Heart rate gets close to 200 while walking

[SunsetRunner]

Is is dangerous for my heart rate to get near 200 while doing my walking exercise? I walk between 4 and 5 miles a day. My average heart rate is usually around 120 most of the walk, but the fitbit shows my max getting up close to 200 on a lot of days.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Dave,
I'm still getting occasional spikes around 200 or slightly above. I don't
run or jog.. just fast walking. It scares me when I see the numbers at the
end of my walk, as I don't feel any discomfort during the walk. I don't see
any difference with my strap tightened.
Good luck,
Barb

[dtrjones · Accepted solution]

Hi Barb, this sounds silly but something to try. I moved my fitbit up my arm as far was comfortable without it moving around and then had a 25 miute walk with my hands in my pockets (I'm a guy right so that was easy) and the result of that was no noticible spikes. I definately have spike issues when my hands are free and the fitbit is loose on my arm. I think thats what I'm putting it down to. Of course some people could genuinely have an erratic heartbeat which should be checked out if you suspect such a thing. Thanks Barb.

[SunsetRunner]

Well Dave.. I just got back from my walk.. had my fitbit as high up on my
arm as the strap would allow.. and surprisingly my max heart rate was a lot
lower!. I will try it this way from now on. Hopefully get consistently
lower numbers like today. Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will let
you know the results. 🙂

[Katiiee1927]

Hey! Any update on your situation??

I have noticed that mine will go to 160-170 for a moment from 110-120 while walking around the city. I’ve felt like my Fitbit has been off lately, so I’ll try taking the advice of people in this thread. 

[SunsetRunner]

My heart rate is still erratic on the fitbit. I took the advice of another
member and wore it up as high on my arm as it would fit.. and it did seem
to make a difference. Most days it was much much lower wearing it that way.
But not sure if it is detecting every beat in that location. I've been
wearing it back down closer to my wrist and some days it gets very close to
200. One day last week it got to 202.

[Katiiee1927]

I’m sorry to hear that. What does it do when you are asleep if you don’t mind me asking? It seems like many Fitbit users report the fitbit spiking while sleeping as well. I would say that it might be a problem with the device if it continues to spike at random times. 

Also good to check with a doctor. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Katiiee,
I've never had any spikes during my sleep. Hopefully the problem is with my
device and not my heart. My pulse and blood pressure are always normal at
my doctor checkups.

[Strmalik]

I am going to have to try this because for my job I walk alot I can easily get my 10,000 before lunch. There are times that when I do this my heart rate hits 150-179 and for some reason it spikes my anxiety. Since I'm new to anxiety I freak out a little more. But I hope to try this and it helps 

[Lawson77]

I find it very interesting to look at the plot of my heart rate after an outing.  I normally walk with my partner for the first km at about 10 min/km and then I carry on and jog 4 km at about 6 min/km.  What is very interesting is two things :

a) when walking my heart rate is about 170-180 bpm the whole time I am walking.  As soon as I start jogging my heart rate drops to about 110 bpm and remains at that level the whole way (except if i run up a short hill where it may climb to about 130 bpm).  I do not adjust any setting or position of the watch during the entire outing.

b) I wear a Fitbit.  My partner wears a TomTom.  After noticing a difference in the distance measured, I put the TomTom on my arm next to my Fitbit.  What was very interesting is that during the first two km I walked the Fitbit lost about 50 meters to the TomTom. (This was a consistent loss over the distance - not a sudden loss)  Immediately I started running the next two km I found the Fitbit and the TomTom kept the same distance - and at teh end of the 4 km I was still 50 meters short of the TomTom. (Ps - I have found the Fitbit to be generally short over an accurately measured athletic track while walking)

I would be interested to hear any reason for this so I can get the Fitbit distance measurement back to where it should be while walking.

[Calistabear]

I think it has something to do with the position of the hand and arm.  When I walk with my hands down at my sides, my “heart rate” spikes from 110 all the way up to 165.  If I bring me hands up to the sides of my chest, like I’m a power walking position, it goes back down to 100-110.  Just walking and holding my phone in readin/texting position keeps the heart rate in the normal range.  I’ve tested this time and time again and it’s the same every time.

[SunsetRunner]

Yes, that's in the death range, so I'd suspect you're getting an incorrect reading. 

I hope you've seen a doctor lately and had a complete physical exam. 

[Lawson77]

The heart rate monitor is just there for entertainment when you run.  My resting HR is about 48 bpm.  Doing a stress ECG with full probes stuck to my body, the medical HR monitor showed I was doing about 120 bpm.  My watch showed 195 bpm.  I had the strap fairly tight at the right position on my arm.

[JM60]

Thank you SunsetRunner for posting this question.  I recently started having to wear my Fitbit higher up on my arm to accommodate an Apple Watch (that my electrophysiologist wanted me to get to get accurate daily ECG recordings).  Yesterday in the last 15 mins of my 2 hr treadmill walk (3.1 mph, various inclines to 8, but at the time just on incline #1) my Fitbit read 180 bpm which seemed weird because it had been reading 97-120 at other times during the session.  I've not noticed it read that high before.  I did not feel as though I was having a problem.  Am suspecting this was all a Fitbit error as the Apple Watch says my max heart rate yesterday was 108.  I took an ECG reading straight after finishing my walk, and it was in sinus rhythm at 106 bpm.  Full disclosure, I had a 24hr heart monitor in 2015 that showed an AFib episode, have since lost 70lbs and given up alcohol and caffeine, just finished a 30 day Cardionet patch heart monitor that although showed my heart rate going up to 167 on a strenuous hike, showed no signs of AFib (yay!), told to get an Apple Watch to take daily ECGs to be able to report any irregular readings, and come back to the Dr in a year.  Yesterdays qlitch on the Fitbit had me panic a bit until I realized that I wasn't having any breathing problems or feeling lightheaded. I've noticed the Fitbit often can't get a heart rate reading when I'm walking, and so I'm suspecting another poster is correct in saying it depends on the tightness of the strap and positioning on the arm.

[Gimpycat]

You really should ask your doctor this question. I had the very same problem, and it was a symptom of an irregular heartbeat, which can be a serious condition. Get cleared medically before you assume there's an issue with your Fitbit. 200 bpm for walking is extremely high.

[timmaguire]

Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. A couple times recently, during a light jog, my heart rate "spiked" to over 200. I'm 53, in decent shape with no known heart problems, and it is impossible for me to believe that reading is real.

But I do wear my fitbit fairly loose. Next time I run, I'll try tightening it and we'll see where that gets me.

[Snevills]

I was so glad to find this thread. I’ve been so anxious I even went to the doctor. I’ve exercised all my life and am 66. I can comfortably jog for 6 miles. I’m a slow jogger but my new Fitbit show me in the peak zone as soon as I start my warm up. It has gone as high as 210. It stays in the peak zone for the entire time, usually averaging around 164. I thought I had serious heart problems even though I had no trouble breathing or carrying on a conversation. I could even sing along to the music. The doctors didn’t find anything wrong, but it’s still worrying.

[Hbwinn]

I have been having similar spikes, but only outside.  When I'm inside on the treadmill, it doesn't happen.  Today it said it was 171, but when I took it myself, it was about 100.  Anyone else find this?

[Stephers13]

So i have noticed that it is most likely tue device. This is a common problem with fitbit. I have svt and have been in vtach before and the random spikes on this watch do not correlate with those episodes. There is only a certain level of accuracy with these watches. My suggestion is to manually count the pulse and you will mpst likely find it is nowhere near what the fitbit is saying. As someone who has actual arrythmias, I never rely on this watch or any watch for accuracy with that. When my pulse goes to 230 this device doesn't pick it up accurately. 

The manual way is the best way. Usually with a rapid pulse there are sensations you would get..esp on the 200s. There would be flutterings...pounding, light headedness etc.  

Just my two cents...hope that helps.