All Day Heart-Rate ... weird results freaking me out

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hey guys,

First off, I've seen lots of people claim the heart-rate sensor on the watch is off "by 20 beats" or whatever. I dunno, maybe for them but definitely not for me. I've compared it to the results from the Garmin Heart Rate Monitor chest strap, my blood pressure machine and also just taking my pulse rate manually, and the watch is pretty much exactly on-the-money every time. So it's not that.

But I've been noticing some weird things with my heart rate. I'm wondering if this is just the result of suddenly have all-day-access to heart-rate data that I never had before (and nobody has really had until recently), or if I should go and see a cardiologist or something. I'm thinking that I'm probably just being hyper-sensitive and it's nothing.

Anyway...

First, I noticed that my heart-rate was exceptionally high. Like hovering around 90-100 when I was hanging around doing nothing, watching TV or whatever. And if I just got up and walked to get a cup of coffee or something, it would go to 120. If I went up a flight of stairs it would go to 140-150. Not for long - maybe 20 or 30 seconds and then go back down to "normal" (90-100). This weirded me out a bit, I always thought of myself as someone with a fairly slow heart rate, so I decided to quit all drinking (I usually have a few beers after work), all coffee and all tobacco (I used to take Swedish snus, which is kind of like chewing tobacco).

As soon as I quit all those things, my heart rate went back down to what I'd consider normal (usually somewhere between about 55 - 75 when I'm doing nothing, and going up to about 90-100 if I move around and do things). I still goes to about 140 if I go up a flight of stairs, but goes back down to about ~65 shortly afterwards (within 10-20 seconds).

So everything seemed fine, until last night I was sitting (on the toilet) and happened to open the Connect App on my phone and noticed my heart-rate was 45! I thought I'll just sit here and wait and see how low it goes and it went down to 41 before I kind of freaked out and got up and started moving around again (and it went back to ~65).

At night-time, it's usually about 55 while I sleep.

Background info, 40-year-old male, 95kg (210lbs), 182cm (a scratch under six feet). Not very fit, but not inactive either. I've always lifted weights and done a bit of cardio, but I just started taking it seriously. No family history of heart trouble, blood pressure is normal, nothing weird when I run or exercise (I can get it up to 180+ if sprinting up a hill, and it goes back down pretty quick when I stop), and no other alarming symptoms.

Should I book at doctor's appointment to get this check out just to be safe, or does this all sound fairly normal?

0 KrzysiekJar over 6 years ago

Recently my RHR went really high (from average 42 per week to around 50)
I don't know what's happening either
I hope it's just a watch
:(

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

I don't know if you're being serious or not, but that's not really high, that's really low. In fact a RHR below 60 is a medical condition known as bradycardia.

In any case, you can test if your watch is faulty easily by measuring your own pulse and comparing it to the watch. I did that multiple times and the watch was perfect.

Also, what the watch says is your RHR isn't really your RHR. I believe what the watch calls "RHR" is actually the lowest your heart rate went all day. Really, RHR should just be your heart rate after you've been sitting down quietly for a few mintues. That's not necessarily the same as the absolute lowest number it hit all day.

0 Dr Phil over 6 years ago

If in doubt get a check-up from a doctor. These are not medical devices. Their accuracy cannot be guaranteed either.

A resting heart rate that starts trending upwards could be indicative of fatigue from overtraining or illness...or it could of course be problem with the watch.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

It's not trending upwards. Anyway, all the info is up there so I won't repost it. I don't think there's anything wrong really. However, I will mention it to the doc, by chance I'm going for a routine checkup next week.

I suspect the thing is that we just have never before had access to all-day, second-to-second heart-rate data. Before if you wanted your pulse rate, you had to sit down with two fingers on your wrist and measure it for 30 seconds. Now you can just glance at your watch and get an instant reading. So sometimes it reads weird thinngs (like 41bpm sitting on the toilet, or 150bpm after walking up the stairs) but I just never saw it before because I wasn't constantly walking around with a stop-watch and my fingers on my pulse.

0 C966 over 6 years ago

I don't know if you're being serious or not, but that's not really high, that's really low. In fact a RHR below 60 is a medical condition known as bradycardia.

He is being serious, its high for him, if his normal is 42.

If you are very fit, you will have a very efficient heart, and therefore the heart will need to pump at a lower rate to maintain adequate blood flow as it does so with less effort, and a RHR of 42 is perfectly fine, in fact its a sign of good fitness in this case.

A RHR at 42 is only a problem if your normal RHR is higher than that, say, 60, because it means that your heart is not maintaining adequate blood flow at 42, with a RHR of 60 its not that fit and efficient at 42. Then its a condition.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

It's a medical condition no matter what. Anything below 60 is a medical condition called bradycadia, by definition.

The difference is that "athletic bradycadia" or "athlete's heart syndrome" (which is a medical condition) is considered to be relatively benign (harmless) in the majority of cases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_heart_syndrome

In any case, a heart rate of 50 is not "high" for anyone (who is still alive anyway).

0 C966 over 6 years ago

It's a medical condition no matter what. Anything below 60 is a medical condition called bradycadia, by definition.

The difference is that "athletic bradycadia" or "athlete's heart syndrome" (which is a medical condition) is considered to be relatively benign (harmless) in the majority of cases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_heart_syndrome

In any case, a heart rate of 50 is not "high" for anyone (who is still alive anyway).

Its not a "medical" condition when its physiologically normal and there is absence of disease or illness. Non-pathological variances can be described for DDx but that doesn't mean that its a medical condition, medical condition implies pathology while athlete's heart has no symptoms nor disease associated with it. Its a normal physiological compensation just like skeletal muscle hypertrophy associated with weightlifting.
I.e. Medical condition = disease, disorder, injury, sickness, etc. Normal physiological variation = not medical condition.

In any case, a heart rate of 50 is not "high" for anyone (who is still alive anyway).

If your normal RHR is 40, and suddenly you start getting 50, then yes, that is high. Could be indication that you are overtraining, catching a cold, not getting enough rest, or some other reason, in this case probably a measuring issue that is software related, but its a higher value than normal. Its not a high RHR for the population average, but no one is talking about that, I said its "high for him" who normally has 42.

0 KrzysiekJar over 6 years ago

Could be indication that you are overtraining, catching a cold, not getting enough rest, or some other reason, in this case probably a measuring issue that is software related, but its a higher value than normal.

I hope that I'm not sick :) but just as you mentioned above - tired, overtrained etc.
And Gronk remember that I talk here aboutan average resting heart rate - so it's not so low all the time :)

It is also possible that there is something wrong with the watch ;)

0 C966 over 6 years ago

:D I would bet it's down to a change in how the Fénix is measuring the RHR since other people have commented similar findings too regarding the RHR.

0 Former Member over 6 years ago

Its not a "medical" condition when its physiologically normal and there is absence of disease or illness. Non-pathological variances can be described for DDx but that doesn't mean that its a medical condition, medical condition implies pathology while athlete's heart has no symptoms nor disease associated with it. Its a normal physiological compensation just like skeletal muscle hypertrophy associated with weightlifting.
I.e. Medical condition = disease, disorder, injury, sickness, etc. Normal physiological variation = not medical condition.

That's just not correct. But whatever. It's not worth arguing about.

Athletic heart syndrome (AHS), also known as athlete's heart,[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP][2][/SUP]athletic bradycardia, or exercise-induced cardiomegaly is a non-pathological condition commonly seen in sports medicine, in which the human heart is enlarged, and the resting heart rate is lower than normal.

- wikipedia

If your normal RHR is 40, and suddenly you start getting 50, then yes, that is high

Well, maybe it's higher than his average, sure. But I was responding to his initial comment that his heart rate "suddenly went really high". In nobodies world is that "really high". It's a very low heart rate. For him, maybe higher than usual, sure. But it's kind of like saying your Ferrari is "driving really slow" at 280kmph because it's possible for it to do 300.

Anyway ... again, not worth arguing over. I know what he means. "It's high for him". Okay, sure. But it's not a very useful post when I'm talking about a heart rate of 150+ in the OP.