Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
resting heart rate
Hi there, after sitting on the shelf for a year * I finally got round too using my Garmin's hrm strap. Sat at my desk Sat afternoon the lowest rate I saw was 47.
Put it on again this morning when waking up and generally the low point was 43 but at one point it did dip down lower for about 30secs troughing at 39.
So my question is: what should I use as my resting heart rate - 43, 39 or somewhere in between?
Thanks in advance ... Simon,
PS Went on a long run (15miles) yesterday and heart rate briefly reached 183 as I set off but calmed down soon enough, although still reached 178 in second mile it averaged 145 for the run with peaks of around 155-160 up hill and troughs of around 130-135 for downhill. aIn mile 11 I sprinted 100yds or so to push it up and it reached 174.
* the hrm band not me!
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
If I were you, I'd put it on again tomorrow morning when you wake up ( before you've had coffee or walked about too much), record your heart rate for 10 minutes while you are lying down, and take the average....
YP
Best way to measure resting heart rate is to take readings over three days and then take the average. You also want to minimise the differences between the readings by taking them at the same time of day, and whilst resting in the same position. The one I see recommended most often is first thing in the morning whilst lying in bed.
PS Don't worry about strange peaks in the first mile or so, this is due to poor electrical contact between the strap and your skin and your heart isnt really beating that fast. Wetting the contacts before starting does help, but its just one of those things that happens from time to time.
thanks - will repeat and use average. Based on just today the average would be about 45.
I agree on the average idea. Just to reassure you that an error of say 3 beats won't mean much, consider the following. You decide you want to train at threshold today - say 88% of your heart rate reserve. What is that in bpm? Your max is say 180. If you think your resting rate is 42 then (180 - 42)*0,88 + 42 rounds down to 163 bpm. If you think it is 45 it rounds up to 164 bpm. Pretty small beans.
Moreover, I'd be very surprised if anyone really knew their maximum HR to within 3 beats!