You are reading a single comment by @runawayjimuk and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@runawayjimuk
To be honest, your heart rate sounds pretty normal for a fit individual. The algorithm that is commonly used to calculate maximum heart rate is just 220 - your age = max heart rate. This levels us with considerable levels of standard deviation though. Probably in the neighborhood of + or - 20 BPM. Resting is on the lower end. Although in well trained individuals, resting heart rate can be considerably depressed. Typically if you have a naturally lower heart rate, then your max will probably be a little lower than the expected value.
What you really need to focus on is heart rate related to work rate. As fitness and strength improve for a given heart rate, you will have a higher work rate.
As for the smoking, depends on how much you smoked and for how long. Given your age, you probably wouldn't have been able to go at it for too long (I've seen patients who who smoked 40/day for 40 years) so as long as you stay off them, your not going to do any permanent damage to you lungs and they will recover well.