Odd heart rate

chrisfwood

Hi,

I am 42 years old, 65kg, male, and am trying to get to understand my overall fitness level and my new tracker can workout your VOMax by doing a 10 minute run with your heart rate over 70% of max with the GPS tracker on. It claims to works better with strap based HR rather than the optical sensor so that is what I used. The result was a respectable 45. However running isn't something I tend to do, I speed walking normally.

Then I looked at my heart rate trace and that was odd, I am running at a near constant 5:15 to 5:25 mins/km on relatively flat footpath, but my heart rate is jumping about (up and down by 10bpm every 10ish seconds) while kind of climbing until it hits a peak way over my estimated max after about 6 minutes, then it just plummet to a steady 165-168 (border between Z4 Z5) and sits there for 10 minutes, when I dropped to a walk, and my heart rate smoothly tracked with a little lag, pick-up the pace again heart rate tracks nice and smooth.

Now I realise I probably should talk to a doctor but until then any ideas about what was going on, could it be the sensor malfunctioning to my mind it would drop beats not count extra ones.

dewd2

Sounds like the HRM is not working properly. Did you wet it before you ran? Did it fit snugly around your chest?

What was the device/HRM you used?

chrisfwood

Yes I did wet it and I think it was a good fit (not over tight but not loose), its a Garmin premium (old model) with a FR 235.

dawniemate

I've had issues with my heart rate. ..it goes up to 180 when I run. I was really concerned kept thinking it was going yo explode! I went and had some tests done. ...everything is fine. I felt better getting it checked out though. Maybe it will put your mind at rest if you do the same. ..its usually nothing, we always fear the worst! Hope you get it sorted.

LKArgh

If it were not for the hrm would you worry? Do you have any symptom that indicates something is wrong? Has your dr ever mentioned a problem? If you have not been for a checkup for a long time, then this might be a good reminder to do so. But in general, I would not worry unless there are other symptoms. It sounds more like a faulty hrm.

AliceAxe

see a condition called POTS as a possible cause ? not sure if this is applicable to your situation, nut I would consult a cardiologist for another opinion or 2

scorpio516

Your using a chest strap not the optical in the watch right? I don't want to say it's common, but it's not unheard of. Usually wetting fixes it - it's typically cause by poor conductivity between your skin and the electrodes. The back of the strap even has a little pictogram showing to wet it . I can't find any of my runs that I've had it happen.

Here's a post that'll send you into all kinds of fixes:
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2012/12/annual-public-service-announcement-how-to-fix-heart-rate-strap-dropoutsspikes.html

dewd2

On the Garmin forums there have been reports of certain tech shirts causing this as well (static electricity or something).

Maybe try the test again but do a nice long warmup with the strap on (to work up a good sweat). I haven't had issues with the new Garmin strap (never had the old one).

FWIW - I use a conductive gel on mine. Not sure it is necessary on the new strap but I got in the habit with my old Polar straps that were not always accurate.

ShodanPrime

Get in to see the doc. Also try wetting the band. Still see the doc though because that's your ticker, and I think the last thing you want is to die.

chrisfwood

I would say I felt fine during and after the run, I only slowed because I started burping not run that hard for that length of time for a long while. All things considered if I hadn't had the monitor I would have not even considered medical problems.

Never paid much attention to the HR details before I just used it to get a better idea of calories used. I have had drop outs before but never spikes and erratic readings I guess I need to invest in some gel rather than just a splash of water, or maybe it is time for a new monitor / strap.

Thanks for the advice.