Max heart rate test – Find your max heart rate and train smarter

Are you in good or bad shape? Do you feel like you’re giving it your all when you run? You think, I can’t go any further in less time. You can. By knowing your body’s physiological data. The article below is a description and (a little encouragement) for those who want the maximum from their training. A max heart rate test. The article below will give you answers to:

• What is a real maximum heart rate test?
• Is this kind of test of the maximum heart rate for everyone?
• What can I use my test for?
• What to expect from a maximum heart rate test

…. and much much more

Max heart rate test – running until your eyes go black

It sounds harsh, but that’s how it is. If you want to get the right picture of your maximum heart rate, you have to make a little sacrifice. I’m not saying you absolutely have to pay a lot of money to get the right maximum heart rate test, but you have to be prepared for it to hurt. That’s the only way you’ll find your right maximum heart rate.

– You can make it yourself!
– You can pay for it!

If you want to do your own max heart rate test – make sure you mentally prepare for it. Because you have to be willing to push yourself beyond the limit, and you have to be aware of what you are doing. In order to push yourself from the red mark into the black (max heart rate) it must be done with caution, and it is not a place you should be for a very long time at a time.
But you can, if you want to do your max heart rate test yourself, start with a good solid warm-up (This is important) because you will subsequently expose your body to maximum pressure. But if necessary, find a hill or a slope outdoors. When you do a max heart rate test indoors, it is done on a treadmill, and actually at the same pace, but only by the treadmill rising more and more. So a good slope on the run will be optimal. And then you can otherwise start working your heart rate up. If you have a heart rate monitor that can help you with speed, then keep a time per kilometer that you know is close to what you can do..
You should run and push yourself until you feel uncomfortable – but only for a short while – you should not push yourself any further than the limit. With this method you should be able to find something close to your real maximum heart rate.

It must be said that I have tried the above, but this time I thought I would be willing to sacrifice the money for a “proper test”. And now it sounds like it costs half a farm – but in most places you can get a test for around 12-1500,- So it is definitely worth a look. For that money you don’t just get a test, but you get a lot of forward-looking working tools for you and your future training.
In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to commendDanish Sports Academy in Rodovre – and especially Brian Dysbjerg for very competent guidance in connection with my test. I really felt in good hands, and really well dressed when I left the place. Dressed to optimize my training, and thereby achieve my future goals. A little further down in the article you can read about how it practically works when such a test is done.

Maximum heart rate or resting heart rate

We just need to get a handle on the concepts. What are we talking about, and how should we relate to the 2 concepts. As a starting point, and as previously explained in the article, you can easily do both tests yourself. Of course, with the caveats that should be there, but you can easily do it. But how do I do it?

Find your resting heart rate?

I always recommend that you measure your resting heart rate when you are most relaxed – not when you are sleeping, but I have success measuring it right when I wake up. You can do this by putting on your heart rate monitor right when you wake up – and if you are not the lucky owner of a heart rate monitor, you can just count your pulse on your wrist or neck.
You can count for 1 minute, or you can just count for 15 seconds, and then multiply that number by 4. Your resting heart rate can easily change. That’s why I measure my resting heart rate about once a month. It can change based on your shape changing, and since I get a lot out of my training, and the data I pull from various heart rate monitors, etc. That’s why I like to have the correct data all the time, and if my resting heart rate changes, I have the opportunity to enter it into my watches. but it’s extremely geeky – I know that.

Find your maximum heart rate?

I would like to refer to earlier in the article where we go through one of the options for doing a max heart rate test yourself. I would like to emphasize once again – take care of yourself when you do it. You have to go all the way up to where the black box is hit. So think carefully.
Your max heart rate doesn’t change that often, so that’s why I personally check my max heart rate 1-2 times a year. And that’s actually excessive. Several experts say that your max heart rate doesn’t change significantly, as it is genetically determined. You can, however, write it down once per year. But I still stick to doing the test at least once a year – also just to get the geeky data :-)
Please note that there may be a difference between your maximum heart rate when running and your maximum heart rate when cycling. As a general rule, you can say that The maximum heart rate for cycling is 8-10 beats below the maximum heart rate for running.

Know yourself as a runner

You will get to know yourself as a runner – or cyclist if it is a bicycle max heart rate test you are having done. First of all, you will learn where your limit is. Once you have performed a correct max heart rate, you will have no doubts – because if it is performed correctly, then you have been out there where it really hurts..
But if I start from myself, said the dog, then I have learned a lot about myself as a runner. I now know the data that the body creates from my training. This means that I myself can influence how my training develops in a positive direction. And I personally think that is cool. You can now use the body’s physiological data to optimize.
There can be almost a goal per runner – but it’s not so much the goal that is important in my world. It’s how you get there, so hitting the goal should be a small matter. Knowing that I’m training the right things, I’m training in the right zones, and I know where my limit is. It just makes it so much easier to reach my goal in time. It gives me a calm gut feeling, and for my part also gives me greater faith that the goal will succeed.

How to do a max heart rate test – is it for everyone?

And by “man” it can mean yourself or a professional. In this description, I’m assuming that a professional is doing the test. That way we get the most realistic insight. It requires quite advanced equipment to do a “real max pulse test” because in such a test you will definitely also measure your lactose during exercise, your lactic acid threshold and much more. And that is one of the advantages (which you pay for of course) of choosing to have the test done by a professional.
When a professional does the test, it’s not just a treadmill and a heart rate monitor and so on. There are also measuring devices for oxygen uptake, which allow you to draw blood so you can measure the exact values.

How is a maximum heart rate test performed?

The description below is 100% based on my recent max pulse test – it is not a fixed procedure. There are probably other methods and workflows, but this is what I experienced at the Danish Sports Academy – and let me say it again. I certainly did not leave disappointed :-)

But my first impression is that it doesn’t seem that advanced when I get in there. And somewhere it’s really just a relief for me – let me put it this way, I love running and pushing myself, but I’m also a person who loves things to be the way they usually are..
It happens that you or I change into running clothes, and then you are quietly introduced to what is going to happen. You are told that you must first run what is called a sub-maximal tests. In short, it’s several small sequences where you increase the pace a little bit for each test, and when you’ve run for the agreed time, I’m “measured and weighed.” Of course, I’m not on the scale, but it’s here after each test that you, for example, take the small drop of blood from your finger that is used to measure different values.
When I finished running the sub-maximal tests, there was a short break before we started the maximal heart rate test.
The max heart rate test and its setup were calculated based on the indications and measurements that had come in the sub-maximal tests. This means that the pace I had to run at throughout my max test had come from the first measurements. So the max heart rate test is not a test where you increase the pace (significantly). No, it simply takes place at a steady but fast pace, where the treadmill you are on increases more and more after time intervals. In my case, the treadmill had to increase in incline 2% at a time. That doesn’t sound like much – and I have to be honest, my first thought was “haha how hard can it be?” But believe me, I learned more. It was CRAZY hard.
When I reach 6% incline, the pain starts to show, and my heart rate has increased a lot. The agreement with Brian from Danish Sports Academy was that I would run until I ABSOLUTELY couldn’t anymore. It had to, or rather SHOULD HURT. The agreement was that as soon as I chose to grab the bar at the front of the treadmill, Brian would stop the treadmill. And I think, without being 100% sure, that I managed to complete the 8% incline, but could “only” stay there for about 30-40 seconds. Then it started to flicker a little before my eyes, and then I thought to myself that I had better reach for the bar. The treadmill was stopped, the mask was peeled off and my max heart rate test was over.

How do you prepare for the maximum heart rate test?

This list of things is only based on my experiences, so it’s not a definitive list, but I still think there are some things you can use.

–It is an advantage to be used to running on a treadmill. For several reasons, I would advise you to be used to it. In my situation, there was at least the challenge that my running on the treadmill became a little more stationary. And this is understood in the way that you are connected to an oxygen mask at the front of the treadmill, and it has a range you can’t really exceed, because then the dirt just falls off :-)
– You have to be prepared to run with an oxygen mask – you have to get used to it. It’s a bit different than running outdoors, or even on a treadmill for that matter. You breathe differently, I promise you.
–You shouldn’t be afraid of blood tests. It’s not as “bad” as a blood test, but you should be prepared to give a little blood after each test. At Danish Sports Academy, it was done with a small prick in the finger, from which you then squeeze a small drop out each time.
– You need to be fresh – have fresh legs. It makes no sense to do a max heart rate test the day after or for that matter 2 days after a crazy hard workout. I would recommend you to have fresh legs. For several reasons, it will be more fun to do the test, you will get the most correct data and it is also a little bit hard even though you may only be doing it for 40 minutes.
– Prepare some questions. If your test involves a subsequent review of data, do yourself a favor and prepare some questions. What do you intend to use the test for? What elements will you work with? Yes, you can come up with more questions yourself. But it is very nice to have some concrete answers to take home, and thus also the opportunity to work with them.

Is a maximum heart rate test a good idea? Still unsure?

If you are still unsure whether a maximum heart rate test is right for you, remember that we are always ready to give you a quote or good advice along the way.

So please leave us a comment, or write to us.

If you have experience with having a maximum heart rate test, we would also love to hear from you in the comments.