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Heart Rate during Exercise--Happen to you too?

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Posted 3/13/2015 2:44 AM (GMT 0)
For years I've run on a treadmill and occasionally used the handles to read my heart rate. I always assumed the gym machines had inaccurate heart rate calculations because my heart rate would be almost off-the-charts high. At rest, I have a slow heart rate/borderline low blood pressure.

All my teen & adult life I've been able to jog/run what feels like an easy mile between 8.5 to 9 minutes/mile. When I'm barely jogging, almost walking, it's a 10-minute mile. At any of these paces I can keep up a conversation or sing to my headphones. When I'm outside this pace results in a heartbeat that feels like I'm working but not very hard. I know the pace well enough to know how it should feel indoors on the treadmill too. Even though I feel like it's an easy run, my heart rate reading on the treadmill says it is way up there in the age range of "teenagers" and/or beating at the level of "athlete at max training capacity" for my age. I'm in my mid-30s.

When I run hard or sprint (7.5 minute/mile to 6.5 minute/mile pace per hour) my heartbeat is 180-ish. This is the only pace where I'm breathing & working really hard and it feels good, not scary. My heart doesn't feel like it's working too hard so I always thought the machines were wrong and overexaggerating my hearbeat. I've never had one of those exercise stress tests....

Does this happen to you with your exercising heart rate? Is it dangerous? Thanks!

Post Edited (mauihawaii) : 3/12/2015 8:48:33 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/13/2015 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
Is your Max HR in the 180ish range? If so that's not too odd. A common formula used for max HR is 220-your age. There is a large standard deviation associated with this, but it gets you in the ball park.

And you are correct, most HR monitors in the gym are inaccurate and any moisture between your palms and the metal contacts can influence the readings. Might be worth purchasing a personal heart rate monitor from a sporting goods store to keep track of your heart rate.

FWIW, I'm 29 and my resting HR is around 38-39 bpm (when I am very fit) and my max is around 182. The sensations I feel at my max are similar to what you describe.

However, cardiac issues are very serious and if you have any doubt about your health I would consult a cardiologist.
Posted 3/13/2015 6:06 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Bmoberg, very good feedback. Thanks for taking the time to respond. :-)

180 is my average heart rate when I'm working pretty hard, maybe around 85% of my absolute max ability. The machine won't read my heart rate when I give it my all in an all-out sprint.

What's weird is that when I'm only working around 60-70% of my max ability the heart rate is still around 170-ish, even though I don't feel like it could possibly be that high.

I've had the heart palpitations on and off for so long that I assumed this exercise heart rate idiosynchrocy (sp?!) was just another weird fluke. Now that I know the lyme has probably infiltrated all of my body systems I think a cardio doc/exercise stress test may be in order. But most likely it will come back "normal" like every other test....
Posted 3/13/2015 2:33 PM (GMT 0)
When I was working out (running, lifting, triathlons), it was not unusual for me to see a max heart rate in 180s or even 190s while wearing a heart rate monitor, but this was usually at the end of a race where I was pushing hard.

At a slow jog, my heart rate was in the 140s, low 150s. If I ever saw a higher HR at this pace it was usually because I was coming down with something or on allergy meds.

If you are seeing a higher HR like that with anything other than max effort, I would think it means your body is having to work harder, likely due to the stress of lyme or other infections. With that being said, I wouldn't trust those monitors on gym equipment. Your own personal HR monitor would be much more reliable.

Post Edited (lymie mom x 2) : 3/13/2015 2:14:41 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/13/2015 4:25 PM (GMT 0)
I would recommend the stress test. Definitely interesting that you are still able to exercise with Lyme. I was an elite athlete before I became ill and I cannot tolerate any form of exercise. I have severe heart palpitations at minimal workloads and my heart rate is much higher than it should (and I know this isn't completely from detraining). Also, these minimal efforts cause debilitating fatigue within 48 hours of the workout which lasts for days to weeks (what some refer to as post exertional malaise).

I would also consider talking to an LLMD about exercising with an active Lyme infection. IMO, you should be doing little to no exercise with an active infection especially aerobics. Any infection will produce a certain amount of inflammation in your body and your are voluntary adding to that when you workout. Aerobics in particular involve the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 (levels of which are proportional to the intensity of the workout) along with the secretion of immunosuppressive catecholamine's and cortisol. From my experience the body handles that stress stimulus and subsequent recovery in a very different manner than it would when you are healthy.
Posted 3/13/2015 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks, again, guys. LymieMom, I recently got a heart rate monitor--just too tired to use it. Lol.

Bmoberg, for some reason I'm one of the folks who feels a million times better when I do aerobic activity. I have been wiped out in 2015 and have gotten very little exercise, but I was a runner all my life before the last couple of years of really bad lyme symptoms. In fact, my lyme only kicked in hard-core when I moved to cold-weather country and stopped taking my 4Xs/week outdoor runs; add unbearable stress to the mix & here I am today. Never thought I'd be a couch potato... But every now and then I can run or do light weights at the gym and it feels amazing, without the debilitating effects that others may experience.

However, I have noticed for years and years that when I have tons of energy and do a killer workout with many sprints or do heavy weights I do get SOOOO sick 48 hours later. I used to think it was lactic acid buildup in the muscles. Once I realized I had lyme and read about post-exertional malaise it all made so much sense. But I don't get it from minor exercise, thank God!

The other thing I've identified is that the more I lie around the weaker and sicker I get. I need to do some kind of light exercise at least every 2 days to keep my energy up--even just stretching, a light walk or jog, or the 7-minute workout in my living room. If I let 3 days go by without exercise I'm like a lifeless ragdoll on my couch, the lyme symptoms get worse, and I have a very hard time getting back into exercise.

Right now I'm detoxing from 4 months of antibiotics to get my immune system back up. I felt better for about 10 days and then have been pretty sick the last 10 days. I've begun taking beach walks in my hometown and added a tiny bit of sand jogging the other day. It's the only thing that clears the headaches and nausea. I'm not strong enough to run hard yet, and really don't want to bring on the 48-hour-later flu symptoms anyway. Slow and steady.....

I'm definitely going to ask for a stress test when I get back to my real life in a couple of weeks. Thaks again!

Post Edited (mauihawaii) : 3/13/2015 1:01:01 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/13/2015 9:00 PM (GMT 0)
That's great to hear you are able to exercise! It sounds like you are at the tail end of your treatment protocol. Hopefully your ability to tolerate exercise is a sign that your Lyme is going into remission/cured.
Posted 3/14/2015 12:26 PM (GMT 0)
I've also worked out all my adult life and in the beginning of getting Lyme, I thought I was going to die when I worked out. As time went on I pushed myself to do water aerobics since it wasn't as hard on my joints. But then after I got thru the hard fatigue, I joined a gym and did aerobics and weight training, it actually made me feel better also, then later I got into spinning.

I guess it depends on the individual. I thought for years I had fibromyalgia and the exercise benefitted me.

As I recall, my working heart rate was around 180, so I don't think that's bad, plus how fast does yours recover? Mine recovered quickly.
Posted 3/15/2015 6:33 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks, Revive. It is so strange how different each person reacts to each stimulus. I'm so thankful I can exercise!!!

My high heart rate recovers really quickly--like within 30 seconds it slows and then within a minute of walking it is stable at about 116 or so.

All of your responses were really helpful, peeps!
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