Ha ha! I did it - blew up my HRM!

[materialsgirl]

Okay, so it didn't actually blow up...

I think I have finally confirmed what I believed all along - that my actual max HR is higher than the calculated max HR. I got up to 117% of my calculated max HR at some point during Muscle Max yesterday, according to my HRM. I swear I don't remember being worked THAT hard - although squats and lunges and just about all leg work do get my heart rate up really quick. My HRM says I maxed out at 227 bpm. Well, that pretty much blows "220-age" right out of the water. (I wasn't using that formula to calculate my max anyway, but now I know to really stay away from it.)

Has this happened to anyone else? I've been too much of a wimp to do a stress test and determine my actual max HR, but I have always suspected it was rather high. Anyone max out above 220 bpm?

 

[Mckmain]

I have some questions, has this happened before if you have been using a HR monitor for awhile? Sometimes when the chest strap battery needs to be replaced the numbers got real high or real low. What kind do you have? I'm not sure I have ever read about anyone with a 220 max Heart Rate?? I think that during a weight workout if your HR consistantly gets that high you might want to check with a doctor.......Carole

 

[Dutchie42]

when I still used to be a gym member, my HRM would show an HR of over 230 when working out. Apparently the machines were interfering with my HRM. When I bought an elliptical, I had to make sure it was compatible with my Polar.

Dutchie

 

[CathydsRNA]

Hi, I would check it against a second HRM as your HRM doesn't sound right. I agree with the previuos posters, an old battery, interference from electrical equipment or some cell phones can make HRM go nuts. If your heart rate is that high, your body may be struggling too much with the workload. I can get up to about 180 or so bpm when I do the blasts only sections on the IMAX workouts. I would also get checked out by a doctor if the bpm are accurate. How long does it take your heart rate to come down?

 

[Christi23]

So now I have a question. My HRM always goes up to about 198 when I do any Cathe workout and not just on blasts. On most of the cardio portions of anything with weight work and on all of her cardio's both steady state and interval. The HRM is only 4 month's old, so does that mean something is wrong with it, or am I really working that hard. BTW it is consistently like that, everytime I workout. Oh and I workout at home where I'm alone with only the TV and DVD player.

 

[Dutchie42]

The TV can disrupt your HRM if you're too close to it.

Other then that, I don't really have an answer. Did you ever measure you're resting heart rate with it? Does it show a "normal" number?

Maybe someone else knows?

Dutchie

 

[materialsgirl]

My heart rate monitor is pretty new (just a couple of months). I have gotten up to 99% of my calculated max before, and I consistently max out at 94-96% of the calculated max during Cathe workouts - I know my calculated max HR is too low. The calculation is just not accurate for me - I know by the way I feel during my workouts that I am really nowhere near my max HR. (Checking my pulse on my neck yields similar results - the HRM is accurate.) I have read several places that short women tend to have higher max HRs than other people (it's just a generalization). I also know it is quite possible to have a max HR over 220 (see this story: http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/coachcorn/max.html). It's all determined by genetics - if I have a high max HR, there isn't much I can do about it.

Anyway, as for getting up to 227 bpm... this is the first time it's happened since I have gotten my HRM. But like I said, it's a relatively new piece of equipment for me. So this could have happened before.

My resting heart rate is normal. It's about 65-70 bpm. And my recovery rate is excellent. I don't think there is any problem with my health - genetically, I just have a high max HR.