Pulse rate. Confused!

[Fairylea]

Hi,

After a recent health scare which turned out to "just" be anxiety I've decided to try and get a bit fitter. (Basically I thought I was having a heart attack and turns out I had a severe panic attack. I had bloods taken and an ecg and all fine, except my heart has a slight murmur which doctor called a "normal irregularity" and they weren't worried about). My cholesterol was 4.8.

I am 36, 11st 4 at 5ft 7, and don't smoke or drink. I mainly just want to get a bit fitter.

I have been taking my resting pulse and it's about 56-60 beats per min, which I understand to be good?

So when I excerise I read somewhere I want it to increase...? To what? What's healthy or what should I be aiming for? Does it even matter?

I've become really anxious about my heart and sometimes I'm aware that if I take my pulse in my neck it seems irregular, sort of like either the beats are closer together or they miss what would be a beat in the rhythm. Does that matter? I've been checked out by the gp 3 times so I'm guessing this is okay but how does this affect me pulse rate wise when excerising?

Bit lost! Thanks.

The fitbit app shows what the ranges are and what you should aim for. The first level is fat burn (up to 120bpm I believe), then there's cardio (150bpm) and then it's peak. But I reality you should only worry about hose if you're HR training or if you actually feel your heart is coming out of your chest. I would think you relax and don't worry to much about (sounds easy To say I know...)

imho, you shouldn't keep track. You aren't going to find this info useful.

If you feel rubbish your HR could be wrong. If you feel fine, then it doesn't matter what numbers the HR is. You won't feel fine & have a dangerous HR, your body will let you know if the HR has gone nuts.

If you're out of breath when you are exercising, that is good. If you are exercising and you are not out of breath, you are fit and should push yourself harder if you want to increase your fitness. But 60ish for resting heartrate is excellent.

Thank you. That gives me some food for thought!

I'd agree with not monitoring or you'll become fixed on this. Heart going quicker and feeling a little (or a lot) out of breath shows increased heart rate. Don't forget you'll feel the same physically when anxious so when you check your pulse and think it's irregular chances are you're worrying become anxious which affects your heart rate.

The recommended heart rate ranges are here:

www.bhf.org.uk/-/media/files/publications/medical-information-sheets/your-heart-rate-is23.pdf