"expert" opinions needed; my max heart rate is above 200!

oregonlady

on weekends, i jog super slow. (4.25 miles in an hour) i go to gym every weekday. hence, i think i am super fit/healthy even though i'm still a bit overweight.

over a month ago, i got a heart rate monitor and i've enjoyed using it on my jogs. but it often reads that my rate is over 200! (got up to 224 this morning). when this happens, i do not feel exhautsted, faint or anything. i'm simply jogging!
oh, i remember, for a short time last year i had a polor 6 and i did the same thing. i returned it cause i figured it was not working correctly.

is this impossissable and i must have another faulty monitor?:huh: :huh:
could this be normal for me?:huh: :huh:

thank you,
robin

Dom_m

The easiest test is to count your heart rate manually. Just count your heart rate for 10 or 20 seconds, then multiple by 6 or 3. If your count agrees with your HRM then at least you know it can work. It might not have a good connection all the time though. Try doing the manual test when you have an unusually high heart rate. If your count says otherwise, speak to the manufacturer of your HRM. If your manual count agrees that your heart rate is above 200bpm, speak to your doctor!

vhuber

Mine has done this too! I wear a Polar F11 (chest strap transmits to a watch) and have noticed this more frequesnly and I think the battery is going! But it will go bonkers on certain machines even though this style is suppose to block other transmissions! It was saying my HR was 240 something while I was lifting weights (not hardly)! Max HR is 220 minus your age and I do high intensity training workouts that I have maxed at 175 before and YES my HR was that high (I was huffin & puffin)! But in my manual it does say that certain powers (cell phones, power lines etc) can cause erratic readings too! When you have an appointment with your doc ask about it!

oregonlady

perhapps i should try changing the batteries. and checking my hr manually!

thank you.

sshultz

I had this same issue with 2 different HRMs while working out in my home! But I found the issue was not with the HRM. We have a couple of cats that we don't allow downstairs. We also don't have a door so we bought an indoor invisible fence to keep them from going down. The unit sits right at the bottom of the steps next to the workout room. Turns out these things interfer with HRMs and jack up the heart rate reading to around the 240 mark. This can also happen with runners, cyclists etc. who go by houses that have the invisible fences in the yard. High strength power lines can also affect them. Before you replace batteries or the HRM (that's how I ended up with 2) make sure you don't have anything near by that is affecting the readings.

OddSquid

Your HRM is broken.

Mathematically, at 200 bpm, that's 3 and one-third beats PER SECOND. 224 bpm is almost 4 beats per second.

EDIT: reading the previous post, yes, RF or EM interference can play a significant role.

Phoenix_Rising

When jogging (at 4.6), my HR tops out near 200. When I hit my max at 203, I stop jogging and take a breather. However, I'm FEELING it at 200 bpm. I'd check manually but maybe it's ..... ?? I dunno.

OddSquid

It'd be REALLY worthwhile to verify it manually every so often. Depending too much on electronics can really skew one's perspective (I work in info-tech and fix computers all day everyday -- there's no such thing as a 100% reliable electronic device).

oregonlady

thank you all!