# Struggles and Support > Nutrition, Supplements and Exercise >  >  Gym machines and heart rates

## Chloe

So I've joined the gym to be heathy, loose weight slim down blah blah. At my gyms machine a lot of machines have a heart rate monitor. 
when I start exercising it's in the green zone but when we get to the actual part with the exercise it'll spend about 80/90% in the green zone but at times it'll go red and say stop exercising your hearts going too fast. 
I know I have a healthy heart and circulatory system with no underlying diseases or risk of diseases so I'm just wondering if any adrenalin from exercise is cause heart palpitations which are harmless since I won't have a panic attack. Am I right in thinking this I know and feel through all the exercise that I'm done I'm not pushing myself too hard, if it wasn't for the machine I would keep on going so I'm right in thinking this is safe as long as it's an irregular thing and I feel comfortable in myself and I'm not being dangerous

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## QuietCalamity

My understanding of the heart rate zones is that you want an ideal heart rate to get the most benefit from your workout. You may not feel uncomfortable in the red zone, and it might not really hurt you, but it's too intense to improve your cardiovascular health. Sometimes I get carried away on the elliptical and get my heart rate up too high but I feel better afterword if I try to keep it in the 160s.

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## Chloe

I'm 170 normally but if it drifts to 180 im in the red  ::\:

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## QuietCalamity

Yeah I can go into the 180s easily (probably because I'm used to being in better shape than this) so if I notice it's that high I try to slow down. My target heart rate for cardio is 169 so I try to keep it around there if I can.

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## Chloe

Well if they say anything I'll just tell them it's fine I've got a one to one come Wednesday so I wanted to be sure I was right in my thinking before they told me stop stop stop

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## sanspants

I have this same issue. Although I seem to have an "all-or-nothing" heartrate that has three settings: At rest, which is like 56-60, "warmed up," which is 163-166, and "actually feeling like exercise" which is 185-189. I just try not to look down at the monitor too much lol.

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## Chloe

Haha I know I just dread when/if I go with a trainer and having to explain. I do have a healthy(ish) diet. A good consistent weight and everything so other than the anxiety I'm perfectly healthy

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## Misssy

http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/heartrate/#

http://www.livestrong.com/article/40...ing-dangerous/

Does the machine actually go onto your skin?   A gym that I went to had machines that estimated heart rate but it wasn't a real heart monitor because it wasn't connected to my skin. 

A) we have to tell you we are not doctors
B) probably it is not a big deal 
C) if you are worried then maybe switch to a different exercise for a while and then go back to first

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## Antidote

The heartrate monitors on the equipment at my gym are really crude. I was surprised how high it estimated my pulse once, so I counted it myself and it was significantly lower. I don't pay any attention to them now. Also if you were unfit when you started doing these exercises, your heartrate is probably going to be a bit higher than it should be, but should drop as you get fitter over time.

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