3 ms·
My guess is that the heart is a muscle and just like other muscles it tends to not have as much output as you age.
by frogpelt 12y ago
My guess is that the heart is a muscle and just like other muscles it tends to not have as much output as you age.
- msandford 12y agoI actually suspect that it has less to do with your heart and more to do with your fitness. People generally get less fit as time goes on and thus the target heart rates reflect that. I rode with one guy who was in his 50s and could still hit 190ish no problem (while outriding us college kids), mostly because he was monstrously fit. If your muscles are able to do less as you age (and that I definitely believe!) then it's easy to see that it's harder to produce the same amount of power. As the power requirements on your heart decrease it slows down. So for a younger guy who can make 1000 watts peak his heart rate might be 210 to do so. An older guy might only be able to make 800 watts peak and have a heart rate of 180 for that amount of power.