Training & Nutrition - What is your resting HR?

i just bought a polar fs1 HRM today and ive just been wearing it all day to make sure it works alright.
My resting heart rate seems to be around 65 bpm. Im not sure if that means im fit, unfit, or average. I'm guessing its around average. im a 19 year old male, 5'6 and 165lbs. In comparison, lance armstrongs resting heart rate is supposedly 31 bpm...
so what is your RHR and how fit are you (weight,height,age,%bodyfat,etc.)??

I'm around 46 bpm, 25 years old, 6'1", 180, don't know body fat, moderately fit; I ride about 120 miles a week right now, more when weather and school permits.

Resting HR is a poor predictor of overall fitness.
It simply relates to each individual's body and their heart's stroke volume for a given level of exertion.

If you just bought your HRM today, you don't know what your resting heart rate is yet. You have to get that reading when you first wake up in the morning. Mine's mid to upper 40's. 5'7", 160 lbs., don't know my body fat %--not much fat on my extremities but about probably 10 lbs. around my middle I need to get rid of, and the older I get the harder it is to shed it. 48 years old. Just alternating using the bike trainer about an hour a few nights a week and doing bodyweight fitness exercises over the winter. I ride about 200 miles/week when the weather suits me. I hate riding in the cold but love the heat.

Resting HR is a poor predictor of overall fitness.
It simply relates to each individual's body and their heart's stroke volume for a given level of exertion.

But is it true that with more exercise your Resting HR gets lower?

But is it true that with more exercise your Resting HR gets lower?

It gets lower, long term, as you get fitter. When I was really out of shape at age 40 it was 72. Now I'm 48 and fit and it's 51.

But it can go higher short-term when you have been training a lot (overreaching) or are getting sick

Resting heart rate should be taken before you get out of bed in the morning and start moving around. Keep your chest strap on and your monitor on your wrist or close by that you don't have to reach for it, if you wake up in the middle of the night, take a look at it, that's your resting heart rate.

Mine is 28 bpm. I'm 57, 5'11", 215 lbs, 17.6% body fat. Body fat was checked by two different methods, one day apart, by a laser and electroconductivity.

5'5" 120ish lbs RHR= High 40's

Before I started cycling, it was about 60. So for me at least, cycling has lowered me RHR.

55

i just bought a polar fs1 HRM today and ive just been wearing it all day to make sure it works alright.You may want to experiment by using a "split" or "lap" function to find your average HR for specific activities.

For instance, start and stop the watch for a walk around the block. Then try it again but jog-walk or run.

There's a gob of info on HR training, successful HR training requires an understanding the fine points of heart rate and "average effort." For the most part new users go for their MAX rates and never figure it out.

Mine is 42. I am 35, 5'10" 165 lbs and 8% body fat.

It gets lower, long term, as you get fitter. When I was really out of shape at age 40 it was 72. Now I'm 48 and fit and it's 51.

I do not believe that this is necessarily entirely true. IMO your resting HR is an indcation of your metabolic activity at rest, not your fitness. A few years ago I had a resting HR in the low-to-mid 30s. I could consistently pretty much any time I wanted while relatively inactive, sit still for a minute, and get it down to 35 or so. More recently I haven't seen anything lower than the low 40s, but I am way fitter, and more muscular, now than I was then. I will agree that if you were sedentary it should go down as you become more fit, but even for any one person a lower number does not automatically mean more fit, and certainly comparing resting HRs, or any HR for that matter, between people is meaningless.

I do not believe that this is necessarily entirely true. IMO your resting HR is an indcation of your metabolic activity at rest, not your fitness. A few years ago I had a resting HR in the low-to-mid 30s. I could consistently pretty much any time I wanted while relatively inactive, sit still for a minute, and get it down to 35 or so. More recently I haven't seen anything lower than the low 40s, but I am way fitter, and more muscular, now than I was then. I will agree that if you were sedentary it should go down as you become more fit, but even for any one person a lower number does not automatically mean more fit, and certainly comparing resting HRs, or any HR for that matter, between people is meaningless.

My guess would be that if you took a few days off in a row yours would read low 30s again. You ride so many miles that you're probably never in a non-recovery state. My experience has been that increased fitness leads to a lower RHR. I'm somewhere in the 50s, and I think that the 30s would scare me.

My guess would be that if you took a few days off in a row yours would read low 30s again. You ride so many miles that you're probably never in a non-recovery state. My experience has been that increased fitness leads to a lower RHR. I'm somewhere in the 50s, and I think that the 30s would scare me.

I've taken a few days off here and there. What had happened I believe is that I was basically starving myself and my metabolism had slowed way down. I actually did hit the low 30s back in October when they put me under for my collarbone surgery, but who knows what the effects of the drugs were... My point is just that there are many things that go into that number and you cannot necessarily say that fitter gives you a lower HR number. And I actually rode more then than I am riding now...

I've taken a few days off here and there. What had happened I believe is that I was basically starving myself and my metabolism had slowed way down. I actually did hit the low 30s back in October when they put me under for my collarbone surgery, but who knows what the effects of the drugs were... My point is just that there are many things that go into that number and you cannot necessarily say that fitter gives you a lower HR number. And I actually rode more then than I am riding now...

Well, that may be true, but I guarantee that if you never road a bike, you would have a RHR in the 60s right now.

Well, that may be true, but I guarantee that if you never road a bike, you would have a RHR in the 60s right now.

Maybe, but that's why I said "necessarily". It is affected somewhat by fitness but I believe as a side-effect rather than a primary relationship. Somebody who is overweight and completely out of shape will likely have a higher resting HR because of their metabolic demands, not necessarily their lack of conditioning. Mine was pretty low before I really got into cycling; some people have naturally low HRs, and I was never really "out of shape" even though I was not particularly active growing up.

im having trouble recording my resting heart rate. I think im going to try to go to sleep with my strap on this time. This morning i kept my strape on my nightstand and put it on as soon as i woke up but it my heart rate was already 75 bpm. Then i fell asleep for about another hour and when i was half awake i thought i read 32 bpm, but it could have been me just imagining it. then when i fully woke up again, while still lying down my HR was 70 bpm... meh. not that important i guess, just good to know.

i just bought a polar fs1 HRM today and ive just been wearing it all day to make sure it works alright.
My resting heart rate seems to be around 65 bpm. Im not sure if that means im fit, unfit, or average. I'm guessing its around average. im a 19 year old male, 5'6 and 165lbs. In comparison, lance armstrongs resting heart rate is supposedly 31 bpm...
so what is your RHR and how fit are you (weight,height,age,%bodyfat,etc.)??

Your resting heart rate compared to others doesn't mean much. Some people have larger hearts than average, some have smaller hearts than average.

However, one of the training adaptations is an increase in the stroke volume of the heart. Your heart pumps more blood each beat, and it therefore it doesn't need to beat as quickly to move a given amount of blood, and your heart rate at a given level of exercise goes down.

My resting (well, usually sitting) heart rate is up around 60 when I'm not trained at all, around 48-50 when I'm moderately trained, and down around 40 when I'm well trained (for me).

RHR 56. 6'2" 198lbs. 5% BF via computer scan. ~360ftp. LTpower 92% of Vo2max power via lab test. 5.46L/min aerobic capacity. 60.2ml/kg/min. Cat. 3 roadie.

Additional stats provided to demonstrate RHR in isolation is meaningless.

RHR can be tricky. I have a friend who is among the most unathletic and inactive people I've ever known. His exercise is walking to the tram or the bus a few times a week and practically nothing else. To make some extra money, he signed up for a medical experiment (testing a new medicine) a few years back. When they checked his HR, which wasn't even resting at that point, it was 46. Lying down, and given 10-15 minutes of rest, I'm sure it would've been near 40.

Mine has always been 65 or so, and I consider myself pretty fit. 5'9", 158 pounds, 9% body fat...

Since we are still talking about this... I recorded my hr overnight and hit a low of 36, but the average was around 50, including waking up and having a midnight snack...

55 last yr. now down to 49/50.

I use to be very active, marathon running, very low RHR resting heart rate, then as I got older, desk job, sat on my ass, got fat, gained 130 lbs., my RHR went up, I had no cardio, out of shape, then I decided to do something about it and lost the weight, my RHR came down. As I previously stated, it's at 28 bpm. BUT in 2008 I had Lyme's very badly, in my nervous system, spine, possibly brain and possibly my heart muscle. As a result now, I have no cardio, I huff and puff going up the steps and it's getting worse. When I ride casually my HR is 100-125 but when I push a little it rises to 135. Going up steep hills as hard and fast as I could before Lyme's, the highest I got my HR was 153, now it's 173 on the easiest hills. I'm going to be scheduling soon an echo cardiogram and a stress test.

I think I may have heart damage but anyway, I don't have any cardio and my RHR is still low at 28. As others said, a low HR is not necessarily a sign of fitness or cardio as I have none.

I do not believe that this is necessarily entirely true. IMO your resting HR is an indcation of your metabolic activity at rest, not your fitness.

I agree, having tracked mine for 30 years or so. Basically I use it as an indication of whether my body is in recovery, or in some less than desired physical distress. Mine was 42 when I was in my best shape, and stayed in the 40's for years after I quit racing and didn't ride nearly as hard or as much. In one bleak and stressful period, I took up smoking and drank too much, and my rate went up into the 60's. Quitting that stuff and ramping up the fitness, it went right back down to 46-48 and has stayed there.

everyone is differnt bro but if you need to know 46bpm
5'8 185 16 bf%

It was 30, before I got a pacemaker.

im having trouble recording my resting heart rate. I think im going to try to go to sleep with my strap on this time. This morning i kept my strape on my nightstand and put it on as soon as i woke up but it my heart rate was already 75 bpm. Then i fell asleep for about another hour and when i was half awake i thought i read 32 bpm, but it could have been me just imagining it. then when i fully woke up again, while still lying down my HR was 70 bpm... meh. not that important i guess, just good to know.

I have a different method. When I wake up I slowly reach over to turn on the light, then take my watch and lie on my side so my watch in my hand is supported. I slowly find my pulse in my wrist, and with my muscles as relaxed as possible count heartbeats for 60 seconds. It slowly comes down as I repeat over say 10 minutes (one can easily fall back asleep). If I get a few good counts over that 10 minutes and its decreasing, I take the lowest number. I think this drowsing almost into sleep decently simulates the moment when I wake up.

Michael Ross in his book recommends wake up, hit the bathroom, put on your HRM, get back in bed, and lie for several minutes, then take a reading. But even with this protocol, how do you know its a minimum?

The least I've ever seen is 55, and it's almost never above 65. Lately its 58 after a good night's sleep, but I think I just need to get back into training.

Road Fan

53 y.o., 5'11", 150lbs, RHR - 40

I wanted to see what caffiene did one time, so I took my HR right after waking up, 46, then again after having my normal two cups of coffee and watching the news, but laying on the couch, and it was around 52 or 53