Heart rate when exercising

shipleyak
shipleyak Posts: 65 Member
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
When I exercise my heart rate can easily go above 85%. I have seen it as high as 92%. I have been a little worried about this. I know I need to keep it in my target zone but without much effort it goes real high.

Replies

  • shrublet
    shrublet Posts: 42 Member
    Hi Shipleyak,

    I've had this happen before too. It's often in the first 10min of an exercise (jogging, elliptical, etc.) and then I'll find my pace and it'll calm down. (And I am a pretty healthy, if out of shape, 21 year-old.) As long as you are not sustaining this heart-rate for too long, I do not think that there will be an emergency (as per what my own doctor has told me). That being said, something like this *should* be checked out with your doctor, and I strongly recommend that you mention it to him on your next appointment. Not because I think anything is wrong, but because a) he/she should be kept in the loop and b) it'll give you peace of mind. Remember that none of us here can give you medical advice, but like I said above, I have dealt with this problem as well and my doctor said it was absolutely fine.
  • shipleyak
    shipleyak Posts: 65 Member
    Ohh I understand noone can give medical advice was just thinking maye someone had been through it like you. I do plan on going to the doctor. I watch my heart rate very closely and when it gets high I start cooling it down. Thanks for sharing your experience!
  • canstey
    canstey Posts: 118
    When I exercise my heart rate can easily go above 85%. I have seen it as high as 92%. I have been a little worried about this. I know I need to keep it in my target zone but without much effort it goes real high.

    How are you deciding your maxHR? The standard 220-age is only accurate for some people and many have a much higher actual maxHR. It sounds like your actual maxHR is much higher than your current setting.
  • shrublet
    shrublet Posts: 42 Member
    That's good! :) I'm glad that you are going to mention it to your doctor. Do you feel like your exercise routine might be too strenuous, perhaps? Are you doing stretches/warm-ups as well? Those things can help ease you into a workout (and make your heartrate a bit more steady, I find). Another thing a doctor mentioned to me is that it's important to notice how quickly your heartrate comes back down to a "normal" bpm (though it'll still be slightly faster if you're exercising, I think). If you're finding that it's still really fast after a few minutes of slow walking, resting, etc. then you might be pushing it a bit too hard.

    Good luck!
  • ProTFitness
    ProTFitness Posts: 1,379 Member
    Here it is how are you tracking your HR? A HR monitor? If you dont have any health problems this is probably your AT anerobic threshold your hitting. you should generally be working 75%-85% of your Max HR again as said before 220-age. The other reason it is so high is that you endurance is probably lower so you need to build it up and your heart rate that high wont seem so bad. Unless you have health problems or on meds to make your HR go up. It is something to continue to work through and it will get better as your endurance increases. Also I would reccomend a HR monitor with a chest strap. Check out Polarusa.com. Have a great day. To many people freak out and when there heart rate goes up. Rember to breath deep in the nose out the mouth. There HR goes up a little and they hit panic mode. I have seen it many times in my clients. Then they learn the right way to exercise and breath and not panic when it does go up.
  • dkimbriel
    dkimbriel Posts: 17 Member
    Mine is much lower now that I have been exercising for over 6 months. But, do watch the weather. If your heart rate is rising higher because you are exercising in the heat, don't let it. When I run outside, I stop to walk a while anytime my heart rate gets too high, Be careful outside.
  • fudJy23
    fudJy23 Posts: 87 Member
    I went and had a resting metabolism test and a VO2 max test done a couple of days ago. The VO2 Max test pin pointed my heart rate zones and when I compare that to what I can calculate with formulas, mine are significantly different. For example, my actual "fat burning" zone is 10 bpm lower than the generic formulas. That's also something to consider as well.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
    When I exercise my heart rate can easily go above 85%. I have seen it as high as 92%. I have been a little worried about this. I know I need to keep it in my target zone but without much effort it goes real high.

    I guess my question is how do you feel when your HR is that high? Besides like you've been excersising.

    When I do HIIT my HR gets pretty high. However, there is no way I can maintain that type of effort for very long. If you don't feel anything besides out of breath and delitfully exhausted I don't think you have anything to worry about.
  • shipleyak
    shipleyak Posts: 65 Member
    I feel fine. I normally start to notice when it gets above 90. I am wearing a watch to track my HR for now. I went to my gpas to check the watches accuracy today and have my blood pressure checked. I think I am just pushing it to hard. When I exercised today, I just didn't bring it up to tempo like the videos do. Till I get in better shape I am just going to keep a close eye on it I guess. I only went high once today and immediately slowed myself down. Thanks for all your help guys :)
  • canstey
    canstey Posts: 118
    I feel fine. I normally start to notice when it gets above 90. I am wearing a watch to track my HR for now. I went to my gpas to check the watches accuracy today and have my blood pressure checked. I think I am just pushing it to hard. When I exercised today, I just didn't bring it up to tempo like the videos do. Till I get in better shape I am just going to keep a close eye on it I guess. I only went high once today and immediately slowed myself down. Thanks for all your help guys :)

    Why do you think it is too high? Have you had a stress test showing that the HR you are seeing is too high for you? Similar people have very different max heart rates. My wife and I are the same age and her maxHR is about 20 BPM more than mine. She can average what it takes me a full out effort to achieve and it is correct for each of us because the 220-age doesn't apply to everyone and it just a general guideline.
  • shipleyak
    shipleyak Posts: 65 Member
    I plan on seeing a doctor to make sure what my MHR is, but I am waiting till school starts again or maybe when I go get my books. I live in country and getting to docs takes alot of gas so gotta have many reasons to go :)
  • dkimbriel
    dkimbriel Posts: 17 Member
    I asked a high school trainer about heart rate. She said that your heart rate is too high if you can't do math. What she means is, if you need to run 3-1/2 more miles and your about .7 miles from home, how far do you run before you turn around. If you don't know, your heart rate is too high. Walk till your thinking clears. I've found this works perfectly for me.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    When I exercise my heart rate can easily go above 85%. I have seen it as high as 92%. I have been a little worried about this. I know I need to keep it in my target zone but without much effort it goes real high.

    92% based on what? If you don't know your actual maximum heart rate, then you have no idea whether your exercise heart rate is 92% of anything.

    The answer is simple: the number you are using for your "maximum heart rate" is too low. If you are using a heart rate monitor, by default it will estimate your maximum heart rate based on some type of formula based on your age (most common is 220-age).

    Given your age, if you have no symptoms (chest pain, inappropriate shortness of breath, light-headedness, or dizziness) and you do not feel you are struggling with the exertion level, it is more likely that you just have a higher than average maximum heart rate, and you are not really working at 92% of your maximum.

    Hope this makes sense.

    However, those estimates can be way off. It is perfectly normal for some individuals to have a true maximum heart rate that is 20-30 beats/min higher than the age-predicted estimate.
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