Staying in peak heart rate zone whilst running

[Prowlerchick]

Hi all

I'm a 37 year old female and have been exercising regularly for over a year and on and off in previous years although would not class myself as super fit!

I got a fitbit for my birthday in June and have been wearing it whilst running and have noticed that during my runs (which I've recently been increasing to 10km in preparation for a 'race') my heart rate pretty much stays within the peak zone. I do not run fast, about 7.15km / hour average over 10k and can hold a conversation if needed to whilst running. I'm just concerned that when I run my heart rate is in the peak zone and sometimes gets up to 178 bpm (not often) more like 163 bpm.

Other forms of exercise such as cross fit don't give me same results it's just running. 

I know I have a heart murmur (very slight) but don't need it checked and have had all sorts of tests on my heart and my dr says as long as I don't have any pain in my chest any exercise is fine. I'm just concerned it stays in the peak zone all the time and I'd basically be walking if I slowed my speed down to reduce it!

I don't want to bother my dr as I feel absolutely fine but wondered if anyone had any suggestions?

Thanks!

[JamesonH]

I don't think you have too much to worry. Not saying you're old or anything, but Fitbit calculates that peak zone by a maximum heart rate of 220 bpm minus your age. So as you age, the peak heart rate becomes lower and lower, which isn't the best measurement especially for those that are fairly active. I'd say as not as you're not feeling any chest discomforts during and after your runs, not much to worry about.

I can't do 10k yet, but for my 5k runs, I can see that my heart rate levels at around 110 bpm-ish for the first half of my run and then as I get tired out it will increase much higher. Looking back on my run yesterday, I apparently hit 196 bpm at one point. Whether this is true or not, I guess it should be taken with a grain of salt in terms of how accurate the reporting is.

[WavyDavey]

Peak Zone is 85-100%+ of maximum heart rate.

@Prowlerchick, I'd want to see if that peak heart rate time is correct for those runs.

I do HIIT, and a few days ago did a session that was 100% peak zone. There's no way to hold on a conversation while in that zone. Sensations of "chest burning" and a general  "feeling of hating life", sure. But conversations aren't a possibility in such a winded state.

Can you post a screenshot of one of the HR charts for these runs? It might be a good thing for your doctor to see, considering the history.

Also, I would check out this article, which goes over how to improve accuracy of heart rate.

[Prowlerchick]

This is a screenshot of my heart rate on fitbit app today, have a guess when the run was!

[WavyDavey]

Thanks for posting the chart.

Not sure what's going on. It's definitely strange that it's only affecting runs, and not other activities.

I would perform a restart, and see if that fixes it.

[shipo]

@Prowlerchick, try notching your band tighter one or two holes.

[Esya]

I agree with @shipo, try to put your band more tight during the run. Also, a heart monitor worn on the wrist will never be as accurate as a strap worn on the chest. If you have access to a chest strap for one run, you might want to see what it reports, because I think your tracker is reporting too high in this case. Putting it on more tight can fix that issue.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Prowlerchick, as your doctor is happy for you to exercise as you wish, and you feel fine, I would not worry about this too much (although you should probably mention it at your next appointment).

When I run my heartrate is also in the peak zone the entire time.  Sometimes it is actually higher than my theoretical maximum.  When it is like that I can definitely speak to my running companion (though "conversation" may be a bit of exaggeration!)

I get readings like this whether I am wearing my wrist based Fitbit or my Garmin with a chest strap, so I assume they are correct.  

Like you, if I kept my HR in fatburning zone, or even cardio zone, I wouldn't be able to run at all.

I am hoping this will improve over time (in the days when I was a more regular runner we didn't have this technology, so I don't know), but it may be that this is just how my body (and yours) works.  As soon as I stop my HR is back to normal within seconds and my Fitbit reports that I have an "excellent" cardio fitness score for a woman my age.

I hope this reassures you.

[Prowlerchick]

Thank you and everyone else for your advice. My fitbit says I'm on borderline between good and excellent heart rate fitness score so guess not too bad.

Next time I'm at the doctors I will ask, just don't go often unless I make an appointment just for this it'll be a while I hope! 

[shipo]

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@Julia_G wrote:

When I run my heartrate is also in the peak zone the entire time.  Sometimes it is actually higher than my theoretical maximum.  When it is like that I can definitely speak to my running companion (though "conversation" may be a bit of exaggeration!)

---

Yeah, same here; I've had to change my Maximum Heart Rate setting so it will be more appropriate.  On my very first run with my (then) new Surge a couple of years ago I did a fairly fast 10-miler on a very hilly route; my average heart rate was 161 for the full 78 minutes of the run with something like the last 25 minutes of the run ranging between 165 and 173 bpm.  Given I was 58 at the time my heart rate graph was solid red from start to finish.

When I changed my Maximum Rate to 182 all of my graphs started looking much more reasonable.  🙂

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

@Prowlerchick I'm the same age as you and started running a couple of months ago. My HR during simple jog ( which I consider being a little bit faster than a brisk walk ) could easily go up to 170. When running very often I was reaching 190. Over a period of few months ( 5-6 months ) of getting fit now my HR during running stays less than 170 ( sometimes, ie. during interval training, I do get it to the higher values ). Me too, only when running I get higher HR. When attending spin classes my HR stays most of the time below 150. Running seems to be little more demanding. I wouldn't be worried. HR zones are not fixed for every human on the planet. Our bodies work different and bringing everyone to the common denominator can be sometimes misleading. I run usually with pace 5:01/km ( my "comfortable", also often "recovery" pace ) which is approximately 12km/hour and when running 10k my HR gets to the higher peak usually around 8-10km ( although not as high as it used to months ago ). I don't find it strange and stopped being worried about that. I simply listen to my body.

[emili]

@Prowlerchick you have lots of good advice and info here already.. just my two cents...as long as you do not feel light headed or in pain or pukey I too think you are OK. if your heart was really in distress you would know it and you for sure couldn't talk. I think the reading isn't right or something wacky is happening because of your murmur. You may be skipping beats and the HR function is not interpreting it properly. Either way, I  wouldn't worry about bothering your doctor- bother him..  and maybe do an actual stress test..

[Prowlerchick]

Thank you for your reply. I will arrange an appointment to see my doctor just to check it out and put my mind at ease. 

[moome]

FYI - Peak rate is calculated as 85% of Maximum heart rate (220 - age).

[erayne]

do you take any pre work outside? I know mine have a big effect on my heartrate when I run if i take a preworkout first. 

[KP_Nuts]

I've had a similar experience with an Alta HR recording stupidly high heat rates on a low intensity jog. Yesterday, barely breaking sweat, the Fitbit recorded an almost continuously HR of 160+, for 33 minutes. I'm 54, I'd be dead if that were true. Today, intense tresdmill run shows a realistic looking trace peaking at 155. Fitbit position/tension same for both sessions. I see this a lot - .Slow , low HR jog -innacurate. Faster, high HR run - accurate

[SunsetRunner]

I checked my fitbit ionic against a chest strap and the ionic when I'm jogging is about 20 beats higher than my accurate chest strap which also means calories are not accurate.

[SophiaT]

Thank you for this. I am a senior runner (old) and mine is in the peak zone the entire time and more than 85% of my maximum the entire time. It feels comfortable to me so I keep on running and have been doing for four months now. Like others my Fitbit records excellent cardio fitness for a woman my age ! 😁

[MeatLips]

This seems an older topic, but I noticed with the Versa 2 it tells me I've been in the peak heart rate throughout my run. 

As a bit of a backstory here, I'm 45 and 234 lbs and have been running three times a week for two years now. I started running five days a week about three weeks ago and have been doing regular hour long jogs at a sedate 4.3 mph on a treadmill. Didn't think that was really fast and my FitBit Blaze told me I was averaging 140 to 150 for heart rate. Then I upgraded to the Versa 2 and it's telling me that holy crap, I'm running for an hour in peak range around 158 to 165 and if I speed up a little, I'm over 170. It freaked me out at first. But I have no chest pains, I don't feel crazy out of breath, I'm actually breathing pretty regular. It feels no different. 

Now I'm on the prowl for a good heart rate chest strap to verify what my actual heart rate is. I don't want to be running in peak mode for an hour, if that's actually the case. I feel like maybe it's not what my actual rate is. I see my PCP in October, so I might ask him what he thinks.

[Shivparsh]

This is something I noticed when running on the treadmill.

Up to 128 bpm, the reading on Fitbit and the treadmill are close. Above 130 on the treadmill, Fitbit goes hyper. Fitbit was about 40 bpm higher than the treadmill reading. It was difficult to hold on to the treadmill bar for about 3 minutes at about 4.5 miles/hr but managed somehow; I was too concerned with bpm figures showing 183 on my tracker.