Howard’s Story

By: Fourth Frontier Desk - December 5, 2022 9:40 am

Sixteen years ago, whilst establishing his own tech company, Howard discovered his passion for cycling and exploring the mountains of Europe.

Reaching the summit didn’t come without its drawbacks, however, as he began noticing that his wrist-worn heart rate monitor would suddenly stop displaying his data.

“I was either suffering from a lot of flat batteries, or there was something else going on.”

Howard reached out to Professor Sanjay Sharma, one of the UK’s leading Sports Cardiologists, from St George’s Hospital in London, who nudged him in the direction of exploring the Frontier X to monitor his fitness.

“The whole experience since then has been a total game changer.

“The Frontier X has given me an incredible level of clarity and detail about my heart’s performance during these prolonged endurance events. You just can’t get that type of detail from other devices.”

Through the help of a dedicated team of healthcare professionals, Howard was diagnosed with Ventricular Tachycardia.

“In my particular case it appears to be caused by a third spark plug in the heart which is deciding to join the party when my heartbeat reaches about 150bpm!.

At one point, I deteriorated into VT at around 130 bpm, and on one occasion it lasted for around 25 minutes.”

When riding uphill, Howard was finding that his heart rate would reach approximately 160 bpm and causing him to experience an episode of Ventricular Tachycardia.

“I realised in my early 60s that, effectively, my riding days with friends and family were over.”

Howard soon enrolled in the Frontier Heart Program which, along with his Frontier X, made a significant impact on how confident he feels about managing his condition.

“The team gives me 30 minutes a week of detailed reviews and advice, focused and tailored on critical aspects of fitness and endurance training.

“My cardiologist remains in charge of the medical aspects, whilst the Frontier Heart Program team give me very detailed and tailored advice about fitness and recovery.”

Things are now looking up for Howard, who is on a low dose of Beta Blockers and is continuing with steady base performance training through the Frontier Heart Program with the aim of maintaining a consistent heart rate during training sessions.

“Us roadies tend to focus on power output and heart rate quite a lot, and I’m very pleased to say that my power output for a given heart rate has benefited considerably from this style of training, not to mention it’s keeping the VTs at bay.”

“I’m now back to 160 km endurance rides, albeit at a steady pace at the moment.

“For the future, there should only really be one question… on my next trip to the mountains, will it be the Pyrenees or the Alps?”