HR reading correct or user error?

Were the electrodes moistened?

Yes, moistened them with water before putting on, plus playing hockey in 100 degree heat and 90% humidity (even though indoors still gets pretty hot) I am drenched in about 2 minutes. So anyway, to answer your question, yes I think they were.

Timex by any chance?

I've been using a Timex IM HRM (30 lap) for the past three years and although I really like it, there are times when it will spike to 240. In some cases it is when the battery in the watch or HRM is getting low this will happen but there are other times where I assume it is some type of interference.

Shane

Yes, it is Timex, I believe same model as yours. It is new so for now will assume battery is good and will just watch to see if it keeps happening. Thanks for the input.

make sure you wet your electrodes, obviously.

But the other thing that can happen is that a microfiber (polyester) shirt can create a static charge. If the shirt is dry, and it is not tightly fitting, it can flap in the wind and the rubbing of the fabric can create a charge that interferes with your HRM. If this is the cause of the problems, you'll notice that it happens early on in your exercise/workout and will dissipate if you sweat and your shirt/electrodes have perspiration on them.

Physiologically speaking, your atrium can beat at about 300 beats per minute, but your ventricle cannot and is limited by a delay node between the two chambers. The fastest ventricular tachycardia (sort of a pre-death rhythm) I've ever seen is about 200-220. I would wager to guess that a ventricular rate of 240 in an adult is pretty much impossible and would be 100% pathological. It's not taht the rate of 240 would kill you (right away), but a ventricle beating at 240 bpm is basically one that's getting ready to die and is desparately screaming for help.

I know, you probably didn't want the myocyte electrophysiology lecture, but I figured that everyone else had the HRM/contact gel issues covered.

I'm not a scientist so I'm not 100% sure how HRMs work, but could the jostling during hockey render an inaccurate reading? What I mean is, with your arms in front of you swinging a hockey stick and bumping into people, etc, could that cause the HRM to register a false beat with each strike on the sensor? Only a few seconds of jostling would be required to create such a high cadence. Just curious.

the only reason I know the answer to this (or, at least, a very likely answer) is because a friend of mine freaked out and thought his heart was wacky. He went and got fully tested, and the docs told him he was fine. He finally called Polar and finally got through to a tech who said that the static charge was the issue.

Also, my friend was peaking in the mid 200s as well...and this was when he was on his bike under almost no stress but a lot of wind.