Max Heart Rate: Understanding, Determining, and Updating on Strava

How to change max heart rate on Strava?

To update your maximum heart rate on Strava, access your profile settings either through the Strava website or the mobile application, navigate to "My Performance" or "Heart Rate Zones," and manually input your new MHR value.

Understanding Max Heart Rate (MHR)

Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) represents the highest number of beats per minute your heart can achieve during intense physical exertion. It is a fundamental physiological metric, serving as a critical benchmark for determining training intensity, monitoring effort, and optimizing cardiovascular adaptations. Unlike resting heart rate, which reflects cardiovascular fitness and recovery, MHR is largely genetically predetermined and tends to decrease with age, regardless of fitness level.

Why is MHR Important for Training? An accurate MHR is crucial for:

• Establishing Training Zones: Heart rate training zones (e.g., aerobic, tempo, threshold, VO2 max) are typically calculated as a percentage of your MHR. These zones guide athletes to train at specific intensities to elicit desired physiological adaptations, such as improving endurance, power, or fat utilization.
• Gauging Relative Effort: Platforms like Strava use MHR to calculate "Relative Effort" for activities. An accurate MHR ensures that the perceived exertion and physiological stress of your workouts are appropriately quantified, allowing for better comparison of efforts across different activities and individuals.
• Performance Tracking and Periodization: By understanding your MHR and associated zones, you can more effectively structure your training, prevent overtraining, and monitor progress over time.

How to Determine Your Max Heart Rate

While MHR is a cornerstone of heart rate training, obtaining an accurate value can be challenging. Several methods exist, each with varying degrees of precision and safety.

• Age-Predicted Formulas: These are the simplest and most common methods, but also the least accurate for individuals due to high variability.

  • 220 - Age: The most widely known but least precise formula. For a 40-year-old, MHR would be estimated at 180 bpm.
  • Tanaka, Monahan, & Seals Formula (208 - 0.7 x Age): Offers a slightly more refined estimate. For a 40-year-old, MHR would be estimated at 208 - (0.7 * 40) = 180 bpm.
  • Gellish Formula (207 - 0.7 x Age): Another common formula. For a 40-year-old, MHR would be estimated at 207 - (0.7 * 40) = 179 bpm.
  • Limitations: These formulas provide a population average and can be off by 10-20 bpm or more for individuals, making them unreliable for precise training.

• Laboratory Testing: The gold standard for determining MHR, typically performed in a controlled clinical or exercise physiology lab.

  • Graded Exercise Test (GXT) with ECG Monitoring: Involves progressively increasing exercise intensity on a treadmill or bike while heart rate, ECG, and often oxygen consumption (VO2 max) are monitored. This method is the safest and most accurate, often supervised by medical or exercise professionals.

• Field Testing: Performed by athletes and coaches, these tests involve maximal effort to reach a true MHR. They are demanding and carry inherent risks, especially for individuals with underlying health conditions.

  • Protocols: Typically involve a thorough warm-up followed by several minutes of progressively increasing intensity, culminating in an all-out effort (e.g., uphill running, repeated sprints).
  • Safety Precaution: Field tests should only be attempted by healthy individuals who are already accustomed to high-intensity exercise, preferably under supervision. Always consult a physician before undertaking maximal exertion tests.

Step-by-Step: Changing Your Max Heart Rate on Strava

Updating your MHR on Strava ensures that your training zones and "Relative Effort" calculations are as accurate as possible.

Via Strava Website:

1. Log In: Go to strava.com and log in to your account.
2. Access Settings: Hover over your profile picture in the top right corner, then click on "Settings" from the dropdown menu.
3. Navigate to My Performance: In the left-hand sidebar, click on "My Performance."
4. Edit Heart Rate: Locate the "Heart Rate" section. You will see fields for "Max Heart Rate" and "Heart Rate Zones."
5. Input New MHR: Enter your updated maximum heart rate value in the "Max Heart Rate" field.
6. Save Changes: Click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page to apply your new setting.

Via Strava Mobile App (iOS & Android):

1. Open App: Launch the Strava app on your smartphone.
2. Go to Profile: Tap on the "You" icon (profile icon) in the bottom navigation bar.
3. Access Settings: Tap the gear icon (Settings) in the top right corner of your profile screen.
4. Find Performance Metrics: Scroll down and tap on "Performance Metrics" (iOS) or "My Performance" (Android).
5. Edit Max Heart Rate: Tap on "Max Heart Rate."
6. Input New MHR: Enter your updated maximum heart rate value.
7. Confirm/Save: Tap "Done" (iOS) or the checkmark/back arrow (Android) to save the change.

The Impact of an Accurate Max Heart Rate on Your Strava Data

An accurate MHR value on Strava significantly enhances the utility of the platform's analytical tools:

• Precise Training Zone Allocation: Your activities will be categorized more accurately into heart rate zones, providing clearer insights into the physiological demands and benefits of each workout (e.g., time spent in aerobic vs. anaerobic zones).
• Refined Relative Effort Scores: Strava's "Relative Effort" metric, designed to quantify the cardiovascular intensity of a workout relative to your personal fitness, becomes much more meaningful. This allows for better comparison of different activities (e.g., a long run vs. a hard cycling session) and helps in monitoring training load over time.
• Improved Performance Insights: With accurate MHR data, you can better track your progress, identify patterns in your training, and make informed decisions about future workout planning.

When to Update Your Max Heart Rate

While MHR is relatively stable, there are specific instances when updating it on Strava is warranted:

• Aging: MHR naturally declines with age. While the rate of decline varies, it's generally advisable to re-evaluate your MHR every few years, especially if relying on age-predicted formulas.
• New, Accurate Testing: If you undergo a professional laboratory test or successfully complete a well-structured and safe field test that yields a new, higher, or more accurate MHR, update your Strava profile accordingly.
• Significant Fitness Changes (Rare for MHR): While MHR itself doesn't typically change with fitness level, a dramatic shift in your cardiovascular fitness might prompt a re-evaluation, although this is more likely to affect your submaximal heart rate responses and training zones rather than MHR itself.

Important Considerations and Caveats

• MHR is Not a Measure of Fitness: A high MHR does not inherently indicate superior fitness. Rather, it is your body's physiological ceiling. Fitness is better reflected by your ability to sustain a high percentage of your MHR for extended periods, your resting heart rate, and your heart rate recovery.
• Individual Variability: Heart rate responses are highly individual. What constitutes a "maximal effort" for one person might be submaximal for another, even with the same MHR.
• Consult a Professional: Before attempting any maximal heart rate testing, especially field tests, consult with a healthcare professional, particularly if you have any pre-existing medical conditions or are new to high-intensity exercise. For personalized training advice and accurate physiological assessment, consider working with a certified exercise physiologist or sports medicine specialist.