Maximum heart rate and peaks - should I be worried?

[judetheobscure]

I'm 56 years old female with a RHR usually around 55-60. 

Max heart rate should be 165. 

But when running my max is 195ish and I'm in peak zone (above 140) for most of the run which is usually 30-40 minutes. I can talk although I'm breathing quite hard. 

I did have a 24hr ECG recently as part of some other investigations but nothing concerning found .... and I deliberately went for a run whilst wearing it. 

Should I be concerned? Why is my MHR so high? 

[Ennay]

Max HR has more to do with genetics than anything else. 

The formula of 220- age is AVERAGE but like anything else there is a normal distribution  and some people run higher and some lower.  You apparently run higher.  If you max out in the middle of a run at 195, your true Max is somewhat higher than that.  You can only sustain your true MHR for brief periods.

I know a woman who ran entire marathons in the 220s that is her "cardio zone" - she could sustain 220+ for 4 hours.  Her tested Max HR was 275.  Abnormal for sure, but normal for her.  

Unless this is a recent change I wouldn't be terribly concerned.  Youve had the testing.

[Heybales]

HRmax should be whatever you genetically happen to be, combined with whatever level of fitness you have maintained as you got older that kept it from dropping, which isn't always 1 beat a year anyway.

For that bell curve mentioned - women's is even worse for calculated HRmax compared to tested - you have better chance of being more than 10 bpm outside a 10 bpm range around calculated.

You have a Honda heart, high-reving compared to some with a diesel heart.

I'd suggest changing your Fitbit settings to match your reality, as HRmax is a major player in calculating calorie burn from HR.

If you can sustain 195ish for awhile and can barely talk, likely the top of the aerobic zone - which would put estimated HRmax at 217.

Change that setting, customize the HR zone to whatever you want to track (that has nothing to do with calorie burn), I'd suggest aerobic zone 70-90% which is 152-195.

Then you know anything above was anaerobic or peak zone, anything below was recovery zone for days you need a calm workout for, well, recovery.

[betpchem]

It may be just where the Fitbit is on your wrist. Close to your wrist tends to read higher, in my experience. Have you tried taking your pulse and seeing if the Fitbit is accurately measuring your heart rate? 

[emili]

if you were tested by a medical professional and nothing bad was detected, then there shouldn't be any concern. That should actually give you peace of mind and not us who are completely unqualified to say either way. There are days when I run that I am in peak for almost the entire time. That is caused by allergies, higher than usual salt intake or booze. If you are so out of breath that you can't answer simple questions, you may want to slow down a bit and see if it improves things.