Heart rate during exercise

ashleybreuer
ashleybreuer Posts: 51 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone - I am 30 years old with a resting heart rate of anywhere from 80 - 104 bpm (kind of high but have always been that way). When I work out, I typically run, and my heart rate will go as high as 190 (to the point where I start seeing black spots). I've learned that I need to jog/trot so I literally run at a 3.8 - 4.4 mph pace and I can keep my rate rate at 170-175 but I can't ever seem to keep my heart rate regularly lower than 170-175 and I am in shape. I'm 5'3" and weigh 125 lbs and am approximately 19% body fat. I've been training for a half marathon but my heart rate sometimes gets me a little nervous as it seems to be really high when I work out, but it seems whether I reduce my efforts or not it still stays high. Does anyone else experience this?

Replies

  • Taryn1627
    Taryn1627 Posts: 118 Member
    no, but I would maybe talk to your doctor about this? especially if you're seeing black spots!
  • ashleybreuer
    ashleybreuer Posts: 51 Member
    no, but I would maybe talk to your doctor about this? especially if you're seeing black spots!

    Yeah, I only start seeing them if I allow my heart rate to get up near 190 (which I avoid at all costs). I learned the hard way that I was working myself way too hard and I don't have the endurance yet to run 5.0 + mph and need to stick at a much slower pace :)

    Thanks!
  • Merrysix
    Merrysix Posts: 336 Member
    Talk to a dr who understands exercise and heart rate cause many don't. I try to condition so I can hold my 80 percent for multi hour endurance like run, bike, mountain climb (non technical) and for me (it is all individual) my 80 percent is 160 bpm. During spin class i wll go to 90 percent -- that is 180 for me for interval training.
  • quill16
    quill16 Posts: 373 Member
    When I started exercising my heart rate was around 80 and when I walked on the treadmill 3-4 MPH it would get it to 150 and I was working hard at it, so I would back off on the rate of speed or incline to keep it near 150. A year later after exercising everyday and building up my endurance, my resting heart rate is 45-50 and it goes to 190 when I run. I now run at 6-7 MPH for 6-7 miles. My point is that you have to build yourself up little by little and you will see results. If you try to overdo you could work yourself too hard and possibly hurt yourself(seeing spots is TOO HARD).Your heart is a muscle and you have to build up endurance.It takes time. Listen to your body and talk this over with your doctor!
  • CoachDuhamNC
    CoachDuhamNC Posts: 25
    Wow that's high

    What has you physician recommended? Sounds as if you have inherited some family history. I suggest that you do a Google search for a target heart rate calculator. All you do is put in some simple data and it will give you the ranges you should be hitting during exercising. Remember that going above these rates for extended periods of time are very dangerous. I see the photo of you and your child, so I know that you want to remain around for a while.

    One part of being healthy is being wise with our choices. Knowing what our bodies are capable of achieving and what they are not, each of us are uniquely different. What's possible for one does not always apply for another. You must strive to be as healthy as you can be, not as healthy as someone else may be.

    Always error on the side of caution, and within safety here: Your loved ones are depending on it


    I hope that this helps you in your journey to success. Success is achieving a happy fulfilling life shared with your love ones.


    CoachDuhamNC
  • AmyW125
    AmyW125 Posts: 303 Member
    Mine is always high. If I run slower it's around 178 (at 5.6 miles per hour) It's in the 180-90's if I go any faster and I have passed out a few times. Be careful... my Dr just told me to WALK!!! I'm looking for a new Dr. LOL
  • MichaelYoung1976
    MichaelYoung1976 Posts: 307
    You need to go see a cardiologist. (Personal experience)
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Yes, I think you should see a cardiologist.

    Having said that, if you train by heart rate i.e. you keep your heart rate steady over a run... and over time run with the same heart rate in your aerobic zone, you will eventually run faster at the same heart rate as your cardiovascular health improves.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Hi Everyone - I am 30 years old with a resting heart rate of anywhere from 80 - 104 bpm (kind of high but have always been that way). When I work out, I typically run, and my heart rate will go as high as 190 (to the point where I start seeing black spots). I've learned that I need to jog/trot so I literally run at a 3.8 - 4.4 mph pace and I can keep my rate rate at 170-175 but I can't ever seem to keep my heart rate regularly lower than 170-175 and I am in shape. I'm 5'3" and weigh 125 lbs and am approximately 19% body fat. I've been training for a half marathon but my heart rate sometimes gets me a little nervous as it seems to be really high when I work out, but it seems whether I reduce my efforts or not it still stays high. Does anyone else experience this?

    So ditto's to the Dr advice, to confirm no reason for elevated resting HR.

    The fact of having a high HRmax is mostly genetics, mostly staying in cardio shape as you age.

    You can be in "shape" whatever that means to you, and be in terrible aerobic shape. Meaning because of training, your body elevates HR and starts burning high % of glucose than is warranted for the level of intensity really being done.

    You can also be in great aerobic shape, and at a low level of intensity burn great % of fat and could go forever it feels like, truly endurance mode. But as you start to go faster you start burning greater % of carbs than would really be needed on average. This is terrible for any endurance type event, because you have limited glucose stores you are mainly using, instead of the plenty of fat stores.

    So you may have not only elevated RHR for several good reasons, you could also be totally training your anaerobic system.
    Sadly, usually when you train that, you get a tad better gain in performance, you push up the line where anaerobic starts - but it does very little for your aerobic system, sustained efforts.
    But if you train the aerobic system, you can maintain that at higher efforts until you reach the anaerobic point, which even if it comes a tad faster, is usually better overall.

    Based on your RHR and I'd guess HRmax which is 5 over what you saw of 190, you can have following scale.

    Use the aerobic zone exclusively until you speed up, showing you are training your aerobic system to a better level.

    http://www.calculatenow.biz/sport/heart.php?rhr=80&mhr=195&submit=Calculate+Zones#zones
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Second that being in shape doesn't mean you can run. I was very "in shape" when I started running and couldn't believe how "out of shape" I really was! The first 90 seconds and my HR was through the roof. Now 2 years later I can run 5K in 30 mins with my HR staying in the low 150's. It takes conditioning to get your heart used to endurance and you just don't get that from other cardio exercise.
  • ashleybreuer
    ashleybreuer Posts: 51 Member
    Thanks everyone for the great advise. I do admit I should go in to a dr (a bit of a dr. phobe here). I actually see a hemotologist because I have a blood clotting disorder (factor V Leiden but I have the homozygous mutation which puts me at an extremely high risk for blood clots). Part of me was wondering If I needed an exercise stress test, which I know only the dr would truly know. I just gotta get my butt in and see one but wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences with their own heart rate. I appreciate all the responses and advise :) Merry Christmas!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Thanks everyone for the great advise. I do admit I should go in to a dr (a bit of a dr. phobe here). I actually see a hemotologist because I have a blood clotting disorder (factor V Leiden but I have the homozygous mutation which puts me at an extremely high risk for blood clots). Part of me was wondering If I needed an exercise stress test, which I know only the dr would truly know. I just gotta get my butt in and see one but wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences with their own heart rate. I appreciate all the responses and advise :) Merry Christmas!

    Heart rate in and of itself is not always that significant--it's the situation, the symptoms, the sense of exertion, etc that provide the context as to the significance of the heart rate number.

    It's your reported symptoms that raise the warning flags, not the heart rate number itself. Since you have some underlying medical issues, it is more advisable that you seek counsel within a medical context. If you are not seeing someone regularly, then I would take the time to find someone who has more than a basic knowledge of exercise. It's not a given that anyone you see will have that knowledge.

Categories