Ask the Doctor

As a 58-year-old very competitive cyclist, I’m always concerned when my heart rate hits 190bpm-plus on really hard efforts. My average is 170-180bpm in a race. Fellow competitors my age max-out at 140-150 and average a lot less. Is this something I should be worried about?

Paul Mann

I’ve checked with my cardiology colleague Dr Simon Kennon, who says that while a race average of 170-180 may just