Maximal heart rate is an important calibration point for endurance athletes and their coaches. We use it to evaluate training, identify fatigue, quantify changes in fitness, etc.
But some people still find doing the effort required to really reach their maximal heart rate and quantify it to be intimidating. So we in endurance sports tend to use prediction equations.
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to using these equations.
Reposted on Fast Talk Laboratories with permission of Dr. Stephen Seiler.
