Why does my heart beat fast when i stretch

If you’ve felt your heart beating really fast, fluttering, flip-flopping, or pounding in your chest, chances are you’ve experienced heart palpitations—and it probably (understandably!) made you feel a bit uneasy. This is your heart we’re talking about, after all.

“Heart palpitations” is a general term that can mean a lot of things, but it essentially comes down to being very aware of having an irregular heartbeat—and there’s a pretty wide range of causes for this unique group of sensations, according to experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine. As a result, it can be tough to say when you should or shouldn’t worry about heart palpitations.

If you’re having symptoms of heart palpitations, you generally shouldn’t panic—they’re usually not a sign of something serious—but you shouldn’t dismiss them, either. In some situations, heart palpitations can be a signal that something is off with your heart, and that’s obviously not an organ you want to ignore. In other cases, you may just be feeling too much stress or gulping down too much coffee. Here’s when you should see your doctor.

What are heart palpitations? | Heart palpitations symptoms | Heart palpitations causes | Heart palpitations triggers | When to worry about heart palpitations | When to see a doctor | Heart palpitations treatment and prevention

What are heart palpitations, exactly?

“Generally, when we talk about palpitations, it means you’re aware of your heart beating, and it feels like it’s not normal,” Shephal Doshi, M.D., director of cardiac electrophysiology at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, tells SELF.

He explains that “palpitations” is a very subjective word because there’s no mathematical way of defining it as a certain number of beats per minute. In general, having palpitations is “an awareness of your heart beating, something you normally aren’t aware of,” Dr. Doshi says.

It’s also possible to mistake normal heart activity for heart palpitations. “Some people are very attuned to their bodies, feel their hearts beating faster and think it’s a palpitation, but it’s still beating at a normal speed of up to 100 beats a minute,” Sanjiv Patel, M.D., a cardiologist at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, tells SELF. 

What do heart palpitations feel like?

If you ask four people with heart palpitations to describe them, you might get four varying answers. “When people say, ‘I have heart palpitations,’ they can mean so many different things that you have to tease out some details as to what exactly they feel,” Dr. Patel says.

That means the experience really is subjective, Holly Andersen, M.D., attending cardiologist and director of education and outreach at the Ronald O. Perelman Heart Institute at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SELF. “People complain of palpitations when their heart ‘skips’ a beat or two,” she says. “In reality, what is happening is that your heart has an extra early beat and then there is a compensatory pause followed by an accentuated beat. You don’t feel the early beat—only the skip and then accentuated beat.”

“Palpitations” is a term that’s also used to describe when someone’s heart starts racing for seemingly no reason. “Some people will describe a feeling like their heart is beating very quickly with an associated pounding in their chest,” Jennifer Haythe, M.D., assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology, Center for Advanced Cardiac Care at Columbia and co-director of the Women’s Center for Cardiovascular Health, tells SELF. “Others may feel like their heart ‘flip-flops’ or sense an extra hard ‘thump’ in their chest.” Dr. Haythe says she’s even heard people describe palpitations as a “squirrely” feeling in their chest.

What causes heart palpitations?

Your heart beats because it has the very important job of sending oxygen-rich blood and nutrients to every part of your body, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). It also sends the carbon dioxide your body produces as a waste product to your lungs so you can expel it. When there’s a glitch in this system, you might experience a palpitation.

Typically, your heart knows when to squeeze based on electrical impulses from a group of cells known as your sinoatrial (SA) node, according to the NHLBI. These cells are housed in your heart’s right chamber, also known as its right atrium. If your SA node starts sending wonky electrical impulses, you might experience heart palpitations.

Common reasons you might feel heart palpitations

“Most of the time when people feel palpitations, their heart is not doing anything bad,” Dr. Doshi says. There are tons of reasons your heart can go a little wonky, and most of them are nothing to worry about.

According to Dr. Doshi, heart palpitations are most often caused by increases in adrenaline or things that require your heart to work harder than usual. According to the Mayo Clinic, some examples include:

• You’ve had a ton of caffeine.
• You’re stressed.
• You’re experiencing anxiety or a panic attack.
• You have a cold or flu.
• You’re sleep-deprived or suffer from sleep apnea.
• You’re taking medication that contains stimulants.
• You’re doing a tough workout or just finished one.
• You’re pregnant, which causes your blood volume to go up and your heart has to work harder to pump the extra fluid.

As you can see, a lot of these really common causes are nothing to worry about—your heart is just doing its thing and you’re more aware of it than you normally would be.

When should you take heart palpitations seriously?

There are some times you should pay a little more attention to heart palpitations. For example, these impulses go offbeat due to arrhythmias, which are basically short circuits in your heart’s electrical system, the NHLBI explains. Arrhythmias can make your heart beat irregularly and feel strange, along with causing weakness, dizziness, light-headedness, fainting, shortness of breath, and chest pain, among other symptoms.

While arrhythmias often aren’t dangerous and can be treated in many ways, sometimes they can be life-threatening. Only a doctor can tell you for sure, but any symptoms besides the strange heart sensations are typically a clue that your arrhythmia may be more serious, per the NHLBI. If you think you’re experiencing any strange symptoms along with your heart palpitations, seek medical attention immediately.

Other times, the Mayo Clinic notes, heart palpitations can be a sign that something’s up with a different organ, like your thyroid gland. Your thyroid produces hormones like thyroxine and triiodothyronine, which influence many of your body’s systems, according to the Mayo Clinic. If your thyroid is on overdrive (meaning, you have hyperthyroidism), it will generate too much thyroxine, which kicks up your body’s metabolism. This can lead to a rapid or irregular heartbeat, along with symptoms like an increased appetite and sudden weight loss.

You may also experience heart palpitations if you have a physical abnormality like a weaker or larger heart than usual, which you typically wouldn’t know about unless it showed up during some kind of medical exam.

You’ll also want to take extra note of the following causes of heart palpitations, Dr. Andersen says, as they can reveal underlying physical or mental health conditions that may need more targeted management or individualized treatment:

• Exercise: If you’re regularly noticing palpitations when you’re working out, Dr. Andersen says you’ll want to get them checked out to ensure there isn’t a deeper issue at play.
• Diet: “Chocolate, caffeine, and alcohol often incite more early beats and increase the risk of going into abnormal heart rhythms,” Dr. Andersen says. “There is a syndrome called ‘holiday heart’—when people indulge with all of these foods coupled with the stress of the holidays, they are at much greater risk of having atrial fibrillation, a fast, irregular heart rhythm that can increase their risk of stroke.” Basically, if you notice you have palpitations after a particularly rich and heavy meal, try to give the treats a rest and see how you feel.
• Heavy anxiety, stress, or panic attacks: This can make you very aware of your heart beating, which is why it’s so important to prioritize self-care, whatever that looks like for you, Dr. Andersen says. If overwhelming stress and anxiety become a regular thing for you and start to impact your quality of life, it’s time to talk to your doctor or a therapist about trying other coping strategies.
• Pregnancy: “Most women notice their hearts beating faster during pregnancy, which is a normal response to the increased blood volume that naturally occurs,” Dr. Andersen says. “If they experience sudden, fast unprovoked heart racing, they should be evaluated. Pregnancy can unmask some underlying heart rhythm conditions.”

When should you see a doctor about heart palpitations?

One-off heart palpitations that just last a few seconds are a normal part of having a heart. That said, experiencing them regularly is not. “If heart palpitations happen every time you do a certain activity, like walk half a mile or lift something, that’s not a random event and you should be evaluated,” Dr. Patel says.

There are a few signs and risk factors to be aware of, though, as they might suggest your heart’s functioning has been compromised. Per the NHLBI and the Mayo Clinic, if your heart palpitations come along with any of the following, you should seek medical attention immediately:

• Dizziness
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling unsteady
• Fainting
• Chest discomfort or pain
• A medical history of health conditions involving your heart, such as heart disease

“That warrants further investigating to make sure it’s nothing dangerous,” Dr. Doshi says. If your heart palpitations are accompanied by signs of a heart attack, like chest, arm, or back pain, shortness of breath, and feeling faint, Dr. Andersen says you should call 911 or head to the ER.

With that said, if your heart palpitations are random, don’t come with other symptoms, and you’re in great health, they might still feel too weird to ignore. There’s nothing wrong with seeing your doctor just to be on the safe side if you can do so safely right now. They can test your heart to make sure it’s working as it should so you can skip worrying about your health the next time your heart skips a beat.

How to treat and prevent heart palpitations

If you seek care for heart palpitations, your doctor will typically want to run some tests to make sure you don’t have an underlying heart issue. According to the Mayo Clinic, that may include the following:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG): This non-invasive test records the electrical signals that make your heart beat, which can help identify problems with your heartbeat and heart structure.
• Holter monitoring: This portable device records a continuous ECG for 24 to 72 hours. When you have palpitations, you write them down—your doctor will then analyze the findings.
• Event recording: This is a portable ECG device that records your heart activity for anywhere from a week to several months. You activate it by pushing a button when your heart feels off.
• Echocardiogram: This is a non-invasive procedure that makes a moving picture of your heart with sound waves.

Unless your doctor discovers your heart palpitations are a result of an underlying condition that requires treatment, there’s not a ton that needs to be done. That said, if for whatever reason you don’t want to deal with heart palpitations—because hey, maybe you want to save yourself the stress of wondering what’s going on—the main thing you can do is address triggers, according to the Mayo Clinic. This might mean a few things:

• Cutting back on your intake of stimulants like coffee or chocolate
• Doing stress-reduction techniques, which may include help from a mental health professional
• Eating a heart-healthy, nutritious diet
• Exercising regularly to lower your stress levels if exercise is not a trigger for you
• Getting plenty of sleep

Beyond that, remember that most heart palpitations are harmless—as long as you keep an eye on the signs it’s something more serious, you can trust that your heart is doing what it’s supposed to in order to keep your blood pumping.

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