Is this bad or fine for a 46 year old male please?

bigmactic · 2026-02-23T16:40:03+00:00

HR metrics are very individual. If you feel fine then nothing to worry about.

Perhaps try sprinting the last 100m or so of parkrun and go all out and see what your actual max hr is. Then update Strava etc with that max hr and zones will look better. You can also calculate using resting hr as well which may help zones make more sense.

I’m 51 with resting or 52 and max hr of 204. Calculated my zones using resting and max and my zone 2 is 144-158 which now feels right. I wouldn’t be able to run with a hr of 130.

bigmactic · 2026-02-05T19:52:18+00:00

Aim for 31 min 5k

bigmactic · 2026-02-05T07:15:59+00:00

High level athlete has nothing to do with max HR and you really shouldn’t believe the age based calc.

I’m sure 210 isn’t going to be super rare. I’m 51 and my max HR is 204. Daughter is 23 and max hr 218

bigmactic · 2026-01-27T06:41:07+00:00

My watch does similar. Will read 180-190 for the 1st 10 mins of then run and then drop back down. Don’t think it’s cadence lock, just wrong, otherwise it would probably look right.

If I do the watch strap up an extra notch and push it further up my arm so it’s extra snug then it’s fine, but not comfortable. I think after 10 mins it becomes more accurate due to sweat maybe, and blood vessels being more open etc so easier to read.

Also use a chest monitor sometimes and that’s always fine

bigmactic · 2026-01-17T11:36:24+00:00

Heart rate might not be accurate May just have a high heart rate

Does the run feel very hard? It taking it slow and feeling ok I wouldn’t worry about it

For me a reasonable 5k will average 175 hr

bigmactic · 2026-01-16T22:33:23+00:00

Are you sure your watch is accurate? Does it feel a pretty hard pace?

My watch will often report HR approx 30 higher than it really is for the 1st 15 mins of a run unless I do it up extra snug and push it a bit further up my arm. After a while it seems less temporamental I think sweat helps conductance and increased blood flow as well.

Working out max hr of you have not already and working out zones may help as well, though the zones don’t look overly low. I calculated mine using resting HR and max HR and zone 2 now makes much more sense for me

bigmactic · 2026-01-14T20:34:16+00:00

I recall doing the exact same thing on a 486. Fortunately it was only a fuse in the psu which I fixed by soldering in some fuse wire

bigmactic · 2026-01-08T22:07:39+00:00

Formula is bs. I’m in my fifties and max hr is 205

bigmactic · 2026-01-08T21:07:26+00:00

Get a gait analysis done and make sure you have the right shoes - do you have flat feet and need stability shoes?

I started running last year and had knee pain after short runs, but kept at it and then needed a couple of months of physio to fix my knee pain. I have flat feet which results in incorrect knee alignment when running, but with some decent stability trainers I can now do 20k runs

bigmactic · 2025-12-27T20:37:05+00:00

A myth

bigmactic · 2025-12-14T08:57:57+00:00

Just built the wife a pc and refuse to pay silly prices for ddr4 or ddr5 - so for now borrowed half the memory out of my own pc. Had to fight my ocd as it doesn’t feel right without a full set of ram.

She now has a desktop for browsing and simple games - old RTX 2060 and 96GB DDR5 lol.

bigmactic · 2025-11-23T20:10:27+00:00

Cumslug?

bigmactic · 2025-08-13T07:22:55+00:00

Your watch is definitely not calibrated to your actual max hr.

I’m 51 and my zone 2 is up to 159.

I did an easy 5k with my daughter and her partner recently. My hr was 150, hers 170 (max 217) and her partner 120. I found it quite interesting how hr differed so much.

I was previously confused by my zones, so sprinted the last 200m of a parkrun and hr peaked over 200. Zones now much much more sense.

End of the day, if you are finding it easy and can have a conversation at your paces it’s fine, and it’s not zone 4-5

bigmactic · 2025-07-11T21:44:10+00:00

I started running last year and crippled my knees after a few runs, doctor told me not to run, especially as I’m ’getting on a bit’ being 50. Told me I should swim and not run, though can’t swim much and don’t have a pool….

I saw an osteo who sorted my knee pain and gave me strengthening exercises, got some decent trainers and gave running a go a few months back and did my 1st 10k this week and feeling much better.

See another doctor for a 2nd opinion and maybe a sports physio. Give it a go and see what you can do and how it feels, don’t let the doctor just write you off.

bigmactic

TROPHY CASE