emtb riding can be aerobic exercise!

[RebornRider]

Yesterday was the first time I did my regular ride wearing a heart rate chest strap. I know my riding *feels* like serious exercise (it feels like I'm working hard), but now I have evidence.

I glanced at the Garmin about halfway down the fast, final downhill stretch and saw 172 bpm (these graphs don't catch all the detail). Don't let anyone tell you downhill is "just coasting"

Here is the data versus distance in miles. Before anybody judges my fitness, keep in mind that I turn 69 next week. This is harder than it used to be!

 

[RustyIron]

187 with a 161 average? Dude, either you're rockin' it, or you weigh 400 pounds and just walked to the donut shop.

I use an Apple Watch and Strava to record my own rides. 182 is the highest I've ever seen. The funny thing now that I'm on an eMTB, my heart rate has flipped, and it's generally lower on the climbs than they are on the downhills. It's the DH's where I really have to work.

To heart rates increase as we get older? I'm 59, and a while back I asked the doc to do a treadmill test on me. To me it made sense. She said it wasn't necessary and wouldn't be useful. I was disappointed, as it sounded fun.

 

[RebornRider]

Weight is currently 150, which is 20 more than when I was training for the one marathon I entered 6 years ago. One thing the marathon training did was to teach me how to maintain the fastest pace I could hope to sustain for the whole race. I push pretty hard on the bike.

 

[Pauliemon]

Hell yeah you're definitely rockin' it! I'm 71 with a couple of heart conditions and a pacemaker. My doc says keep it around 140 because of the conditions. My pacemaker doesn't let it go much above that. Me too Rustytron my bpm is pegged on downhills. I noticed on my Levo SL my heart rate was higher then on my full fat Levo. I spin more on the SL.

 

[RebornRider]

Jesus. I guess weight training makes a massive difference. Im early 40s 210 lbs 8% fatty and 166 is my absolute max.

Report back to us in 25 years.

You may (and did, in fact!) say 'duh', but there are others who think all bike riding is a leisurely ride in the park or an easy pedal on the fire road. And of course it's an e-bike, so you don't have to work at all.

 

[iXi]

I use a heart strap from my rides and have blevo adjust the assistance accordingly to keep my average heart rate around 155bpm. Snapshot of a typical ride. Love the cardo work out you get on an ebike.

In the second pick you can see how hard my hearts working in the downhill trail.

 

[B1rdie]

All these health apps are good , but my advise is to have a doctor checking your heart regularly.
I just went through an open chest myocardial revascularization two weeks ago, and will be off from riding my bikes until december.
My bpm at rest has been around 50 and while riding, an average 120-140 topping at 180 and everything sounded good.
On 2020 I had a stent placed and recently, while on regular yearly checkup, we found it was already with an 80% obstruction so we resolved that making a full hose replacing,before any incident happened, was the best way to keep me capable to keep riding for some more years….