According to my Garmin my heart rate hit 199 in a race. Is thatmy max heart rate?

For a normal healthy heart the American College of Sports Medicine states, 220 minus your age is a "rough" estimate. There is no precise estimate due to individual biologic variation. Additionally, the better shape you're in, the lower your highest attainable HR is. The heart beats to the level it has to in order to supply the body's metabolic requirements. Higher stroke volume at any given workload (typical training adaptation) means a lower HR at that same workload. A "max" implies that there can be no higher, uncommon in a biologic system. There can always be higher and lower, depending on the stimulus and the cardiovascular system efficiency, or lack thereof. Patients with uncontrolled A-Fib for example can typically get to HR's exceeding 275 BPM under conditions of even mild exertion, due to the higher than normal atrial impulse generation into the ventricles.

heart rate quesh wrote:

just asking. is that it?

A-Fib is an abnormal heart rhythm that is characterized by improper electrical impulse to the heart. It doesn't count as increased heart rate because your heart isn't beating in a manner conducive to blood flow.

"The maximum heart rate (HRmax) is the highest heart rate an individual can achieve without severe problems through exercise stress, and generally decreases with age."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate

So, Bad Wiggins isn't completely wrong (with the exception of citing numbers I've never seen and couldn't find published in my search), but he IS trying to change the definition of HRMax, which is inherently exercise related.

The point is, many factors affect the max attainable HR, abnormal rhythms, state of conditioning, age, alcohol use, medication etc. being just a few. So even though the 220 minus age is a theoretic "rough" max, there is no precise max, as there are way too many variables.

SCIENCE! wrote:

A-Fib is an abnormal heart rhythm that is characterized by improper electrical impulse to the heart. It doesn't count as increased heart rate because your heart isn't beating in a manner conducive to blood flow.

"The maximum heart rate (HRmax) is the highest heart rate an individual can achieve without severe problems through exercise stress, and generally decreases with age."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate

So, Bad Wiggins isn't completely wrong (with the exception of citing numbers I've never seen and couldn't find published in my search), but he IS trying to change the definition of HRMax, which is inherently exercise related.

I agree with your assessment of the lack of a theoretical maximum for humans, IE/ 220 is almost certainly not the highest recorded heart rate ever if that's what you mean, but each individual has a maximum achievable heart rate during volitional exercise. It can be lower on a "bad day", when your body is lacking rest or energy or willpower, but if you get an accurate test, then that's it. Take the information and design your ranges accordingly if you're into that kind of training. I can't think of a practical application for knowing how fast your heart could beat under conditions more "extreme" conditions, so for the sake of consistency, I'm happy referring to HRMax under that criteria.