Should I be concerned?

[TheAbleChef]

I participated in medical study yesterday regarding cardiovascular health. I was tested for my VO2max, heart rate during physical activity, and level of physical exertion. My VO2max in on par with pro athletes; made me very happy. I am able to push myself farther than any of the other test subjects, including handcycle racers. BUT my heart rate was a little weird. I was at 125bpm and then it rose to 175 within a shore amount of time and vice versa.

Should I be concerned about my heart rate raising and dropping so fast?

[SCIfor55+yrs.]

The rate of increase is related to the amount of excretion and your physical condition. For example, if a runner does a hundred meter sprint, the rate will rise quite rapidly and that is quite normal. On the other hand, if someone walks a hundred meters and it rises rapid like that, it is likely due to poor shape. For someone your age, a maximum safe rate is probably somewhere around 185-190. Hope that helps

[TheAbleChef]

The rate of increase is related to the amount of excretion and your physical condition. For example, if a runner does a hundred meter sprint, the rate will rise quite rapidly and that is quite normal. On the other hand, if someone walks a hundred meters and it rises rapid like that, it is likely due to poor shape. For someone your age, a maximum safe rate is probably somewhere around 185-190. Hope that helps

That does help. I was concerned about the rate of increase and decrese in my heart rate.

[SCIfor55+yrs.]

If you are in good shape and your heart and lungs are working optimally, they respond quickly to the workload. If they keep up and meet the oxygen demand of the workload, you do not build up an oxygen deficit. That means your heart rate can drop down fast because there is no built up need. It is the out-of-shape people who huff and puff and have their heart running overtime after exerting themselves even briefly.

[My395]

What is your resting heart rate?

Athletes often have heart rates that drop back to normal very quickly after exercise.

[Snowman]

Quickly rising HR during particular bouts of intense exercise and dropping quickly afterward is normal for well conditioned athletes...I wouldnt be concerned. Did the researchers seem disturbed at all by it?

[TheAbleChef]

Quickly rising HR during particular bouts of intense exercise and dropping quickly afterward is normal for well conditioned athletes...I wouldnt be concerned. Did the researchers seem disturbed at all by it?

No not at all. The researcher was quite pleased and a sked if I could push harder. The odd thing is I beat a hand cycle racer on the hand cycle portion of the study. He was puzzled by this but not in a bad way. I'm going to competitive basketball. I was told by a few of the researchers to play a competitive sport. Thank you all for your input, I feel releived.

[TheAbleChef]

What is your resting heart rate?

Athletes often have heart rates that drop back to normal very quickly after exercise.

My resting hr was 125 before I began the first exercise.

[My395]

My resting hr was 125 before I began the first exercise.

That is higher than normal. You should measure it yourself and see what it is when you having not been wheeling arond. Normal is in the range of 60-100 beats per minute. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-rate/AN01906

[scitotalfitness]

125bpm is high for resting... I am a physical therapist, and we don't exercise people if their heart rate is above 100 at rest. Did they record your BP as well? If your blood pressure is low, your HR will rise to compensate. Also, if your level of injury is above T6, it is sometimes difficult for your body to modulate your heart rate. Dehydration or infection could also raise your HR. I agree with My395 and would recommend measuring your HR when you first wake up, as well as when your are resting in your chair, just to see if it is regularly that high at rest.

[jheath]

It's normal for your heart rate to raise to 125 or so when anticipating exercise. If your HR was 125 just before you started the test, I would not be worried, your mind is telling your body to get ready for a workout, and your heart is responding. If you want to know your true resting heart rate, put on a HR monitor and lay in bed for around 20 minutes.

I train with a HR monitor, my RHR is usually around 45bpm or so. When I first get on my handcycle, it will usually rise to around 130bpm before I even start cranking. When I'm cooling down(still cranking but very easy pace) it will fall below 80bpm. You really have to become familiar with your own HR for it to be a valuable metric.

And yes, if you are above t6 you will notice some strange things happening. I'm a t4, when I get AD my HR will drop rapidly. I can crank harder, and it will continue to drop. I think as Blood Pressure goes up, HR goes down, but I could be wrong I'm no DR.

[cajun]

Hi,
I don't really want to start an argument, but I have never seen heart rate move much in anticipation of exercise. Pre-SCI and post-SCI, my heart rate moves up smoothly from a low rate to a higher rate as I exercise. For me, this would typically be 60bpm to 120bpm over a span of ten minutes, if I ramp up gradually. Of course,if you start out hammering,it will move up more rapidly. I wonder if your 125bpm resting heart rate isn't a mistake.

I agree with what SCI55 said also.

[jheath]

Hi,
I don't really want to start an argument, but I have never seen heart rate move much in anticipation of exercise. Pre-SCI and post-SCI, my heart rate moves up smoothly from a low rate to a higher rate as I exercise. For me, this would typically be 60bpm to 120bpm over a span of ten minutes, if I ramp up gradually. Of course,if you start out hammering,it will move up more rapidly. I wonder if your 125bpm resting heart rate isn't a mistake.

I agree with what SCI55 said also.

Nah it's consistent everytime I handcycle it will rise to around 125 before
I even start cranking...not arguing, but I can't resist posting this

http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...-exercise.html

Immediate Response of the
Cardiovascular System to Exercise

Heart Rate
Resting heart rate averages 60 to 80 beats/min in healthy adults. In sedentary, middle aged individuals it may be as high as 100 beats/min. In elite endurance athletes heart rates as low as 28 to 40 beats/min have been recorded (2).
Before exercise even begins heart rate increases in anticipation. This is known as the anticipatory response. It is mediated through the releases of a neurotransmitters called epinephrine and norepinephrine also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline (1).
After the initial anticipatory response, heart rate increases in direct proportion to exercise intensity until a maximum heart rate is reached. Maximum heart rate is estimated with the formula 220-age. But this is only an estimation, and not particularly accurate. The only direct method for determining maximum heart rate is to exercise at increasing intensities until a plateau in heart rate is found despite the increasing work rate.

[cajun]

Hi jheath,
Your post got me interested, and I started searching for info. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any quantitative info. The closest that I came was a description of "significant" in one article and "slight" in another. I also read that the effect is greatest in sprint events and decreases with age. I still think that an increase of HR from 45 BPM to 125 BPM due to anticipation of a workout is rare, but I don't have the data to know. Cheers.

[TheAbleChef]

I'll check out the data and find out for sure about my resting heart rate.