Heart rate readings while skydiving

[bradp 0]

Yesterday i decided to do little experiement by wearing my heart rate monitor on a jump and was totally shocked by the results.

My resting heart rate is around 60bpm. While boarding the plane it was fluctuating between 100 - 120bpm.

1 minute before exiting i turned the excersize logger on. just before exit my heart rate was 145bpm (74% of Max HR). Just after deployment my heart rate was 175bpm (89% max HR). Exited 16000ft and deployed at 3000ft. My heart rate remained at around 170bpm for the remainder of the canopy ride until landing. i turned off the excersize logger 1 minute after landing once my heart rate had dropped to below 140bpm.

During that 6 minute period. My max HR was 175bpm. average heart rate was 148bpm. And calories read 78 calories.

I was quite amazed by these results, as I am quite fit and excersize regularly. And while excersizing i find my heart rate is usually between 140 - 160bpm.
I also consider myself to be a fairly relaxed skydiver and was not nervous on this jump.

What physical effect do these readings have compared to similar readings recorded by doing something such as running? Are you burning fat skydiving? Or does it have a different effect on your body?

[beowulf 1]

that is very interesting. What heart rate monitor did you use?

[bradp 0]

Its a Polar F6 Heart rate monitor.

[phoenixlpr 0]

Quote

What physical effect do these readings have compared to similar readings recorded by doing something such as running? Are you burning fat skydiving?

About as much as with sex .

[RkyMtnHigh 0]

I have a Polar also which I only used for running and cycling...that's a great idea! I think I'll pull it out and use it for hiking and skydiving as well. It'll be interesting what it shows. Thanks!

_________________________________________

[Remster 24]

Quote

Its a Polar F6 Heart rate monitor.

Can it show what rate you had during the jum? either a detailed log, or playback?

Remster

[WatchYourStep 0]

I checked this out early last year after I just started. My resting heart rate is in the low 50s. I wrote the numbers down in my logbook but don't have them here with me. What I recall was that my heart rate jumped 30 beats almost instantly when the door opened.

Don't forget all the things that can alter the heart rate readings you are getting (diet, stress, hydration level, etc.)

"You start off your skydiving career with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience up before your bag of luck runs out."

[shermanator 3]

very interesting indeed. wonder if the hr jump when the door opens has to do with the wind chill factor?

CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

[Andy9o8 0]

Oh, great. One more damn thing we have to write in our logbooks.

[ZZTopless 0]

I have a polar heart rate monitor as well and wore it on a jump after not having jumped for a couple of weeks. It said my max heart rate was 220 with an average heart rate of 110 from take off to landing.

And they say the adrenaline rush wears off...

[pilotdave 0]

Check out Adrenaline Rush Challenge from the Learning Channel. They had a contest where AFF students competed to see who had the least increase in heart rate from their resting heart rate on an AFF 1 jump. Pretty interesting to see where it spikes.

Dave

[bradp 0]

Unfortunately not. The more expensive heart rate monitors have a detailed log which you can download onto computer and displayed as charts of your HR over a period of time. A friend of mine told me she did it a while ago on her really expensive advanced heart rate monitor which records altitude as well and her HR peaked at deployment altitude.

[idoru99 0]

Quote

A friend of mine told me she did it a while ago on her really expensive advanced heart rate monitor which records altitude as well and her HR peaked at deployment altitude.

This is something that was mentioned at the canopy course I took from Brian Germain.

He mentioned that for newer jumpers, stress levels spiked during exit. For experienced jumpers, stress levels spiked during deployment.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

The greatest risk you take in life is the risk you don't take.

[jumpdr 0]

My guess is you can think you're relaxed and I think "I'm not stressed about this jump", but you'll still get a spike of adrenalin purely from the anticipation. I'd be worried if you didn't. It's still an un-natural thing to do and you're just evoking the fight or flight response. To some extent, the tachycardia (fast heart rate) at altitude will be the body compensating for hypoxia, especially at 16,000 feet! At that altitude, your blood is only 77% saturated with oxygen (you could theoretically lose consciousness) so your heart has to work much harder to pump sufficient blood round your body.
The spike at deployment time is probably because this is a vital point in your staying alive - so it's bound to be stressful! I'm sure there will also be some effect of the G-forces experienced on the baroreceptors (pressure sensors) in the blood vessels which have an effect on heart rate and blood pressure. This would continue to occur under canopy if you were performing radical turns. There will continue to be some adrenalin circulating for a while too, and some residual hypoxia, possibly explaining the continually high HR until on the ground.

Skydiving is more than a sport and more than a job: skydiving is pure passion and desire which will fill a lifetime.

[stayhigh 2]

Actualy just by watching a good freefly vid, it can make a heart rate go up....

Bernie Sanders for President 2016

[Remster 24]

Quote

He mentioned that for newer jumpers, stress levels spiked during exit. For experienced jumpers, stress levels spiked during deployment.

Yeah... The reason I was asking is that I've heard (with no data however) that during freefall, it actually drops quite a bit... I'd like to know if that is proven or not.

As far as the stress level at exit vs deployment, I beleive it too...

Remster

[Miami 0]

This is pretty interesting, and has me curious. If I can remember this weekend I'll take a holter monitor from work and hook it up to myself for a day of jumping. I can download the info next week and see what happens. I'll post the results then.

edit - for clarification...a holter monitor is basically a 5 lead EKG that is recorded onto a memory device for up to (in the model my office uses) 24 hours. The EKG is then downloaded to be viewed and scored after the 24 hour period. Heart rate and any abnormal rhythms will be recorded, and during the recording marks can be placed during specific events (exit, opening, landing, etc.).

Miami

[BDashe 0]

What do you all think: Heart rate increase at deployment for the Oh Sh*t is this gonna work factor? I don't doubt my heart rate jumps in free fall, but I wouldn't be surprised if it spiked even higher at and just after deployment.

So there I was...

Making friends and playing nice since 1983

[Grips 0]

I'd like to see the results of somebody with 9, or 10,000 jumps, or more, and compare to someone with 5000, 1000, and less. Do you think somebody with over 10,000 jumps or more would have similar results with somebody that has 1000?

[Tonto 1]

Quote

This is something that was mentioned at the canopy course I took from Brian Germain.

He mentioned that for newer jumpers, stress levels spiked during exit. For experienced jumpers, stress levels spiked during deployment.

It's not stress. It's blood pressure. You pull G's during deployment regardless of how relaxed you are. Your heart rate HAS to increase to maintain the bloodflow to your brain.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[Reginald 0]

I’ve been told that from past test with heart rate monitors. That for EXPIERENCED skydivers heart rate goes up in the door down in freefall and up right before pull time. . Based on my personal experiences I’d guess this is right, as I get nervous in the door and relaxed when I hit the air. I understand it is a different dynamic for new jumpers.

"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies things." CP

[mailin 0]

I don't remember my exact results, but I know I didn't get above 207, or I would have remember it

Arianna Frances

[Tink1717 2]

You are seeing the combination of three actors:
1. Hypoxia
2. Exertion
3. A combination of arousal and anxiety.

As altitude increases, so does heart rate. This is independent of any other factors and has to do with the ability of the heart to provide the tissues with sufficient oxygen to maintain adequate perfusion.

Skydiving, like other sports is not a sedentary activity. Heart rate increases as workload increases. Your gear is heavy, you have to climb into and out of the plane, seating in the plane is rarely very comfortable, and the activity on a jump is above resting levels.

Physiologically, arousal and anxiety are indistinguishable. Both will have the effect of increasing heart rate. Even thought you may be consciously calm, your subconscious is doing loops. We are psychologically hard wired to refrain from jumping from high places. We can override this innate fear and jump anyway. The brain, however, doesn't buy it and gets anxious anyway. That and the conscious arousal of participating in an enjoyable event will have the effect of increasing heart rate.

You are, in fact, burning fat while skydiving. BUT the activity level is not sustained long enough on any given jump to produce the effect of a given bout of specific exercise. In order to observe an exercise effect, the activity must have three characteristics:
1. It must be rhythmic
2. it must be repetitive
3. It must be sustained.
The cellular mechanisms for fat metabolism do not become fully activated until the activity is in progress for approximately one hour.

If you want to lose weight, go to the gym.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[Eule 0]

It seems reasonable to me that new jumpers and experienced jumpers get heart rate peaks at different times. I wonder if it's different again for AFF instructors? I would guess that they might have a higher heart rate during freefall on a student jump as compared to a solo jump. I would further guess that they get some rate spikes during freefall if the student starts doing odd things.

Quote

If you want to lose weight, go to the gym.

[pedantic]I think you can lose weight very easily while skydiving. During the ride up in the plane, just have the pilot put the plane into a steep dive - you can lose as much weight as you want that way. Going to the gym and working out is good for losing mass, though.[/pedantic]

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Quote

This is something that was mentioned at the canopy course I took from Brian Germain.

He mentioned that for newer jumpers, stress levels spiked during exit. For experienced jumpers, stress levels spiked during deployment.

It's not stress. It's blood pressure. You pull G's during deployment regardless of how relaxed you are. Your heart rate HAS to increase to maintain the bloodflow to your brain.

t

No, he was talking about the period leading up to deployment, not a physiological response to the actual event.

Because once a skydiver has 10 or 20 jumps, the part of the jump between 15k and 2-4k isn't very scary. Only at the end when you need to get clear space and a working canopy does the fear go up some.

But certainly in the student days, going to the door was a non stop string of oh shits that immediately leveled out and then dropped off once I got into the air.