HELP!! High Heart Rate during exercise ok?

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  • kennie2
    kennie2 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    mine has been to around 200 but i just assume that my hrm is messing up. but to what someone said about blood pressure, my blood pressure is also pretty low (usually around 105/60) i think thats low anyway. but yeah its something i get from just running but im usually dripping in sweat at that point
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    There are various things that can throw off an HRM. Static electricity, interference from another source. It happens. The problem is this will likely give you a higher burn than what you really got. So, if you are logging and eating back calories, I'd be conservative with that number.

    Also, 220 minus your age is only a ballpark. Does your model allow you to manually set your VO2 max and does it have a fit test? If so, do the fit test and determine your VO2 max and enter it. Without that info, the calories burn you get from your HRM is nothing but WAG (Wild *kitten* Guess). Retest and reset from time to time. Without that, HRMs are not nearly as accurate an estimate as we would like to think.
  • alasin1derland
    alasin1derland Posts: 575 Member
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    I monitor mine with every workout, average and max and I found out if I don't drink enough water it goes much higher. When you are dehydrated your heart has to work harder to pump.
  • TinaBean007
    TinaBean007 Posts: 273 Member
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    A completely different thought, could it be the battery? My HRM acts very strange when the battery is low.
  • KatrinaWilke
    KatrinaWilke Posts: 372 Member
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    I use an HRM (Polar FT7) when I exercise. It calculates my zones and all that for me. Recently, just this past week when I have been working out, my heart rate has been sky rocketing up to 191 BPM!! I know the whole 220 - your age to get your suggested Max HR. I am 28, so mine is 192. So, technically I am ok I guess, but that just seems so high to me?? Before this week, the highest it has ever gone is 186. What does this mean?

    What is everyone else's BPM, especially those that are around my age? Is there anything you would recommend to get this down?

    I trained for a half marathon last year and my heart rate was almost always above 180. By the way, I am 28 years old as well. I tried slowing my pace down to a crawl....but my heart rate always stayed up. I never felt tired or bad when I ran. I actually never researched more as to why my heart rate was higher than the recommended training zone. Maybe I could check to make sure my HRM is accurate.

    Also, I don't think going from 186 to 191 is skyrocketing. I noticed my heart rate would fluctuate more than that when I would stop/start concentrating on my breathing. If I really focused on breathing deeply and evenly my heart rate would slow down a bit.
  • tenintwenty
    tenintwenty Posts: 92
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    It probably just means you're not very conditioned.
  • emily356
    emily356 Posts: 318 Member
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    Mine will go into the upper 180s when I am pushng it or doing HIIT. I also have a pretty high resting heart rate. So does my dad... some things are genetic. My RHR has gotten slower as I've gotten more fit, but still higher than the "norm". My blood pressure is also always low... maybe there is a correlation? Interesting...
  • EmilyJackCO
    EmilyJackCO Posts: 621 Member
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    According to the machines, mine hits 180 while on the bike... I'm about to turn 40, so... yeah. NOT so good. I'm hoping it's wrong, and I'm looking into an HRM that I can deal with, but backing things down a little bit just in case.
  • scribb
    scribb Posts: 3,659 Member
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    When I do my Tabata, the max heart rate will shoot up to 186 or so but the average for the whole workout will be around 140. So, I believe it is ok if your HR shoots up, but it needs to recover quickly as well.
  • myfitnessisavirtue
    myfitnessisavirtue Posts: 673 Member
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    Mine was pretty close to max hr, usually around 186-190 and I had been working out for months. Then I started getting a random higher number for my max, like 216. I found out I was pregnant shortly after, so make sure it isn't that.
  • MeanSophieCat
    MeanSophieCat Posts: 200 Member
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    Have you changed anything else?

    Both my average and high heart rates are higher when I'm on very little sleep or when I've eaten less that day (definitely higher if I workout first thing in the morning). My heart rate is also higher during TOM. I'm no scientist, I just have 6 months of my own HRM data to go by.
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
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    I asked my doctor about this because it worried me as well. Explained to her that on some days doing the same exact exercise I would have a much higher heart rate and would go at moments over 200. She asked about my water intake for that day and told me to start paying attention to possible dehydration. She said when your body does not have enough fluids it makes your heart work harder. Ever since she told me that I have noticed a big difference. On days that I drink plenty of water I don't have it jumping so high.

    Just wanted to add that I am 41 so jumping to 188-200 at times worried me. That is why I asked my doctor.
  • tryinghard71
    tryinghard71 Posts: 593
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    I use an HRM (Polar FT7) when I exercise. It calculates my zones and all that for me. Recently, just this past week when I have been working out, my heart rate has been sky rocketing up to 191 BPM!! I know the whole 220 - your age to get your suggested Max HR. I am 28, so mine is 192. So, technically I am ok I guess, but that just seems so high to me?? Before this week, the highest it has ever gone is 186. What does this mean?

    What is everyone else's BPM, especially those that are around my age? Is there anything you would recommend to get this down?

    I trained for a half marathon last year and my heart rate was almost always above 180. By the way, I am 28 years old as well. I tried slowing my pace down to a crawl....but my heart rate always stayed up. I never felt tired or bad when I ran. I actually never researched more as to why my heart rate was higher than the recommended training zone. Maybe I could check to make sure my HRM is accurate.

    Also, I don't think going from 186 to 191 is skyrocketing. I noticed my heart rate would fluctuate more than that when I would stop/start concentrating on my breathing. If I really focused on breathing deeply and evenly my heart rate would slow down a bit.

    ^^^
    Same here. I noticed when I concentrate on my breathing it would come down as well.
  • teebeegeebee
    teebeegeebee Posts: 218 Member
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    a couple of things

    1 are you using the hrm and seeing the figures on the gym machines - mine is always wrong - my wrist says 130 and the machine says 157, its not always accurate on the machines
    2 is the battery old or new - old ones send wierd signals
    3 the variance you are talking about is not massive its 5 so I would not worry too much

    I wish i could get mint that high, but alas I am too old these days ..... \

    my resting hrm reads 45 and my hard excercise rarely goes above 145 these days , sign of the time

    have fun
    :bigsmile:
  • miqisha
    miqisha Posts: 1,534 Member
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    It could be the machine isn't working. I have a Polar FT4 and that happens, usually the sensor isn't picking up and it will beep and screen says check heart rate monitor and then when it starts picking up again it starts in the 200s. I had them replace the sensor and it still happened so now they are sending a new strap.

    I would suggest when u hear the beeps check to see what the screen is saying because you may have a defective system or could just be the batteries. Mine were brand new so it wasn't the batteries.
  • meghan6867
    meghan6867 Posts: 388 Member
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    I'm 27 and I also have a high heartrate when exercising (especially when I'm doing interval training). Often my heartrate goes over 190 and sometimes even over 200. Just pay attention to your body... if you feel light-headed or overly stressed take a break or slow down. My trainer said that some people just have a naturally occuring higher heartrate when exercising. They can push themselves... they just need to be more careful and pay attention to how they're feeling while working out.

    That being said: the theory that low blood pressure correlates with a high heartrate may be true... but then I'm just a freak of nature. My BP was super high for years, but now is holding steady at 120/80. I've still got a crazy high HR. :smile:
  • BigDave1050
    BigDave1050 Posts: 854 Member
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    I had a heart rate monitor do this to me a few weeks before the battery died. Might want to check that before you get to worried about your heart rate getting high. could just be a malfunction. Also, if your around some else who has a similar HRM, you could be cross signaling (Throwing your numbers off) I had this happen as well while running with a friend who had the same type of HRM.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    It is quite normal to go above your projected highest rate, but won't help you get fitter if you do it every session. If you want to use your HRM to improve your fitness rather than just record a calorie burn, you should have different goals for different sessions. The simplest thing to do is add in a long, slow exercise session at no more than 65% of your max, which will be super-slow the first few times but you'll find you get faster and faster over time without exceeding this relatively slow rate.

    You might also find the estimated calculation is using a simplified calculation. If it didn't take into your account your resting heart rate averaged out over a few days, you might want to look into finding that out, so your workout of based as a percentage of your working heart rate, not absolute.

    It's also worth finding out your true max by having a warm-up and then repeating 30-second intervals of doing your hardest exercise as fast as you can - for runners this would be running up a hill, for instance.

    If you want to know more, "Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot" is a good read. You can get extracts and calculations online if you Google it.
  • fiferize
    fiferize Posts: 141
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    do you know what your rate should be during your excercise? It's different for everyone. You should have a cardiologist office do a treadmill test on you and tell you what your excercise heart rate should be. That way you won't be concerned when it happens. Good luck!
  • BlairCottier
    BlairCottier Posts: 171 Member
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    I have a nascent theory that low blood pressure correlates to higher heart rate than "standard" when exercising, but I have nowhere near enough data or science to be sure.
    Interesting! My blood pressure is extremely low, and my heart rate when exercising is often pretty high; I'd been wondering the same thing myself.

    Well add me to that list! I have pretty low blood pressure...that is very interesting... I love researching theories, I will check this out :)

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