Heart rate staying low during Crossfit

[wards316]

Hey all,

About me:

Im 6'4, 32 years old and weigh 103kg and 26% bf, metabolic age of 41 😞 - Hence I am trying to lose weight and get fitter. I have lost 1 stone since new year and I am already moving better.

I have always been fairly strong at lifting weights but over the last 10 years my cardio fitness has become really really bad, I used to be quite athletic but years of bad habits have taken their toll! I am trying to recover..

I attend both a Crossfit gym and a gym with machines and weights. I recently took a cardio test which checks heart rate recovery and I got the worst score! I need to lose about 3 more stone I think.

When training on a cross trainer machine my heart rate tends to stick around 140/150bpm and if I do intense intervals on a bike I can increase my heart rate to max 180+. However when training at Crossfit sometimes I find it hard to increase my heart rate above 100bpm depending on the workout. I dont think I breathe well during excercise which could affect this I can be gassed out doubled over and feeling weak but my heart rate is still relativley low - Has anyone else ever experienced this its really affecting my ability to do crossfit, its almost as if I become to exhausted to work harder and increase my heart rate! I am getting better and moving easier as I lose weight but the hr thing kind of worries me.. anyone experienced this or got any advice? I still complete the workouts in reasonable times but it seems a lot harder for me that anyone else yet my heart rate stays low! 

[t.parker]

How do you check your HR? Only with watch? Crossfit has very wide range of dynamic movements which may affect reading accuracy. For me HR was always too low during HIIT trainings or anything more dynamic involving lots of motion. I switched to chest strap for accuracy.

[emili]

how many calories do you burn during crossfit according to your fitbit vs. doing one of your steady state cardio activities? For the same time frame. The reason I ask is the reading during the more intense parts may be accurate, but by the time you look at your watch, it is back down again. Fitbit is wonderful, but it does have a harder time reading HR when it isn't a steady state activity. It will either take a long time to read the higher reading or take longer to read the coming down lower reading, or it reads it but doesn't show it, this I am not sure about. So if you compare calories and you are above or at, you know that it is giving you "credit" you just can't see it for whatever reason. 

[SunsetRunner]

My charge 3 gave me peculiar readings during peak aerobic activities so I got a polar strap heartrate monitor.  There has been a difference of up to 30 bpm between the two.  I'd spot check manually and the polar was always (not surprisingly) more correct.  Are you checking manually checking your pulse against the Fitbit readout to ensure it is correct?

[WavyDavey]

Check your pulse by hand with a stopwatch to compare to the results you're getting from the Fitbit. You may have to wear the Fitbit slightly higher on the arm and more tightly to get more accurate HR readings. Crossfit is difficult for wrist-based fitness trackers to keep up with, especially with movement like cleans that have a lot of wrist flexion.

[DannySmithers31]

140-150 while working out hard?

I hit 111-130 bpm just walking around my house, I think I'm gonna make a doc appointment after seeing your numbers, I shouldn't be getting anywhere close to "workout numbers" just standing and walking.

btw I'm 35, 5 feet 10 inches, 190 pounds.