefits
In the long-term, cycling can strengthen your heart, giving you a consistent and healthy heart rate during exercise and ensuring a healthy return to your normal heart rate after exercise. The aerobic exercise you get from cycling also increases your lung capacity, allowing you to take in more oxygen, and improves the condition of your blood vessels. Your heart works harder to circulate oxygen and blood when your veins are rigid or blocked and your lungs are weak, so improving the health of your respiratory and circulatory systems will reduce strain on your heart and encourage a healthy, steady heart rate.
Optimal Heart Rate
Determine your maximum heart rate, or MHR, by subtracting your age from 220. This will give you the average maximum heart rate for a person your age. To get a more personalized figure, warm up by cycling at an easy, steady pace for 15 minutes on a level surface. From there, move to a slight incline and increase your effort every five minutes until you have reached your maximum speed. Then sprint for about 15 seconds and stop. Count the number of times your heart beats in 30 seconds and then double that number. This number should be close to the number you got by subtracting your age from 220, but it does not need to be exact.
Training Zones
The rate at which your heart beats while you cycle places you into one of five training zones. You can use a heart rate monitor to keep track of your heart rate while you cycle, then compare your current rate to your maximum heart rate to determine which training zone you are in. At 65 percent of your MHR, which you would typically reach during a casual ride or recovery ride, you are in Zone 1. Zone 2 occurs from 65 to 72 percent of your MHR. During high-level aerobic activity, when your heart rate reaches 73 to 80 percent of your MHR, you are in Zone 3. Zone 4 occurs from 84 to 90 percent of your MHR, and anything higher places you in Zone 5. The higher zones are typically associated with time trials, short sprints and anaerobic training.
Recovery Time
Your recovery heart rate will vary according to several factors. These include your age, weight, physical fitness level and the intensity of your workout. However, on average, a typical adult will wait approximately 20 to 30 second for his heart rate to return to normal after one minute of intense cycling. If you cycle regularly, your recovery time may be shorter than this. Recovery times are also shorter for children and trained athletes who are more physically fit than average. Increasing the length or intensity of your cycling routine will also increase your recovery time.
References
- "Pediatric Research"; Heart Rate Recovery from 1 Minute of Exercise in Children and Adults; E. Baraldi et al.; June 1991
- SlowTwitch: Heart Rate Discrepancies in Cycling vs. Running
- Cycling Performance Tips: Heart Rate Monitors
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity
- Sunday Times: Urban Cyclists Raise Their Risk of Heart Disease
- Better Health Channel: Cycling and Disease Prevention
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