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How do HRMs work (are they affected by a murmer)?

  • 06-08-2010 11:07am
    #1
    kingQuez
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,210 ✭✭✭


    What exactly is it that a heart rate monitor uses to track heart rate, and is it something that could be affected by a heart murmer?

    I've been a bit suspicious of the numbers coming from my HRM for well over a year now (they seem consistently low at rest or during races, and HR ranges for training never line up with suggested paces from the likes of mcmillan).

    Cheers :D

    (Oh, and no... this is in no way looking for medical advice ; more for someone that knows how HRMs work and maybe the medical background to know whether that could be messed with by a murmer).


Comments

  • #2
    MisterAdam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32 ✭MisterAdam


    A heart rate monitor measures the electrical activity of your heart. Specifically each time your ventricles contract it records the current generated as a single heart beat. A heart murmur is a sound created by turbulent blood flow. Some are insignificant but others reflect structural abnormalities such as narrow or incompetent heart valves. So, in general a murmur should not affect a heart rate monitor. They relate to different phenomena.
    Some murmurs can be associated with abnormal electrical patterns. They can affect the speed, rhythm and amplitude of your heart's electrical activity as well as the "shape" of certain segments. However a heart rate monitor should still be able to tell when your heart actually beats - a ventricular contraction has a comparatively high amplitude which is very easy to recognise.


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