How High Is Too High For Your Pulse?

[handmadebyemy]

I purchased a heart rate monitor - Polar F6 - its the kind with a chest strap. I can set it to beep if my heart rate goes over a certain bpm - I thought this would be useful when exercising. I wore it for a walk down the street the other day and I was up to 186 bpm in no time. Has anyone researched or heard from their doctor(s) how high is too high? I'm wondering what I should set my monitor at - when I was in the 180s I felt ok and kept on going because we keep hearing that exercise can help make us better. Any advice?

[lieze]

That seems high to me but I'm not an expert.

I guess I'm surprised that you were feeling okay at that rate.

What is your resting pulse like? And just getting up to do light activity.

I can tell you when I first wore a heart monitor my internist had called me back and said my pulse had gotten up above 140 twice and that was concerning.

Maybe it's concerning for a normal person and they expect us to get tachy? not sure.

Glad to hear that you are exercising and feeling well.

Hopefully others here will have great advice for you.

[Simmy]

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise-...NSECTIONGROUP=2

Quote -

"If you're a healthy adult doing vigorous activity, aim for a target heart rate of 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate - the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity. If you're not fit or you're just beginning an exercise program, aim for 40 to 50 percent of your maximum heart rate. As your fitness improves, increase the intensity of your workouts.

To determine your target heart rate, use an online target heart rate calculator. You can also do the math yourself. If you're aiming for a target heart rate of 70 to 85 percent: Subtract your age from 220. This is a rough calculation of your heart rate. Determine the lower end of your target heart rate by multiplying maximum heart rate by 0.7. Determine the upper end of your target heart rate by multiplying maximum heart rate by 0.85."

... and that's while exercising, not just walking.

[handmadebyemy]

thanks for that link - according to that i shouldn't go over 165bpm but thats for a "healthy adult". my heart rate monitor also records calories burned - its nice to know i can burn almost 400 calories in 45 minutes of walking.

my resting pulse i have seen go as low as 76. average is 107.

knowing that i was walking and talking with my pulse in the 180s - and feeling fine - makes me wonder what my pulse is when i'm not feeling so fine. i thought of wearing the monitor all day for a few days but i don't want to focus on the negative.

[Simmy]

Observing your heart rate is certainly not focusing on the negative. I got my Polar about two years ago and it quickly helped me to identify triggers, and what helps. It is important that you know. I've even worn mine while sleeping for over a week straight (hooked up wirelessly to a heart rate recorder) to determine my sleeping heart rates which I suspected were getting real low from the meds. They hit 40bpm consistently. A Holter monitor a week later confirmed it, spot on, at 40.

I can appreciate how some may dwell on the numbers negatively, but I look at them as pure data, that was invaluable information to assist me in learning my "new" body. Best sixty bucks I ever spent.

And yes, it is quite amazing how many calories we burn... even just standing (just look at the amount of sweat after a few minutes). It takes a huge amount of energy to pump a heart that rapidly.

[firewatcher]

My HR went to 180+ within 7 minutes of my stress test. It will go above that while exercising, even on a beta blocker. It is the upper threshold of consciousness for me (now) if it is continuous. When I was younger, I thought that you exercised at 220-your age, so I kept it up around 200 with any exercise. The thing about heart rate is YOUR anaerobic threshold: the point where you are no longer working with enough oxygen in your blood and muscles to sustain activity. Once you pass into anaerobic exercise or HR, your heart and lungs can't compensate for your activity and supply enough oxygen to meet demand. You will pass out if you sustain an anaerobic condition. If you are under 30, can function fairly normally AND it comes back down under 100 bpm when you are sitting (unmedicated) you are probably OK. If it is at 180 just sitting there, you've got a problem.

[nmorgen]

Simmy, I was wondering which polar you have and what recorder did you hook it up to. I am definitely interested in doing the same thing. Especially when I am on my feet for long periods and while sleeping.

[Simmy]

I don't know the model number, but it was the cheapest Polar I could find two years ago. About $60. Any polar with a chest strap will do.

The recorder is called a "SmartSync Heart Rate Data Logger" made by Oregon Scientific. It's about the size of a silver dollar and about 3/4" thick, weighs almost nothing and has a clip on the back to attach it anywhere, even to clothing. It's precisely tuned to receive the signal sent by the Polar chest strap (and a few others) and records the data at a rate of up to every second, for up to 30 hours straight.

You install the included software on your computer and when you're done with one or more recordings you plug the device into your computer with the supplied USB cable, upload the data, add your own notes if you like and then save, view, or print your results as a graph.

You can see some examples of my recent results here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simbofats/set...57624071020877/

When I first discovered this device I was lucky enough to find it on Amazon for only $10, software and USB cable included, but it no longer seems to be available at that price. I've seen it elsewhere for about $50. Just search for it on the web.

[Simmy]

Here's a photo of the SmartSync:

http://s891.photobucket.com/albums/ac118/S...zAwMzQuanBn.jpg

[nmorgen]

Thanks so much for the info. I will definitely be looking at getting one of these loggers.

I used to have an Omron pulse monitor, but it was lost in our move. Are the polar pulse monitors the best?

[lieze]

I don't really have anything else to compare it too but my husband purchased one shortly after I got symptomatic.

I wore his and it was huge for me a man's size watch that dangled off my tiny wrist and the chest strap was big for me. My chest is tiny and I had difficulty getting it tight enough below breast line and then even if I put it on top of my breast I wasn't sure I was making good contact. Which made me nervous of course when it wasn't picking up my heart rate. My chest is tiny too but just the fact that it created any gap at all I think messed it up.

So this time when I got out of hospital I said hey i think I should try wearing that again.

He was able to identify that my heart rate was having short bursts of into the 190's and was able to catch the SVT's in the 170's and tell the doctor what he saw when he played it back.

The problem is his chest strap for me still was difficult and he said he thinks his batteries are worn out-this was a year ago that I wore it.

So I did get online and look and I think I was drawn to the pink one hoping it is a bit smaller for the wrist and I noted they have different size chest straps so I will order the small. Something else I saw and I did check size is they also have a sports bra with the monitor built right in, this might really help me but I think I'll first order the I think it's the FT6? and go with that.

If it helps me to just monitor my heart rate during activity and I want to continue to use it I might try the bra just to keep it from moving around on me. And I hate the lack of contact where it shows nothing that just increases my anxiety.

What I did when I was wearing my king of hearts event monitor was it did display your heart rate. If I felt symptomatic and my heart rate was anywhere say under 110 I kept going I did not worry. If it was above I watched carefully if it started rising I could stop activity wait until the heart calmed down and then resume. This allowed me to be very active and most likely increase stamina. It can be used as a tool to help keep you in a safe zone with your activity.

I think it makes me feel as if I have a bit of an element of control-in most cases if I stop in time my heart may pound for a while but it won't escalate into symptoms where I get that urge to dial 911.

[Simmy]

The Polar is the only one I've ever used so I can't compare it to others, but I haven't heard complaints about it and it has worked perfectly for me. The chest strap occasionally loses contact momentarily, especially while lying down on my side, but that'll happen with any chest strap.