Overweight and excercise heart rate

[Vara0812]

My avg. RHR is 68 and it keeps fluctuating between 62 and 92 through the day. I'm 28,  overweight, with BMI in the 30s but am a fairly healthy individual. I've had a stress test done and the doc told me that my heart is fine (maybe a little easily triggered) and that I just need to improve on my endurance and fitness levels. 

However, my heart rate sometimes shoots up to like 162-168 during a moderately brisk walk (I don't even feel too winded or out of breath when this happens). I know I can do more than a semi brisk walk interms of excercise intensity.

But I'm freaking out! If a small 1 mile brisk walk on fairly even surface can increase my HR to 160, what would more intense exercise do? 

I know heart rates are super personal to each individual, but has anyone else experienced this? How did you cope and what did you do?

[emili]

First, I don't think you should be freaking out, until a medical professional tells you to freak out. That does your health no good. Second, I wouldn't count spikes in HR as deal breakers for intensifying your workout effort. And third, I would evaluate your nutrition to ensure you are giving your body what it needs to do what you are asking it to do. Salty, fatty diets will not support a body trying to workout. Double check with your doctor before starting an intense work out, don't go all in on day one.. baby steps to ensure you are not hurting yourself and if all checks out- have fun with getting more fit. 

[Heybales]

If your breathing rate is not increasing proportionally along with HR (HR increases to provide more required oxygen for the effort, more breathing needed to get more oxygen) - I'd chalk it up to inaccurate HR reading.

Have you manually measured for 15 sec to confirm?

But yes unfit does mean a bigger increase of HR, and breathing.

[shipo]

I agree with @emili and @Heybales, I'm not hearing anything which warrants worry.

FWIW, when I go out for a workout, brisk walk or run, it matters not, I notice my heart rate graph spike really high for the first mile before something in my tracker figures out what I'm doing and then starts recording my heart rate normally (and I've read other reports here regarding the same phenomena).  Initially I was worried, however, a couple of times I manually checked my pulse when my Fitbit was saying I was rockin' something like 170 bpm, and my actual was more like 120.  I told you this to ask a question; if you keep going, does your heart rate graph for the walk suddenly drop back to a reasonable rate and then stay relatively static for the remainder of the walk?

[geobeck]

I agree with the others. I'm over 50, and my doctor gives me an ECG every year. He says I'm fine as long as my heart rate (which gets pretty high while cycling) returns to resting in a reasonable time. I'm still a little worried because I have a rather high exercising heart rate, but not as much as I used to be.

You've had a stress test, which is a more detailed assessment of cardiovascular health, so your doc has a good basis for telling you that your heart is okay. As someone who has tried many forms of exercise over the years (but always returned to cycling), I advise moderation. Increase your intensity or distance a little each time, but don't push yourself like you're running from zombies.

And read @shipo 's post on LSD. (No, not that kind of LSD) It has given me some ideas on improving my workouts.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Get-Moving/Longest-distance/m-p/4862598#M60190

[Carinajb]

I never really gave it any thought before, but whenever I have been still for a longer period of time and get up to do something e.g. brush my teeth, do the dishes or exercising, my heart rate would go from 70bpm to 120/140bpm but after a short while come down and stabilize around 90/100bpm depending on the activity.