What Does It Mean When Your Heart Rate Increases Rapidly During Exercise? | Exercise.com Learn: Your Fitness Business Resource

What Does It Mean When Your Heart Rate Increases Rapidly During Exercise?

Tyler Spraul is the director of UX and the head trainer for Exercise.com. He has his Bachelor of Science degree in pre-medicine and is an NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist. He is a former All-American soccer player and still coaches soccer today. In his free time, he enjoys reading, learning, and living the dad life. He has been featured in Shape, Healthline, HuffPost, Women's...

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UPDATED: Aug 25, 2020

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  • As you exercise, your heart pumps harder to respond to your body’s need for more oxygen.
  • Exercise is what causes your heart to get stronger and stay healthy.
  • You should never embark on an exercise routine without a doctor’s permission.
  • The more you exercise, the easier it is to reach your target heart rate.

There is a very scientific reason that your heart rate increases fast during exercise. How fast your heart rate increases during exercise depends on the intensity level of your workout.

It is important to monitor your heart rate both for its resting rate and for your target heart rate. It is a good thing for your heart rate to increase during exercise, and it actually acts as an indicator as to how hard you are working out.

However, this increased heart rate is more than a monitor; it’s an essential way to get oxygen to your muscles. The best way to exercise your heart is to do interval training, where you accelerate to your target heart rate, lower the intensity for a while, and then raise it up again.

It is important not to exercise so hard that you injure yourself or work your heart beyond its capacity. Sign up for a PRO account today for access to workout plans, workout builders, and more, to ensure that you are exercising your heart in the best and healthiest way.

What Happens to Your Heart During Vigorous Exercise?

When you exercise, you burn energy. In the process of burning energy, your muscles lose some oxygen. In order to sustain the energy needed for exercise, your muscles require more oxygen.

As you exercise, your heart pumps harder to respond to your body’s need for more oxygen. Your heart delivers the oxygen through your bloodstream and removes the carbon dioxide excreted from your muscles at the same time.

The harder you work out, the more blood your heart needs to pump in order to satisfy the needs of your muscles. This causes you to breathe harder as you draw in more oxygen. Working your heart this way is beneficial because it helps your heart grow stronger.

This type of workout can help you extend the lifetime of your heart by actually slowing it down. As your heart becomes more efficient at pumping more blood with each beat, it does not have to work as hard and it can last longer as a result.

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Can Your Heart Rate Increase Too Fast During Exercise?

Most people cannot exercise a healthy heart too much. Exercise is what causes your heart to get stronger and stay healthy. However, if you have any kind of heart disease or potential heart complications, then exercising too much can be dangerous.

You should never embark on an exercise routine without a doctor’s permission. If you have any heart problems your doctor can guide you to appropriate exercises for your condition.

Any heart condition, a stroke, chest pain, easy breathlessness, or high blood pressure are all reasons to consult with a physician. You may also need to discuss any conditions related to your joints or muscles before starting any type of vigorous exercise.

Whenever you are exercising you should pay attention to how your body feels. Endorphins are released during exercise, which causes you to feel good and stimulates you to continue. If you start feeling tired it is a sign that you are losing energy and your muscles may not be getting their required oxygen.

If you have a hard time carrying a conversation, feel faint or dizzy, or develop any type of chest pain then you should stop exercising immediately and seek medical assistance. Whenever you are exercising it is better to use caution.

How Do You Know Your Target Heart Rate to Maximize Your Exercise Routine?

Using your target heart rate is a great way of maximizing your exercise routine so that your heart gets the utmost benefit. The more you exercise, the easier it is to reach your target heart rate, which is up to 90% of your maximum heart rate. When you first begin exercising, you should target reaching 50% of your maximum heart rate.

To find your target heart rate, you can do a simple math calculation. Start with the number 220 and subtract your age from it. The resulting number is your maximum heart rate, which is the number of beats per minute. If you are 40-years-old, your maximum heart rate is 180 (calculation: 220-40=180), or 180 beats per minute.

While you are exercising you can check your target heart rate by either checking your pulse or by using a heart rate monitor. Some machines have heart rate monitors built into the handlebars. These are often found on exercise bicycles, on treadmills, and on stair-climbing machines.

The expression, “pump it up,” is well-intended. Pump up your heart for health. When your heart increases fast during exercise your body is working correctly. Sign up for an Exercise.com PRO plan to access workout programs, workout builders, and more.

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