Max. Heart Rate of 223

How did you check your heart rate? For me, the exercise bike at the gym got confused the other day. It said my heart rate was jumping all over between 110 and 223. I checked my pulse myself, and it was a steady 150.

Count your own heart rate for 6 seconds at least, then add a zero. i.e. 20 beats in 6 seconds and you should see a doctor (age dependent of course, lowers with age)

What are you using to check your heart rate?

what exactly are you doing to get a 223 reading? seams real high.

what exactly are you doing to get a 223 reading?

loxoli wrote: »

I did get dizzy after my workout tonight. I feel lethargic, but I know I pushed myself too hard. No nausea/fever. I use a Suunto heart rate monitor with chest strap.

Another thing, I am significantly under my calorie goal at the moment (I'm going to eat right now though). Could that cause a higher heart rate reading?

You're pushing yourself to hard, how long do you keep your heart rate there?

loxoli wrote: »

Oh and I know they aren't reliable, but most online calculators are saying 195-200 for my age.

That’s the maximum, yes, and if you stay there for long, you’re going to feel sick. I think you should check your heart rate yourself, to compare to what the heart rate monitor says. Just count the beats for six seconds and multiply by ten, like Aussie_in_PA said.

loxoli wrote: »

I'm 22 and moderately active. I've been pushing my workouts lately and in the past week I've seen a max of 221, then tonight it got to 223. I've never really paid much attention to my heart rate during exercise, but done a quick google and got conflicting answers.

What does this mean? Is it a bad thing?

Also, should I base my target heart rate around this and stick to it?

Is 223 the average, or just a spike? I use a heart rate monitor, and it occasionally gives me anomalously high spike readings, but the longer term averages are usually reasonable. According to the standard correlations, at age 22 your maximum heart rate is approximately 190-198 beats/minute (bpm), therefore 223 is an unusually high reading. Individual vary, and the correlations give an average value, so some individuals will have greater or lesser max heart rates. According to an online article (http://www.builtlean.com/2010/05/25/how-to-calculate-your-max-heart-rate/), the standard deviation is 7-12 bpm (call it 10 bpm on average) , meaning that 2/3 of people will have a heart rate within +/- 10 bpm of the average, 90% within 20 bpm, and 95% within +/- 30 bpm of the average. Therefore, it is possible that you can achieve a heart rate of 223 bpm, but that is your maximum, not one that you will maintain for any substantial period of time. This may suggest that your heart rate measurements are erroneous.

Sometimes I get wacky readings like that too. My polar will tell me the average and highest that my hr got. I'm 34, 5'8 and 155. My average last night was 163 and my highest was 190. I was doing HIIT, so intervals. I wouldn't worry about it, but make sure you girly ourself properly before and after your meals.

When you actually hit your Max HR, you will begin to feel light headed and you'll start to see stars.

You may also end up vomiting.

Also, you'll use your glycogen stores so quickly, within 15 minutes, you'll "hit the wall" and it will be almost impossible to continue working out.

If you haven't experienced these effects, you haven't hit your max HR yet.


Once, when I was out running in a group, I sprinted up a hill and my HR recorded my HR to have topped out at 202 bpm. I knew I could have gotten it higher, maybe to 210, but it would have been a tough feat (and I wasn't trying to maximize my HR. It just happened). I was 24 at the time, so all the calculations were saying my max HR should have been between 180 and 195.

It certainly could have been interference, if you were indoors anywhere, or near any transmission towers, or any mechanical equipment. I sometimes get funky reading on my bicycle. It happens.

Also, it could simply be genetics. Many people have hearts that beat faster than the average. Some people have hearts that beat slower. Also, your level of fitness has a lot to do with this. Your heart is simply another muscle in your body. Train it, and it will be more efficient and will be able to beat faster than someone who sits on the couch all day. I was certainly in excellent cardiovascular shape when I did that run as, prior to it, I was mountain biking on a single speed 9-12 hours a week, for many years. I certainly couldn't repeat that effort again today.

All in all, unless you're actually training for a specific event, I wouldn't worry about it. In terms of general fitness and weight loss, how fast your heart beats means nothing. If you're training for some form of endurance sport or competition, then zone training becomes important. If that's the case, you definitely do not want to be maxing out your heart rate very often.

I forgot to mention: VERY IMPORTANT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

If you have an older HRM (this may be true for newer models as well) you MUST ensure they there is a good, wet contact between your body and the electrodes monitoring your heart. For quite a long time, I wasn't ensuring the strap is thoroughly soaked and I constantly got very erratic measurements. It would be fine for a few minutes, then it would spike to 200+ bpm for some time, then it would cut out, then it would work, and so on.

I place my strap under running water and rub the water into the electrodes for a few minutes before I put it on. Once I've got into this habit, I've never had an issue again and my HRM is at least 10 years old now. It works as good as new!