Normal heart rate range while walking

[jennkatherine]

Hi there,
I’m a 32 yr old woman, relatively inactive (I walk the dog, do some yoga, and that's about it) and have always been very thin (100-115lbs)
I recently got a fitbit Alta HR and my RHR is ranging from 68-72 but I’ve noticed that in the morning my heart rate will jump to 90-100 bpm when I get out of bed/make coffee/get ready for work.

When I’m walking quite slowly, it will also go up to about 110bpm. Recovery time seems quite good, I don’t feel unwell during exertion, and do tend to be on the anxious side. My question is, is this variability normal? Does anyone know what an average healthy range is for low - moderate exercise? 

The AHA guidelines do seem to say this is within a normal range but seems high for a lazy walk with the dog.

[shipo]

@Mashu, your walking heart rate, in and of itself, doesn't really tell you, or any of the rest of us much; additional information such as, but not limited to, the following data points, will help us formulate some opinions and suggestions.  In the end, the best advice can typically be gotten from a cardiologist.  And now for the data points:

• Your age
• Your weight
• Your historic level of activity
• Your current level of activity
• Your typical overnight low heart beat range
• Your typical daily resting heart beat range
• If you engage in vigorous activity, the heart beat range do you typically max out at

[SuperOvo]

Hi,

I’m male and in my 40s. Currently, the only exercise I do is golf and brisk walking. When I’m asleep, my RHR goes down to 42, but it’s 46 when awake. When I go walking I walk as fast as I can: my HR goes up to 90-95 after five to ten minutes, and over the course of two hours it rises to 100, averaging 97. Is this typical? When I was younger and ran three or four times a month, my RHR awake was 40, but at the time I was a heavy drinker and I used to smoke (ex-military).
What worries me though is that although my walking stats are ok, as soon as I break into so much as a jog, my heart rate leaps up to 130, and if I’m running it’s much higher, at 160-170, and I can’t sustain it for long. How do I get my heart rate to stay lower if I’m running? Any tips on training schedules?

[shipo]

@SuperOvo, first off, there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the stats you've shared.  Now, as for your "running" heart rate, it sounds like you might succumbing to one of the most common mistakes of folks getting back into running, too fast, too much, too soon.  That said, a jogging pace for you may well justify a heart rate of 130, and a brisk running pace may also justify 160-170.

True story, back when I was 57 I got my first Fitbit tracker, it was mid-spring at the time and I hadn't had a great winter and early spring training wise, so for my first run I went out for a very hilly 9-mile run (over 1,000' of elevation change); I finished that run in 78 minutes with an average heart rate of 161 and max rate of 174 (with 170+ being sustained for over 20 minutes).  Was that a bad thing?  No, it just "was".  Not quite five months later (with lots of training in between) I did that same run in 75 minutes with an average heart rate of 145 with a peak of only 166 (and even then only for a few minutes during a steep climb).

I told you that to tell you this, start with long slow distance, keep things slow enough to allow you to comfortably work up to roughly 6-miles; each time you think you want to run faster, run further instead.  Once you've hit the 6-mile threshold, then start dialing up your pace for say, the last half mile, then the last mile, and so on.  Intersperse your faster 6-mile runs with longer runs and pretty soon, you'll be able to sustain a fast pace for an easy 10-miles.

[SuperOvo]

Thanks for the advice; I’ll start off slowly and surely and build up to the quicker stuff. 

[Gloria_lily]

My heart rat is usually around 68-83 but can go up to 120 when I'm doing things around the house and when I'm walking it can get up to 140. I am diagnosed with anxiety but I have only been noticing thing in the last year. I also get lightheaded and brain fog. 

[Ramtough2006]

Take off the fitbit and enjoy life it's way to short.

[NikkiNova]

Wow, that was entirely unhelpful..thanks so much for that! 

[Mashu]

I didn’t post anything that was to be helpful

Sent from my iPhone

[SBCanBeat]

@Gloria_lily I thought I was the only one having these issues. I also noticed when I visit my doctor then I automatically have some anxiety momentarily and that's when the rate gets high. After I'm out of the clinic the rate gets normal.

[Riddy17]

Exactly me too 

[camps1952]

i know and ever since i got the flu with virus i am constantly checking my heart rate as soon as i walk around and doing things sometimes jump to 120 and then after i sit awhile goes back down to again to follow up this week with a cardiologist as ekg was done and fine and they want to put me on anexity meds which i don’t want as ever since this sickness constantly checking my hr and want to talk to others. Thanks