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.

[MarciM]

@SunsetRunner

Maximum heart rate is calculated on a couple of factors, but here is a really simple way to determine your maximum heart rate.

220 - age = maximum heart rate

For example, if you are 30 years old:  220- 30 = 190

190 x .60 = 114 (60% of your max)

190 x .85 = 162 (85% of your max)

Target heart rate zone is 114- 162. This is the range a 30 year old should work at to improve cardiorespiratory endurance. However, that doesn't mean you are in danger if your heart rate goes about the target zone. 

Heart rate varies based on age, weight, fitness level. The more fit you become the more efficient your heart becomes, thus your heart rate is lower.  

One final note, if you are not feeling well and are concerned about your heart, please see your doctor. We are all well meaning on this community, but not medical professionals. 

[JohnnyRow]

When your heart rate gets near 200, are you working noticeably much harder than your average of around 120, close to max possible effort? If not, it could be fitbit spiking with temporary bad readings. I doubt you could get to 200 without gasping for breath and not being able to keep it up for more than a few minutes.

[SunsetRunner]

Just to make sure Fitbit isn't wrong here ( and sometimes it is, as I see crazy spikes from time to time, either suddenly one or two reads really high or during workout suddenly it hits very low HR - these are all bad readings ) you may buy pulse oximeter and when you see Fitbit showing 200 just stop for few seconds and check your HR using PO. Or, if you have your mobile with you, just download one of many HR monitor apps and see the reading from your finger. HR of 200 during walking seems high nevertheless, it doesn't mean it really is and you may find a bunch of people reporting even higher HR readings and be absolutely fine ( like for example in here ). Everyone is different it's an individual thing. Your heart doesn't know about maximum HR formula, so there's no reason to worry if sometimes you exceed predicted maximum value ( I did that several times in the past, reached 190-192 but it happened during the more intense workout and I was in a lot worse shape back then ). However, it may be a good idea to check it with your doctor. Walking isn't too strenuous and ( at least for me ) it's hard to imagine HR of 200 and above during such activity. On the other hand, I see my wife going sometimes into her cardio zone while walking, while I, walking side by side, stay below 80bpm. It all depends on your age, gender, weight, overall fitness level and many other individual factors. Checking that with your doctor may be a good idea to rule out a possibility of doing harm to yourself. 

[SunsetRunner]

Thank you for your response MarciM. My heart rate average at the end of my
exercise is almost always within my target heart rate zone. However the
heart rate max on my fitbit shows it hitting much higher even though
briefly.

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for your response JohnnyRow. I'm usually completely unaware of the
spikes in my heart rate. Only know when I end my exercise and look at the
data on my fitbit that it maxed close to 200. More often than not, when I
look at my heart rate on my fitbit while walking, it is lined out. Not sure
what that's all about.

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for the reply jsr184. I will get get a pulse oximeter and see what
kind of readings I get with it. The reading on my fitbit is lined out more
often than not.

[WavyDavey]

If you're seeing the maximum heart rate on the summary at the end of a workout, I think it's normal. What that's telling is the absolute maximum your heart rate was, even if it was for a fairly brief time. The max on my workout summary can get to 180, even with a much lower average.

@SunsetRunner, what did it say your average heart rate was during that workout?

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks for your response WavyDavy. My fitbit showed my average heart rate during my workout to be 118, but spiked very high 6 times over the course of 75 minutes,

[DanielleinDC]

A few weeks ago I was taking an urban hike with a local Meetup group. We were going uphill, and my heart rate hit 174. That five-hour hike had some of the longest times I've been in peak. I rarely get up that high. 

Given my age, my range should be 106 to 145.

[SunsetRunner]

does your fitbit line out? At least half the time when I look at mine,
there's no number.. just dashes.

[SunsetRunner]

I had a similar experience the other day. Turns out my FitBit was too loose on my arm.

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks.. I will tighten mine and see if that's my problem 🙂

[emili]

If your heart rate was at 200 for long periods of time from nothing more than walking- run to see your doctor. but if its spiking, coming right down and staying mostly consistent through out, its more than likely normal fluctuations or your fitbit giving you false readings. If you are not feeling out of breath during the spikes, I don't know that I would worry about it. You would feel 200 - you would need at minimum to stop and catch your breath and you would feel your heart beating. I know when I hit 150 and stop from a run, I am breathing pretty hard and I can feel my heart beat.

[SunsetRunner]

Thank you so much. I'm feeling relieved that the momentary spikes are nothing serious. I'm never aware of the spikes till after I end my exercise and look at the data.

[SunsetRunner]

@SunsetRunner if these are only spikes then I would consider it to be a reading error, which happens if you wearing Fitbit too loose or shaking your hand vigorously or in other, less specified conditions. I see very often opposite "spikes" which is a sudden drop of HR during intense exercise - it's also an error.

About two dashes, I even started a thread about it in Charge 2 forum. There are several topics like that. In my case, I see double dash when my HR goes very low. I reckon Fitbit has a trouble with detecting low HR ( below 45-46 ). Btw, I just peeked on the display while typing this post and guess what I saw 🙂 Two dashes again. I know it happens also during exercising but I didn't see many reports of seeing it during resting and lasting quite long. Therefore I started that thread but no any help with that.

[SunsetRunner]

Thanks jsr184. No high spikes in my walk today and only saw double dashes
once. I wore my fitbit watch a little tighter and I think that helped.

[shipo]

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@Swampwoman wrote:

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.

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I've noticed if I leave the band of my tracker a bit loose while working out (loose being defined as in just tight enough to comfortably wear while not working out), my heart rate can vary all over the map during a workout.  For my Surge, I have found all I need to do is to tighten the band one notch before I head out and the heart rate during the workout is much more stable.

[SunsetRunner]

thank you shipo.. I have worn my fitbit watch a little tighter the last couple days and it does seem to make a difference.

[dtrjones]

Hi Swampwoman. I upvoted your post as I though it was a good one as I've just experienced the same thing. I've only had my Fitbit Charge 2 for a couple of days.

Had a run yesterday and admittidly after not running for a few weeks and my average was 174 bpm but spiking once at 192 bpm. Thats fine, I chalked it down to the weather being a little cold, the run was mostly uphill and my conditioning was poor.

However today my 40 minute walk had several spikes (4-5) above 190 bpm. I'm 43 years old so that's well above my maximum heart rate. However I also did feel my heart more so as well. So something to check out with the doctor. I kind of feel though my strenous run the previous day also contributed.

Just seen the tips on tightening the strap. That's very interesting because the spikes started happening I believe when I took my hands out of my pockets and swung them freely. I guess if the fitbit was loose at that point I might of got some bad readings probably the same during my run also. The fitbit documetation does say for exercising to move the fitbit futher up the arm away from the wrist bone I guess to tighten up, so I'll try that for my next walk / run.

Thanks all you've been very helpful and hopefully sharing my musings with others will also put people at ease.

Happy trails.

Dave.