Resting heart rate

My other half bought me a Garmin (watch) for my birthday, with a heart rate monitor. I have never measured my heart rate before - but my resting HR is 53. I did some googling, and it seems that this is a good thing - but as I have nothing to compare it to, should I pay much attention to it?

Comments

  • Nose NowtNose Nowt ✭✭✭

    Well, you don't want your resting heart rate to reach zero, and your RHR is lower than average... So I'd say, watch out.image

    When you've got time, have a read at the hadd thread  http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/forum/training/hadd-training-plan/181933-153.html   which is one of many that talk about Heart Rate training zones...  Better still, type "heart rate" into the forum search box... (sort by 'most recent') and you'll find plenty of guidance.

    53 sounds nice and healthy.

  • I'd say you're just healthy and sporty, don't worry too much. 

    My resting heart reate gets as low as38 (right after waking up that is), and I'm perfectly fine image.

     

    when your heart skips beats or beats really irregular, that's when you should start worrying.

  • Since I started running my resting heart rate has dropped to 38 but I know have slight circulation problems that I didn't have before. Not positive the 2 are connected but pretty sure.

  • Nose NowtNose Nowt ✭✭✭

    Interesting GazOC.  I've not heard that connection before... and I've a pretty low RHR myself.

    Are you associating the two ONLY because you noticed that their timing coincided, or do you have other specific info / evidence to make you believe that to be the case?

  • Mine went from about 76 when i was a heavy smoker to 50 these days, which is probably a good thing!

  • just the timing RW. Seems pretty coincidental though after 40 years of no problems?

  • Nose NowtNose Nowt ✭✭✭

    I'm not medical Gaz.  It just sounds a bit counterintuitive to think that lower heart-rate is directly causing reduced circulation. 

    If you want to mention any symptoms, other people might be able to comment on whether they can relate them to running in any way.  But I'm unlikely to be able to help.

    Good luck with it.

  • If you exercise aerobically over a fairly long time your resting heart rate will decrease, the left ventricle which is a muscle like any other will start to increase in size to supply enough blood on runs, the effect when you are not running is that it can pump larger volumes so slows down.  Most regular runners will have slower RHRs than their sedentary friends.  

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭
    Run Wales wrote (see)

    I'm not medical Gaz.  It just sounds a bit counterintuitive to think that lower heart-rate is directly causing reduced circulation. 

    If you want to mention any symptoms, other people might be able to comment on whether they can relate them to running in any way.  But I'm unlikely to be able to help.

    Good luck with it.

    The only connection I can think of is that my circulation is markedly rubbish when I'm actually running.  I get Raynaud's something chronic when running or cycling in the cold, but assume this is because blood is being pumped to areas it's needed most for exertion, i.e. the leg muscles, and away from the fingertips and toes.  My circulation generally is probably worse now than it used to be and my resting heart rate is lower than it was but I don't imagine they're causally linked. Could be wrong though.

  • Mine is fine when I'm running but about 30 mins after finished a run of longer than, say, 10 miles about 30 mins I've stopped my fingers go white and numb down past the second knuckle.

    This happens in warm or cold weather but is worse in the cold and never used to happen at all for the first 12 months or so I was running. Running aside, my fingers also go numb now when the temperate drops a bit when they didn't used to.

  • This happens to me  ( the numb finger going white!) I also went doctored or as my lips turned blue when running, and again it was due to poor circulation. I also have a low resting heart rate! 

     

  • Keep at it DF. At my works medical 2 years ago I was 74 BPM wih high blood pressure, its one of things that got me starting exercising.

  • You can pay attention to how much the RHR drops as you become fitter - that is a better indication of fitness than the absolute number. Secondly you can pay attention to RHR if you want to define heart-rate training zones based on "heart rate reserve". HRR takes into account you resting HR and max HR, whereas a simpler version of training zones uses HR max only.

    In practice, taking account of RHR for training zones makes you work a bit harder at the easy end, but there is very little in it when you are up to threshold or interval work. Some HR watches calculate training zones and have a choice whether RHR is entered or not, and calculate zones accordingly, eg Garmin 310XT.

  • Nose NowtNose Nowt ✭✭✭

    Here's a question... and thought I'd plonk it on this thread.

    A few years ago, I joined a gym and had an initial fitness test - which, essentially involved taking my resting heart rate, flogging me to death on a bike, then measuring how long it took for my heart rate to return to normal.

    At the time, I was unfit... but I was doing a bit of exercise - and I was amazed that they put me in the very lowest fitness category.

    It was a wake up call, and I'm now much fitter. Not that it really matters now, but does anyone know if this test is biased a little.  I have a pretty low resting heart rate...  (just tested it at 40bpm sat here now, and can be 30 when waking). After exercise,   I suspect that my heart rate recovers relatively quickly to, say 60bpm, but approaches 40 quite slowly.   

    I'm sure the procedure takes SOME account of this, but does anyone know if you at a 'disadvantage' having a particularly low RHR?

  • Miguel indurain, the 5 time Tour De France winner had a resting heart rate 28BPM. Indurain's lung capacity was 7.8 litres.

     

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