High heart rate concerns

Jon jon.j.marshall@koops(nospam).com said:

I have been running for about 18 months now and have always had a high heart rate. At first I
thought it was normal because I was out of shape, as my fitness improved the rate went down a
little. Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.
I ran on the mill, with all the wires hooked up to me, until the HR was up to 195 then I stopped
and recovered back down to a lower HR. When it was finished doc said everything was fine. I
asked him why it gets high and he said that's the way I am, every one is different. This doc is
my family doctor, the test was done at the stress lab at the local hospital. I'm not sure what
kind of knowledge he has in the cardiac area but he seemed sure that there is nothing wrong with
me. My HR slowly increased to 195 with no jumping around and it slowly went back down with no
jumping around.

Quoted message said:

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week. I do not have any symptoms he asked for. Dizziness, chest
pain, flashes or numbness anywhere. I am 33 190lbs and my resting HR is between 48 and 51. I tried
the subtract your age from 220 rule and run at those HR's and it was too slow with a lot of
walking to keep it low. What do you think I should do? Anyone else in the same situation? Is
running with a high HR good for your heart? Or is it just the way I'm built, like doc said?

Quoted message said:

Thanks Jon

It could very well just be the way you are. However, even with a max of over 200 you should not be
running in the 190's 3-4X per week. That's too much. Twice a week should suffice, fill the rest in
with easier stuff. Andy Hass

nospam said:

I have been running for about 18 months now and have always had a high heart rate. At first I
thought it was normal because I was out of shape, as my fitness improved the rate went down a
little. Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.
I ran on the mill, with all the wires hooked up to me, until the HR was up to 195 then I stopped
and recovered back down to a lower HR. When it was finished doc said everything was fine. I
asked him why it gets high and he said that's the way I am, every one is different. This doc is
my family doctor, the test was done at the stress lab at the local hospital. I'm not sure what
kind of knowledge he has in the cardiac area but he seemed sure that there is nothing wrong with
me. My HR slowly increased to 195 with no jumping around and it slowly went back down with no
jumping around.

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week. I do not have any symptoms he asked for. Dizziness, chest
pain, flashes or numbness anywhere. I am 33 190lbs and my resting HR is between 48 and 51. I tried
the subtract your age from 220 rule and run at those HR's and it was too slow with a lot of
walking to keep it low. What do you think I should do? Anyone else in the same situation? Is
running with a high HR good for your heart? Or is it just the way I'm built, like doc said?

Thanks Jon

It's just as your doctor said.

Hi Jon!

Jon:

Quoted message said:

I have been running for about 18 months now and have always had a high heart rate. At first I
thought it was normal because I was out of shape, as my fitness improved the rate went down a
little. Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done. I
ran on the mill, with all the wires hooked up to me, until the HR was up to 195 then I stopped and
recovered back down to a lower HR. When it was finished doc said everything was fine. I asked him
why it gets high and he said that's the way I am, every one is different.

The only objection I would have is, that I do not know how meaningful a stress test up to 195 is, if
your max HR is really at 233 or higher. I mean, what kind of stress is that?

Apart from that, max HR is an individual thing, and though you may be far off from the norm, I think
your doc is right in saying that this is nothing to worry about.

Happy running,

Carsten

(not a big fan of HR monitors)

--
Carsten Schultz (2:38, 33:47), FB Mathematik, FU Berlin carsten.fu-mathe-team.decarsten.fu-mathe-team.deOpen ↗ PGP/GPG key
on the pgp.net key servers, fingerprint on my home page.

Jon wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

I have been running for about 18 months now and have always had a high

heart

Quoted message said:

rate. At first I thought it was normal because I was out of shape, as my fitness improved the rate
went down a little. Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress
test done. I ran on

the

Quoted message said:

mill, with all the wires hooked up to me, until the HR was up to 195 then I stopped and recovered
back down to a lower HR. When it was finished doc said everything was fine. I asked him why it gets
high and he said that's the way I am, every one is different. This doc is my family doctor, the
test was done at the stress lab at the local hospital. I'm not sure what kind of knowledge he has
in the cardiac area but he seemed sure that there is nothing wrong with me. My HR slowly increased
to 195 with no jumping around and it slowly went back down with no jumping around.

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week. I do not have any symptoms he

asked

Quoted message said:

for. Dizziness, chest pain, flashes or numbness anywhere. I am 33 190lbs and my resting HR is
between 48 and 51. I tried the subtract your age from 220 rule and run at those HR's and it was
too slow with a lot of walking to keep it low. What do you think I should do? Anyone else in the
same situation? Is running with a high HR good for your heart? Or is it just the way I'm built,
like doc said?

Thanks Jon

I am 46 and I don't have any problem seeing 199 - 202 at the end of 5k races myself. I'll tell you
what I've found out.

233 seems to be where one of the polar HRMs I have freaked out. I mean if it started reading that
high, it normally meant something was wrong with the HRM. I would just stop it and restart it, then
it would start reading back in the 180-190 range.

I was a little concerned about my own heart rate so I did some reading and it seems there is nothing
wrong with it, but, if it jumps 30 beats per minute in a fraction of a second, it could indicate
some sort of problem. Y ours still makes me think it is a cheap HRM.

I saw strange things happen a few times so I bought a Polar S710 just because it would let me
download all the data to a computer. I've seen a few very minor things, and I'll list them here.

Spikes, every now and then there is a single spike, in a workout, then everything returns to normal.
Those spikes do not seem to be consistent with anything, meaning power lines etc. I think Polar
knows about that problem, because the program they have, that downloads the data from the watch to
the computer, lets you edit out spikes very easily.

Twice I had my readings get real screwy. Once it was very obvious that it was being screwed up by
another HRM when that had not happened before. The second time, it was toward the end of a race, but
not the very end. Turned out that the S710 has a chance, when you put the chest band on, that it
will choose a frequency that matches another HRM, or even another Polar. I forget what the
percentage is, but I know I have posted it on the NG before.

My conclusion: I don't think it has anything to do with your heart rate, but your HRM, since the
doctor never saw the 233. Call up the manufacturer of your HRM and ask them about it.

Jon' jon.j.marshall@koops(nospam).com said:

I have been running for about 18 months now

Aren't you tired? I'd call the Guiness book of World Records. That's an endurance record.

[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Jon <jon.j.marshall@koops(nospam).com> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week.

[...]

Quoted message said:

It could very well just be the way you are. However, even with a max of over 200 you should not be
running in the 190's 3-4X per week. That's too much.

Why is that? That seems to be about 80% of his max HR, so I do not see anything wrong with it.

Greetings,

Carsten

--
Carsten Schultz (2:38, 33:47), FB Mathematik, FU Berlin carsten.fu-mathe-team.decarsten.fu-mathe-team.deOpen ↗ PGP/GPG key
on the pgp.net key servers, fingerprint on my home page.

Carsten Schultz said:

[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Jon <jon.j.marshall@koops(nospam).com> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.

[...]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week.

[...]

Quoted message said:

It could very well just be the way you are. However, even with a max of over 200 you should not
be running in the 190's 3-4X per week. That's too much.

Quoted message said:

Why is that? That seems to be about 80% of his max HR, so I do not see anything wrong with it.

Quoted message said:

Greetings,

Quoted message said:

Carsten

Quoted message said:

--
Carsten Schultz (2:38, 33:47), FB Mathematik, FU Berlin carsten.fu-mathe-team.decarsten.fu-mathe-team.deOpen ↗ PGP/GPG
key on the pgp.net key servers, fingerprint on my home page.

---80% that often is not necessary for maximum improvement. It will leave most people, especially
those not extremely fit and conditioned, too tired. It is better to have easier easy days and
harder hard days. Running your easy runs 10 sec/mile faster each day won't gain you a thing if it
at all affects the quality of your hard workouts (which it probably will). Even though I've
dropped my marathon time from 2:52 to 2:29 I've actually slowed down the speed of my easy runs.
This lets me get better tough workouts in. I know many, many other people who have had similar
experiences. Andy Hass

In article said:

Carsten Schultz said:

[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Jon <jon.j.marshall@koops(nospam).com> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

> Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.

[...]

Quoted message said:

> I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week.

[...]

Quoted message said:

It could very well just be the way you are. However, even with a max of over 200 you should not
be running in the 190's 3-4X per week. That's too much.

Quoted message said:

Why is that? That seems to be about 80% of his max HR, so I do not see anything wrong with it.

Quoted message said:

Greetings,

Quoted message said:

Carsten

Quoted message said:

--
Carsten Schultz (2:38, 33:47), FB Mathematik, FU Berlin carsten.fu-mathe-team.decarsten.fu-mathe-team.deOpen ↗ PGP/GPG
key on the pgp.net key servers, fingerprint on my home page.

---80% that often is not necessary for maximum improvement. It will leave most people, especially
those not extremely fit and conditioned, too tired. It

Actually, a lot of people will have trouble running at all with a heart rate of under 85%. I race at
about 6:00 pace for 5k, and my heart rate at 8:00 pace is between 80-85%. If I wanted to keep it
below 70%, I'd need to slow down to a 10:00 pace or maybe even just forget about running and use the
elliptical instead.

I think most of the slower runners are already doing pretty well if they can keep themselves
below 80% max.

However, I agree that generally speaking, beginners will run way too close to their limits (usually
over 90% max) I think part of this is that without experience pacing oneself over a long distance,
it's difficult to get a good sense of what an aerobic pace is.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi pegasus.rutgers.edu~elflordOpen ↗

jon my data maxhr=200 restHR=40 70%=152 plodzilla

Jon said:

I have been running for about 18 months now and have always had a high heart rate. At first I
thought it was normal because I was out of shape, as my fitness improved the rate went down a
little. Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.
I ran on the mill, with all the wires hooked up to me, until the HR was up to 195 then I stopped
and recovered back down to a lower HR. When it was finished doc said everything was fine. I
asked him why it gets high and he said that's the way I am, every one is different. This doc is
my family doctor, the test was done at the stress lab at the local hospital. I'm not sure what
kind of knowledge he has in the cardiac area but he seemed sure that there is nothing wrong with
me. My HR slowly increased to 195 with no jumping around and it slowly went back down with no
jumping around.

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week. I do not have any symptoms he asked for. Dizziness, chest
pain, flashes or numbness anywhere. I am 33 190lbs and my resting HR is between 48 and 51. I tried
the subtract your age from 220 rule and run at those HR's and it was too slow with a lot of
walking to keep it low. What do you think I should do? Anyone else in the same situation? Is
running with a high HR good for your heart? Or is it just the way I'm built, like doc said?

Thanks Jon

Jon said:

I have been running for about 18 months now and have always had a high heart rate. At first I
thought it was normal because I was out of shape, as my fitness improved the rate went down a
little. Then I ran a 5k and my HR maxed out at 233 bpm, so I decided to have a stress test done.
I ran on the mill, with all the wires hooked up to me, until the HR was up to 195 then I stopped
and recovered back down to a lower HR. When it was finished doc said everything was fine. I
asked him why it gets high and he said that's the way I am, every one is different. This doc is
my family doctor, the test was done at the stress lab at the local hospital. I'm not sure what
kind of knowledge he has in the cardiac area but he seemed sure that there is nothing wrong with
me. My HR slowly increased to 195 with no jumping around and it slowly went back down with no
jumping around.

I run in the 190's 3 or 4 times a week. I do not have any symptoms he asked for. Dizziness, chest
pain, flashes or numbness anywhere. I am 33 190lbs and my resting HR is between 48 and 51. I tried
the subtract your age from 220 rule and run at those HR's and it was too slow with a lot of
walking to keep it low. What do you think I should do? Anyone else in the same situation? Is
running with a high HR good for your heart? Or is it just the way I'm built, like doc said?

Thanks Jon