Really confused now about my pulse rate.......

[joditoad1974]

The other day I posted that I could not get my pulse rate up, well last night I went to the Y, and did interval on the treadmill, (I go up on incline every minute untill I reach 10-12 incline, then work my way down. Last night my pulse rate was 150-160....and I was doing the same as the other night. Same thing when I got on the bike, no problem getting my heartrate up on that. Why does it go up somedays and not others? Very confused.....

joanna

 

[benvonwojo]

Overtraining can cause ones heartrate to stay slightly elevated, which can be especially noticable at night. But it doesnt sound like this is your case. I would say you probably put more effort into it this time. Maybe you were tired the last few times you worked out?

 

[materialsgirl]

I wouldn't worry about it so much. I think what is more important that your heart rate is your perceived exertion. Your heart, just like other parts of your body, has its up days and down days. Some days it doesn't need to work as hard, and other days it needs to work a little harder to do the same activity.

Also - are you using an actual heart rate monitor (the kind you strap around your chest)? Or the pulse monitor that is part of the treadmill you use? Or taking your pulse the old-fashioned way? Your pulse rate can vary significantly from your actual ECG heart rate (they are not the same thing!), and is not really the best way to determine how hard your heart is working. The best way is to use an ECG-accurate heart rate monitor. If you are using an ECG-accurate heart rate monitor, that's good - but I still wouldn't be worried about the changes in your heart rate from day to day. You will have your up days and your down days.