Decided to measure my resting HR with my Garmin 305 last night. Put the strap on and settled into a comfortable chair with a good book. My HR started out at 62, dropped to 53. Then to 51, 50. I've never been under 50, so I was wondering where this would go. Pretty soon I hit 48, 45, 44. When the HR showed 34 I figured something might be wrong.

I think I need a new battery in the transmitter.

I'd have been beating on my chest for a jump start.

Im not familiar with the Garmin but with the Polar one I have if I don't sweat there is not a good electrical connection for the unit to pick up the signals from my heart.

better a new battery and a new ticker.

During the summer riding season, it's not uncommon for me to have an HR of 42-43 when I first wake up. This time of year is the worst; I've been off the bike for 2 months and I haven't started swimming yet. Now if I measured it'd probably be 55-58.

I read in a couple of sources that Tour de France Multi-winner Miguel Indurain had a resting heart rate of 28--unbelievable.

Are you sure of your source? That's by far the lowest number I have ever heard of for a healthy person.

That was a number I heard several years ago, but I googled his name and heartrate and there were several links to RHR's of 28-30. See in particular his bio on Wikipedia, with some other physiological statistics in the section on Physical Advantages.

I think you might be right. I just watched a video that showed Roger De Vlaeminck, four-time winner of Paris-Roubaix, in top form, resting at about 40.

28-30 sounds just short of hibernation. In fact that sounds like a sleeping HR. But it is said a well-conditioned athlete will have a lower resting heart rate.

Which is in fact what a resting heart rate should be -- on waking up in the morning.

Spit on the monitor strap before putting it on. If that sounds too unbecoming, use personal lubricant. Or if you are beyond that, make up a weak saline solution and wipe it across the strap. It has to do with getting the contacts moist and preferably with some electrolytic action going.

Wash the strap after use to ensure the electrical conductivity is removed and the battery won't go flat.

But are you sure it's the battery?

Not sure it was the battery, but there was something going on with the HRM. That same day I got out my old HRM and it gave me a resting HR of 57. Much closer to reality. Plus I could fell my pulse and knew that each beat wasn't 2 seconds apart.

What's weird is that when my strap is not connected well I usually get "---" for the reading. And the number wasn't rapidly fluctuating, either. It gradually dropped over a period of about 10 minutes to finally settle on 34.

From the American Heart Association.

Resting Heart Rate

"What is resting heart rate?

This is a person's heart rate at rest. The best time to find out your resting heart rate is in the morning, after a good night's sleep, and before you get out of bed.

The heart beats about 60 to 80 times a minute when we're at rest. Resting heart rate usually rises with age, and it's generally lower in physically fit people. Resting heart rate is used to determine one's training target heart rate. Athletes sometimes measure their resting heart rate as one way to find out if they're overtrained. The heart rate adapts to changes in the body's need for oxygen, such as during exercise or sleep."

I have had a resting heart rate at the low 40s and that was not really working at it. I have not fooled around with it lately. I have discovered that if I relax and chill out, then I can get my heart rate down pretty far. 34 sounds pretty low but not impossible. A way to check would be to borrow someone else's heart rate monitor and give it a try. Or you could use the old carotid artery and watch method.

On my nightstand next to my side of the bed is a big digital clock with extra larger readout. I use that to monitor the heart rate and I use the right wrist for the puse reading.

I tried wearing my HRM strap to bed but couldn't sleep with it; too uncomfortable. Just using finger pressure to measure HR on wakening seemed not a good idea as the effort would raise the HR. So I gave up on it and just relied on the HRM or just finger pressure after a period of relative inactivity sometime during the day. That gave normally somewhere in the upper 50's.

Then last year at my annual physical I was given a resting electrocardiogram. Apparently, the good doctor does that on older patients (I'm 69) periodically. I'm sure it's not useful, but I went with it anyhow. After laying there for about 20 minutes talking to the lady technician while she got everything ready, she announces that my resting rate was 47. She was amazed as was I (and the doctor).

Then later when I reflected on it, I remembered that the day before I had ridden the local 19 mile single-track with a young lady who runs me into the ground. She calls when her husband can't ride as she hates to ride in the woods alone. She's fast (sprints) on the uphill portions and the straights. So while my average speed may be lower than when I ride alone, I spend more time above 80% max HR (measured max) by a large amount as I play to her strengths and to my weaknesses.

That particular ride I spent something like an hour and 20 min. above 80% out of an hour fifty minute ride time. I think I also spent 10 minutes above 90% which I rarely do.

I had noticed previously that my resting HR was lower after having ridden the day or two before and where I accumulated more time at higher HRs. I suspect that one's resting HR is a variable and dependant on the physical activity of the previous several days. I also suspect that the high HR affect wears off more quickly the older you are which is consistent with the fact that you have to work harder as you age to maintain the same level of fitness.

Anyhow, food for thought.

Also, if you want an easy way to get your HR up, chase a young lady.

Al

I laughed when I saw this. Just this morning I was getting ready to exercise and showed my wife that my HR was at 52. "Think it's valid?", I asked. "Let me see if I can get it up", was her reply. A quick kiss and she had my HR up to 70!

I've had problems of erratic or no HR readings with the Garmin transmitters, such that I use the Polar instead alongside the Garmin which measures speed, dist etc. The Garmin transmitter on my Forerunner 305 and on a previous model was useless, even when I used conducting gel. Garmin sent a new one for the 305, but's still the same - rubbish.

Now I'm wondering if there is something wrong with my Polar HR monitor because during a sprint last week, I hit 104% of what I had for along time considered my max HR, which is the max I had previously been able to achieve and closely corresponds to the 208-0.7 X age formula (160). So now at age 68 my HRmax is 166. Resting HR is 46, BTW. My cardiologist says it's OK to go to the max as long as I don't feel faint or experience pain, and I don't, but my lungs burn a bit!!

My Garmin seems top work fine, except my resting HR is rarely below 60 and that's when I am very relaxed upon waking.

My second Polar chest strap transmitter was much weaker than the first. I had continual problems keeping it moist enough and it would give spurious and too high readings. I finally had to buy some contact gel and that cured the problem.

Then I upgraded to a Garmin Forerunner 305 and it's far better than my old Polar ever was. I'm back to a little spit for moisture and it never gives erronious readings. You might try a new battery. My old polar, you had to buy a new chest strap.

My measured max of a year ago at 68 was 174. There is one one of the several equations out there that predicts 170, but that's just coincidence. Every body's is different and the equations just give a population average at best.

Al

I've tried changing the battery several times and Garmin even sent me a new transmitter which was worse than the original one. I've tried saliva, water and electrolytic gel to no avail. The transmitter looks very much like a Cardiosport HR monitor, which I used to have and which also exhibited the same problems, so I guess it's me and my lack of conductivity, but I have never had problems with any of the several Polars I've used. Nevertheless, I still get the info I need even if I do have two instruments on my handlebars!

Sounds like the receiver is bad. Have Garmin check it since you have another to use while it's gone.

Al

Had a peculiar problem on the Tandem. Both of us used HRM's and both were polars and we used to get a lot of interference. It got so that only one of us used the monitor at a time.

Then one day- the pilot asked if I was OK. He did not have his chest strap on- and his monitor was registering 180- on the flat (My Max is 165) Slight problem- I didn't have my strap on either. We had found a part of the Hills where there was some form of interference. Rode around a bit and we still do not know what it was causing the monitors to register but it was over about 2 miles of the trail.

Hi Stapfam. A merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009 to you! I hope we'll meet one day.

Regarding the HRM, I've had mine go to 230 when passing under overhead power cables.