How do you know when your Minute Ventilation is set right?

I started out with MV @ 10, then 12, then to 14, now back down to 13.

When set at 14 I felt it was way to sensative and would go to my Upper Rate Setting of 140 to easy and stay there. 

Trying to pay attention to my breathing (aerobic threshold) with breathing thru nose & talk tests. I use Power Meters for all my rides, but I recently changed from a Single Sided Meter to dual: I discovered I had a Power Imbalance. (Left leg was dominant @ approx 58/42%) So that threw off my Aerobic Threshold Power Numbers a bit.

**It doesn't seem like it's hard (Zone 2 Power Watts) to get my HR to my set Upper Rate @ 140.

I have seen 150-160bpm on hill climbs and 1min hard Intervals 

Lower Rate = 50: Activity level = Athletic, Recovery Time = 2m, I can't find my Reaction Time immediately (2min?)

I have a printout from Dr, but a lot of terms I see on this forum aren't mentioned on it.

1 Comments

The short answer is...

by crustyg - 2023-12-19 06:00:21

...when you get the HR that you need.

Sorry if this sounds trite or patronising, but there is no 'right' setting for the sensors that feed into Rate Response and no PM yet devised that does a perfect job of replicating a healthy SA-node.  If we accept that and the compromises that it entails, then it's a simpler task of getting what you need out of the PM.  *This* is why I suggest that optimising a PM for Sick Sinus Syndrome+CI is more difficult that something like CCHB.

Ok, why don't we just set everything to max and have at it?  Two main reasons:

1 Overpacing anyone, let alone someone with an athletic heart results in hypertension.  The evidence for not wanting BP any higher than absolutely necessary is overwhelming.  Stroke is the biggest risk by far.

2 Depending on the health of the heart muscle, overpacing may lead to, or merely accelerate any underlying disease process.

Please don't shout at me 'it also saves PM battery life'.  For simple SSS+CI=>RA paced only at minimum voltage and pulse width, paces per day has almost no impact on PM battery life - the battery is running very close to shelf life anyway.  In my own experience, I lose more battery life from extended Zoom (RF not induction coil) programmer sessions than paced outputs - probably down by nearly 2yrs now (not really an issue as my PM has the big battery and was on course for 15.5yr or more).  For those dual-chamber paced, with outputs well above minimum (esp. pulse width) then, yes, doubling paced outputs per day would have an impact on battery life.

If I understand what you've written and your max-tracking rate is 140BPM and max-sensor rate also 140BPM then any vent-rate >140BPM suggests a significant source of additional impulses - lots of PACs or NSVT which isn't ideal.  At your age, I would expect a higher maxHR, something like 160BPM - assuming that your heart muscle is healthy and has a good blood supply.

Hope that helps.

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