Walking heart rates

[Mukum]

Hi all I’m wondering what the ideal heart rates should be when walking, I suffer from ARVC and I have palpitations and tachycardia. I have a icd fitted and I take beta blockers and anti arythmias, my heart rate averages around the 50 mark resting but when I go for a walk it spikes at 139, is this a high rate for walking? I’m worried that It may trigger a shock and I’m also worried to perform any exercises, thank you

[S11m]

How long is a piece of string?

My resting heart rate is kept up to 52ish by my pacemaker.

Your maximum heart rate should, I believe, be about 200 minus your age.

I am 70, so my max heart rate should be about 130.

I have AF, and I was disabled for five years - so I have been getting into walking again gradually.

Today, during a not-very-brisk-walk my average bpm was 79, max 102 - but it has, occasionally (when I was less fit) peaked at 145.

It might be that, with your heart condition, you should try to keep it a bit lower - ask your EP nurse.

[Mukum in reply to S11m]

Thank you for your reply, i get what you mean there are a lot of variables to consider I’m 37 so that would be a max of 163 so I will keep monitoring and hopefully I’ll get some advice from clinic as to the safest method of exercise as I just feel doing nothing won’t help my cause

[Dee1982 in reply to Mukum]

I’m 37 and I have a fast heart rate l could be doing nothing and my heart rate goes up my heart rate went up to 193 today while l was standing it was 181 yesterday and the day before it went up to 173 l wear a Holter monitor Because of my fast heart rate l was told by my doctor that I have arrhythmias

[SpiritoftheFloyd]

Your maximum heart rate should be 220 less your age - as per attached article from the Mayo Clinic.

139 seems on the high side, I'd check with your GP

mayoclinic.org/healthy-life...

[stevejb1810]

Not wishing to contradict Thespiritofthefloyd, but if you are 37, then your max heart rate should by 220-37 which is 183. There are no hard and fast rules here but advice I received was to exercise at about 80% of max - so you are now at 146 bpm. Again no hard and fast rules but I was told to allow 20 bpm for beta blockers, so you now down at 126 bpm. Against that, 139 would seem a bit high, but it’s well below your theoretical max and below the 80% level, so occasional spikes are unlikely to be of any great concern. As you exercise, and hopefully get fitter, you should find your heart rate will drop and the spikes deminish, but if you find that doesn’t happen or indeed it starts climbing then I’d have a chat with the GP.

[benjijen]

Probably depends on how fast you walk. If I'm walking to a specific place I 'walk for exercise' and am easily up to 130+. However, if I'm wandering around shops etc it's much lower. My resting BP is 55-60. Best speak to GP or nurse. I monitor mine on fitbit app so i can keep an eye on it.

[Mukum]

Thank you all for the comments, when I walk it does tend to be a brisk one as I’ve never really been a slow walker, I use Apple Watch and looking through my data it tends to average about the same each time the highest I’ve got is a 141. Hopefully this is about right it doesn’t seem dangerously high and I’ve not felt any symptoms of vt or dizziness and I’m just hoping to avoid any shock treatment as I’ve heard it hurts, also I’ve read that exercise isn’t a very good thing when it comes to ARVC so I’m trying to find a balance of how much I should and shouldn’t push. Thank you all

[Bladerunner777 in reply to Mukum]

Your clinic should be able to tell you the settings for your ICD so you would know when you're getting close to a "corrective " range as well as what your "full shock" number is. Since I have ARVC I wear a fitbit and keep my BPM at or below 110 - for my mental health as well as physical. I've reduced my exercise intensity, but increased duration. That helps, makes me feel as though I'm accomplishing my best level of activity.

[Dee1982]

I went to my cardiologist appointment on Friday l was prescribed metoprolol because of my tachycardia and PVCs

[Arvc_sucks]

Yes that is high. With ARVC anything above 120 is bad. I too have a low resting heart rate but my doc upped my pacemaker to 60 from 55 and that has prevented that from happening

[Bladerunner777]

I've read all the comments and thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. I have ARVC (69 years old). I have an implanted ICD and take 50mg of Toprol 2X day. I do a lot of walking, resting BPM is 62, when walking it ranges from100 to 110 BPM, occasional spike to 120. If I see it spike, I slow down. I wear a fitbit to monitor BPM. Prior to wearing a fitbit I used a heart rate app, I had a ICD shock while walking because I experienced what my EP called "spontaneous" VT ( my BPM went from 90 to 188 in less 30 seconds). The last BPM I saw on my heart rate app was 115. So you can understand why I freak out when I approach that number. This event occurred 2 weeks after my implanted ICD. The shock wasn't as bad as I expected (have had 3 defibrillator shocks: 2 during VT events and 1 during a cardiac ablation). Felt like a hard punch to the chest, knocked me off balance, but I stayed on my feet. "Silver lining" - now I know what to expect. My ICD settings are 138 BPM (I will receive 2 small "corrective" shocks and 176 BPM (1 full shock - 35 joules). Thankful for having my ICD.

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My walks can average between 110-117bpm I tend to include one or two hills to crank it up a bit. My resting rate still seems to be erratic but my fitness is improving all the time