Heart rate concern

[Tony Cook]

2k TT and while pleased with the time and I didn’t feel over stressed by the effort - beyond the expected burning legs and fire in my lungs!
However - from the HR data I have a concern. Previous max HR tests - 4 x 2k, 5 x 1500, 4 x 2k and 500m TT puts me 175 MHR. Today my HR went steadily up to 171 at 5:00 but by 5:10 it was over 200 and stayed there, peaking at 207 till the end - apart from one puzzling brief drop to 183 at 6:02.
I had a look at my previous 2k TT and again there my HR shot from 171 at 6:32 too over 200 and stayed there for the last 30 seconds.
I have no ill effects. Did a 10’ cool down.
Should I be concerned?

[winniewinser]

2k TT and while pleased with the time and I didn’t feel over stressed by the effort - beyond the expected burning legs and fire in my lungs!
However - from the HR data I have a concern. Previous max HR tests - 4 x 2k, 5 x 1500, 4 x 2k and 500m TT puts me 175 MHR. Today my HR went steadily up to 171 at 5:00 but by 5:10 it was over 200 and stayed there, peaking at 207 till the end - apart from one puzzling brief drop to 183 at 6:02.
I had a look at my previous 2k TT and again there my HR shot from 171 at 6:32 too over 200 and stayed there for the last 30 seconds.
I have no ill effects. Did a 10’ cool down.
Should I be concerned?

Did you feel anything in your body while the numbers jumped? Heart fluttering?

I have something under investigation that is very similar.......jumps from say 160 to 220 while under duress and I need to stop. I do feel the heart during these peaks so have to stop. I'm currently awaiting a couple more tests through BUPA and my cardiologist thinks it could be Atrial Fibrilation.

Doesn't mean that it is what you see but I would suggest keeping an eye on it and getting it checked out by a Dr.

[Tony Cook]

Thanks for the response. I felt nothing with the jump up spike. If I didn’t have a graph to look at I wouldn’t have even realised.
That said a couple of weeks back I felt some ‘fluttering’ in my chest/heart while rowing (I think) a 2 x 8’ TR session and noted that my HR has plummeted that time from about 155 to 120 for about 20 seconds.
I don’t like going to see doctors but it may be the sensible thing to do.

[hjs]

2k TT and while pleased with the time and I didn’t feel over stressed by the effort - beyond the expected burning legs and fire in my lungs!
However - from the HR data I have a concern. Previous max HR tests - 4 x 2k, 5 x 1500, 4 x 2k and 500m TT puts me 175 MHR. Today my HR went steadily up to 171 at 5:00 but by 5:10 it was over 200 and stayed there, peaking at 207 till the end - apart from one puzzling brief drop to 183 at 6:02.
I had a look at my previous 2k TT and again there my HR shot from 171 at 6:32 too over 200 and stayed there for the last 30 seconds.
I have no ill effects. Did a 10’ cool down.
Should I be concerned?

Sounds very much like a device fail. If you see 175 during hard sessions, no way you could reach 200 plus. And if you felt fine, you heart was not doing crazy. So left is, the readings must be wrong....

[Allan Olesen]

Thanks for the response. I felt nothing with the jump up spike. If I didn’t have a graph to look at I wouldn’t have even realised.

Do you ever measure your heart rate by counting beats while looking at a watch? I usually do that when I don't trust my heart rate sensor.

Of course, you can't count them over a full minute when you are at high intensity. When you stop the session and start counting, your heart rate will start to drop. But if you count for 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4, the result will be accurate enough to see if the sensor is wrong.

[Tony Cook]

Thanks for the response. I felt nothing with the jump up spike. If I didn’t have a graph to look at I wouldn’t have even realised.

Do you ever measure your heart rate by counting beats while looking at a watch? I usually do that when I don't trust my heart rate sensor.

Of course, you can't count them over a full minute when you are at high intensity. When you stop the session and start counting, your heart rate will start to drop. But if you count for 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4, the result will be accurate enough to see if the sensor is wrong.

I wondered about device fail but I have tried the manual count check, well did at first, and find it accurate. This was only in the 130-150 range as I can at the end of a UT1/2 piece. After a 2k TT I can’t do anything but gasp for air for a couple of minutes. I only noticed the 200+ spike half an hour later when I checked the stats - and saw 198 for the last 500.

[lindsayh]

I would vote for a device problem rather than cardiac but this is not a medical forum of course and you should get it checked
The best thing would be a stress test or the like. if you could get your hand (literally) on a pulse oximeter to test pulse at the end of a hard session to see how it matches up

[mitchel674]

2k TT and while pleased with the time and I didn’t feel over stressed by the effort - beyond the expected burning legs and fire in my lungs!
However - from the HR data I have a concern. Previous max HR tests - 4 x 2k, 5 x 1500, 4 x 2k and 500m TT puts me 175 MHR. Today my HR went steadily up to 171 at 5:00 but by 5:10 it was over 200 and stayed there, peaking at 207 till the end - apart from one puzzling brief drop to 183 at 6:02.
I had a look at my previous 2k TT and again there my HR shot from 171 at 6:32 too over 200 and stayed there for the last 30 seconds.
I have no ill effects. Did a 10’ cool down.
Should I be concerned?

Sounds very much like a device fail. If you see 175 during hard sessions, no way you could reach 200 plus. And if you felt fine, you heart was not doing crazy. So left is, the readings must be wrong....

A dangerous conclusion. Perhaps Tony is experiencing an arrhythmia when he pushes during these hard sessions. I would suggest he mention it to his physician and not assume it is a device failure.

My bet is supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) commonly brought on by dehydration or (less likely) atrial fibrillation.

[hjs]

2k TT and while pleased with the time and I didn’t feel over stressed by the effort - beyond the expected burning legs and fire in my lungs!
However - from the HR data I have a concern. Previous max HR tests - 4 x 2k, 5 x 1500, 4 x 2k and 500m TT puts me 175 MHR. Today my HR went steadily up to 171 at 5:00 but by 5:10 it was over 200 and stayed there, peaking at 207 till the end - apart from one puzzling brief drop to 183 at 6:02.
I had a look at my previous 2k TT and again there my HR shot from 171 at 6:32 too over 200 and stayed there for the last 30 seconds.
I have no ill effects. Did a 10’ cool down.
Should I be concerned?

Sounds very much like a device fail. If you see 175 during hard sessions, no way you could reach 200 plus. And if you felt fine, you heart was not doing crazy. So left is, the readings must be wrong....

A dangerous conclusion. Perhaps Tony is experiencing an arrhythmia when he pushes during these hard sessions. I would suggest he mention it to his physician and not assume it is a device failure.

My bet is supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) commonly brought on by dehydration or (less likely) atrial fibrillation.

Maybe, but if so you don’t feel fine. Doing a test under supervision is a good idea. Just mentioning it will help nothing, a doc has no option to say, stop doing that, just to be safe. So the only option is a real test.
The other sessions he mentioned are just as hard, so the trouble should come up there also.

[james_d]

What HRM are you using? as my Garmin does this but only at higher HR's when the battery is getting low, scared me the first time it happened.
Its a chest one not a wrist based one BTW, I find the wrist optical sensor on my Garmin watch to be very hit and miss whilst rowing.

James

[Carl Watts]

As above you have not mentioned what HR equipment your using. The old Polar stuff was suceptable to electrical interference and could display 220 for no reason. I'm using Garmin ANT+ gear direct to the PM5 and no issues so yes if I suddenly saw something over 190 I would be freaking out.

[Mortie31]

A very similar example was discussed on the sub7 forum a few days ago, as people have said it could be a faulty device, but one thing to bear in mind is the are a lot of us getting towards 60’s and a lot even older, and our hearts change over time especially to consistent high level endurance training; athletes heart. As previously mentioned it could possibly be an exercise induced arrythmia. I would defiantly get checked out, sports cardiology is still an emerging science and with it new findings/ conclusions/ science. There would be little point just speaking to a g.p. you would need referring to a specialist to get a decent assessment.

[Tony Cook]

As above you have not mentioned what HR equipment your using. The old Polar stuff was suceptable to electrical interference and could display 220 for no reason. I'm using Garmin ANT+ gear direct to the PM5 and no issues so yes if I suddenly saw something over 190 I would be freaking out.

I admit it is a less expensive chest strap called CooSpo. As I only wanted it to connect to my PM5 and phone Apps it does the job. It has ANT+ and bluetooth. I was concerned that cheaper meant no good so did a lot of checking the number on the screen against 2 fingers on my neck and am happy that it is accurate - up to 150-160 at least.

[ampire]

A dangerous conclusion. Perhaps Tony is experiencing an arrhythmia when he pushes during these hard sessions. I would suggest he mention it to his physician and not assume it is a device failure.

My bet is supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) commonly brought on by dehydration or (less likely) atrial fibrillation.

In my opinion, Tony, you should find a cardiologist that specializes with athletic patients and get examined before you do any more rigorous exercise.

My father has had SVT, he is a 70 year old road cyclist in otherwise very good condition. He sees a cardiologist familiar with athletes. My father continues to ride, however he is monitored by the cardiologist on a regular basis and he has checkups that include aerobic stress tests on a treadmill (he is a good cyclist, but terrible runner). I don't know much about SVT personally, but I know he first observed the behavior from his heart rate band, and went to see a cardiologist.

[Carl Watts]

Mmmm a brand I have never heard of.

Currently using the Garmin soft strap version. I do like the hard version but the case fails after a battery change or two and sweat gets in and its stuffed.