Since I had my mitral heart valve repaired I’ve been rather cautious when exercising. My fear is that if my heart rate rises too high I may suffer from atrial fibrilation, which is when the heart Chambers get out of sync with each other. This is a serious condition and was the first indication that I had a heart problem. I decided to buy a heart rate monitor, firstly an imitation Fitbit.
Buying the cheaper alternative is often not the best choice. The cheap wristband only seemed to measure my heart rate up to about 80 beats per minute. Above that it registered a random number unrelated to my heart rhythm. Next I bought a chest strap with a large watch as monitor. It worked perfectly but allowed sweat to leak into the chest straps battery compartment during vigorous workouts. Useless.
I have now acquired a Fitbit Inspire 3 wristband monitor. It connects to a phone app. to monitor my heart and I’ve worn it day and night for 6 days. It can automatically determine when I’m exercising and records age related Active Zones of heart activity. My zones are, Moderate, 98 to 116 bpm. Vigorous, 117 to 140 bpm, and Peak, above 141 bpm.
The app. provides a graph of daily activity for further perusal. I did a mountain bike ride, which is mainly tarmac with a 200 meter long twisty downhill. Climbing to the top of the downhill I wasn’t pushing myself and reached 139 bpm. I spent 23 minutes in the Vigorous zone and 26 minutes in Moderate. All useful information. I will also recieve a notification should my heart show signs of atrial fibrillation, something which I haven’t experienced since the early post operative period.
So far I’m thinking that the Fitbit is a good choice, giving me very useful information. I’ll let you know about the future performance on mors ambitious rides. We have spent so much time restoring our cottage that I haven’t concentrated much on my fitness for the last 12 months but now is the time to put some work in.
Mountainbiker 
I’ve had palpitations for the past 36 years; in 2
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Oops, I hit Send too soon on my comment before I finished — yes, palpitations, off and on, since 21, then at age 48, I went into atrial flutter and required a cardioversion (electric shock). Since being cardioverted almost ten years ago, my heart rhythm changed from where the beats formerly originated — long story on that. Great to see you are getting out there — your heart will continue to get stronger — happy riding! 🚵
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After my operation my AF wouldn’t settle do I had a cardioversion which only worked for 5 days. I had palpitations for another 7 days and occasionally during the next few weeks. Since then I’ve been fine but there’s no guarantee that it won’t return. I’ll just keep an eye on things. Thanks for your message. Andrew.
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Hi, Andrew ~ Yes, I totally know the feeling about the condition taking time to settle down. When an episode occurs, I have to remind myself, “This too shall pass.” Easier said than done, of course. Best preventative for me is to keep a happy perspective on life (e.g., being out in nature and staying as active as I can) — stress is the absolute most major trigger for me. Also, no caffeine or alcohol, for me, and I’ve noticed even too much potassium intake can also trigger episodes (I used to drink orange juice like crazy, and finally realized how I was getting palpitations due to consuming large quantities of potassium in the orange juice). Anyhow, it must be glorious to be by the ocean as you are now — nature is wonderful at healing us! Are you still riding your e-bike — did you decide to get a new one? I recall you had been considering this as a possibility. Be well and keep us posted on how you’re doing. 🙂 ~ Chelle
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Hi Chelle. I’m now preferring my non assisted bike for fitness. The problem is that the riding is not so good from home. I need to get to some of the local woodland and hills with trails. We’re so busy working on the house that I would feel like I’m letting Ali down by taking time out. I’m mainly riding along the coast, which is tarmac. The sea is tempting! I still dream about building a pedal powered boat, maybe like a paddle board. Being a north facing coast with winds usually from the south and west it’s often rather calm. I see yachts sailing quite often. We have a marina in the village, which was a fishing port until the 1990s. Some creel boats still go out for crab and lobster. Life will be better when the house is finished! Andrew.
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