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Comment by lmm | Hacker News Reader

> Also "approaching the maximum recommended heart rate for her age [...] may well have exceeded it, thereby jeopardizing her health and safety" seems a bit far-fetched - I'm not a small fellow by any means and I struggle to get my heart rate up to my max (~180bpm), much less over it[1].

Hmm. I'm pretty overweight and can easily go over 180bpm if I'm not watching myself on the treadmill - 5 minutes at 10-11kph will do it.

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So how aware are you of your heart-rate?

I'm keenly aware of when my heart-rate rises, I notice it jump if I sprint up a stairwell. When it gets too high I can feel the pressure in my neck and temples. I'm the most out of shape I've ever been at this point in my life and I'm alarmed sometimes at how often my heart-rate stays high after seemingly inconsequential physical exertion so I'm wondering if it's something you tune out when you're really out of shape or overweight.

When I'm doing something active I'm conscious of it. When I'm sitting at a desk I'm not at all conscious of it. I assume it's normal at such times, but how wouldI know if not?

I think it's pretty normal to not be conscious of it when it's at a resting rate. I guess what I meant to say is that I'm conscious of it when it's not at a resting rate and alarmed when it isn't and I feel like it should be.

I can tell when I'm crossing 162bpm (I think it's my personal aerobic threshold). If my HR below that I'm recovering; above that - fatigue starts to build up. Also I can tell when it's above 171 - itchy feeling from lactate start to build up much faster. I did VO2 max test once and went as high as 220. It feels absolutely horrible after 190 (long-time exposure to HR at that level most likely will do permanent damage to heart).

I'm not that overweight (around 77kg for 1.81m). Last week I went for a trial at a gym and tried a treadmill for the first time in my life, I got to 180bpm in around 30secs at 5kph. I don't do much exercise besides walking 5 to 10km almost everyday and the rare (and slow) 10mins run. The bpm were measured by the treadmill itself, not sure how accurate that is.

5kph is walking pace (a shade over 3mph) and I'd guess that 180bpm was inaccurate - may be a doubled 90bpm?

Anecdata: Last summer I was considerably heavier than 77kg, carrying 5kg of stuff, walking 51km in 10 (hot sunny) hours, and averaged 105bpm (max of 119bpm).

Yeah, maybe the reading was incorrect but I do get a spike in bpms whenever I run or climb stairs. I don't get it when walking or weight training. Might need to check this with some exam...

Threadmill lies to me pretty much all the time. In most cases it doesn't even work for me. Unless you have a medical condition, it is very unlikely that you'll get 180bpm from 5km/h walk (mine usually don't go above 150 even going uphill with 20 pounds weight vest on my shoulders). 180bpm is 3 hearbeats every second - pretty easy to check with finger on your wrist.

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