Lividkoi

first time I have ever taken my resting heart rate. I gathered a 69. is this good/bad. And will more riding and training lower my heart rate?

55/Rad

Did you take it when you woke up in the morning? If not, do so and make that your baseline.

I was at 66 or so when I got back into cycling. In a year, I dropped to 50 and lost 8% body fat down to 10%. Only lost 6 pounds though but that wasn't a concern.

55/Rad

Bikeophile

Normal resting heart rates vary from individual to individual. However, a resting heart rate that is below 84 beats per minute, is considered good.

Lance Armstrong's Resting HR is apparently 32 Beats per Minute.

blandin

You're supposed to take your heart rate first thing in the morning upon waking before getting out of bed. Then take is again when you stand. The difference between the two demonstrates how strong your heart is. I don't know what kind of difference is good or bad, but a goggle search will surely lead to those numbers. As to 69 as a resting heart rate being good, until you're sure that you actually have your resting rate, it's too early to say. Mine runs between 40 and 45 bpm.

literacer

my rate is 42 resting... would it dip below 40 while sleeping??? just curious... because you body basically shuts down when you are sleeping so I would imagine that it could dip into the high 30's.

55/rad--question for you
Are you implying that there is a correlation between losing weight and a lower heart rate? just curious.

rcams

Comparing yours compared to someone else's means nothing.
Yes yours will go down as you train.
Yes yours will go down as your get older whether or not you train.

The real value I've found in tracking this number is that I can tell when I'm overtraining. Typically my RHR will rise 6-8 beats on the morning after a day when I've overdone it. That's my sign to back off and do a recovery ride for a day.

patrick07

[QUOTE=literacer] my rate is 42 resting... would it dip below 40 while sleeping??? just curious... because you body basically shuts down when you are sleeping so I would imagine that it could dip into the high 30's.
QUOTE]

I think some one posted in another thread that you HR goes up slightly while sleeping for "maintenence and repair". Sounds plausible. Now if only I could find that thread....


Edit:https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=heart+rate

Apparently, the info was from a second hand source so there's no way to check it. Sorry

rockymtn_girl

My doctor sent me for an echocardiagram in January (she heard a slight murmur). During the procedure, the tech asked me if I'm a runner. I said not really. I run 5K 2-3 times a week but mostly I'm a cyclist. Their response was... hmmm. I followed up with my doctor a couple of weeks later and the good news was my heart is very healthy and my resting heart rate is 44 bpm. I told this to a coworker (who doesn't exercise much) and she said, wow...shouldn't you be dead???

Bikeophile

I had something similar....when I gave blood a couple of years ago. I was running quite a bit at the time (and cycling about 100miles a week). My resting heart rate was in the high 40's.

The nurse said that if I was not an athlete doing significant cardio (running/cycling) then she would be concerned because for an inactive or older person a lower resting heart rate COULD indicate poor pressure or circulation.

55/Rad

Not at all - I'm not educated enough to make a statement like that. I was merely reporting the changes I went through in a year of cycling.

55/Rad

Lividkoi

No, gathered 69 beats per/sec around 4 oclock or this afternoon. I am also 21 years old, if that matters!

I test again tomorrow when I wake up... thanks everyone for your help.

sandy_pangle

I was at 83 last year when I started cycling. Now I cruise in at 62. I knew I felt like I was dieing now I have proof!!!! My heart has slowed down 25%. It shouldn't be much longer. I figure that if I keep biking I can finish killing myself this year.

mirona

Oh yea, giving blood... Do you run? ahaha yes or no weren't the right answer so I just said A LOT. I too am between 40-45 bpm.

rcams

OMG....I thought it worked the opposite way! I figure when you're born you get a ticker installed with an internal clock set for "X" number of beats. Unless you die in an accident, the fewer beats you use each minute the more you'll have to carry you into your 100's ?!

supcom

If you wear a recording heart rate monitor like a Polar 720i while you sleep you can find your minimum heart rate. You will also find out that the body is more active at night than you think.

CdCf

My resting heart rate is between 55 and 60, but that's in the evenings, after a full day. In the morning, it's probably closer to 50 than 60, but I've never checked.
I've only been cycling semi-seriously for just over three months, but my resting pulse is already around 5 bpm lower than it was in February.

Edit: 53 just now - 4:30 am here... (Haven't gone to bed yet...)

jitteringjr

I was hooked up the the machines waiting to go in for my surgery 2 weeks ago and the nurse asked me if I worked out? I'm like, "I really have been slacking in the weight lifting department lately. Why?" "Because your heart rate is 39," he said. I'm like, "yeah that would be because of cycling."

ExPhysRoadie

A resting HR of 69 is perfectly normal. Typically it will decrease as you get older or become more fit. Like someone else said, knowing your resting HR is a good way to monitor for overtraining. By checking your HR when you wake up a few days a week and recording it, you can monitor trends over time - when your resting HR is consistently higher than normal it is usually a sign that you're overtraining.

Camel

My resting heat rate runs about 37C +/- .5C.

gmason

FYI - in the TdF post-stage show yesterday they featured a piece on a Polar HRM to collect data for team use. Calzati was there, and when asked, said his resting rate was 38-40.