tsinchile

Hi All

I'm of a 'reasonably' fit level, I'm also female and 27. I consistenly have a resting heart rate (taken first thing in the morning on my heart rate monitor - and verified by the old hand on neck count) of 75 - 80. Surely this is high???

I can get my max heart rate up to 195 (202 I have maxed but that is really pushing it).

Anyway - I'm healthy, don't take medication or have high blood pressure. Is this heart rate concerning and does anyone know why it is high? I used to have a very low one 3-4 years ago.

Enthalpic

I would guess you are stressing about it and therfore when you go to measure it, it is high. 75-80 is not dangerous but if you continue to worry about it see a doctor to ease your mind. I used to worry about my blood pressure and would get the "white coat syndrome" with high readings in the Dr office. The doctor put on a continous measuring device once while I read for a bit and sure enough when I wasn't stressing about it my readings were well within the normal range. Now I just relax and all is well.

Can you wear the HRM while you sleep? I would suspect much lower numbers. Also if you feel the need go to the washroom, which is real common upon awakening, that will increase your numbers significantly. Pee pee dance anyone?

karlfitt

OK,
Somebody correct me here if I am wrong, but an elevated resting heart rate is a sign of overtraining.

Was it lower before? Or is this a first check?

If it was lower and shot up, that is one sign of overtraining, take a day off, and cut back on intensity a litlle. See if that helps.

Enthalpic

^^

kuan

When I put my hand to my neck my HR jumps.

None of your HR measurements mean anything unless you have a baseline. If it jumped suddenly from yesterday's readings then you should be a little bit concerned. The bigger the difference the bigger your concern.

I've had HR average readings drop 10 beats after two weeks of hard training and four days of recovery running.

DannoXYZ 

How are you measuring this HR? I'd go with a heart-rate monitor only. Feeling for a pulse and counting beats over a certain amount of time's not very accurate...

tsinchile

Measuring with polar heart rate monitor. Don't think I'm overtraining??? Possibly there is a "white coat syndrome" cause I am thinking about it when I measure. Maybe I can get me husband to check it before the morning alarm!

DannoXYZ 

Sorry, didn't fully read your post. I think as others mentioned, it's the trend in RHR that you want to track. And if you see an increase of +5-10bpm, then yes, you maybe overtraining the cardio system. But, you can still go and do muscular & endurance workouts.

Dougmt

I too have a resting heart rate between 75-85. It cost me a law enforcement internship once because I could not get my resting heart rate below 80 BPM. I went to a doc and he checked everything out and said "your fine, you just have a high resting heart rate." If I were you I'd spend the 50-80 bucks and let the doc tell you you are OK, or maybe they will find something, either way, you'll solve the mystery.
Doug

sjjone

Yeah, I mentioned my high RHR (70 or so) to my doc once (a cyclist), and he said, "it's genetic, ignore the my RHR is 30 pissing contest."

plin

I wouldn't worry about it if you are in good health. My wife who is 27 in good health and fairly fit (1m72 and 56Kg) also has a RHR of around 80. My father in law who is overweight and has high cholesterol has a RHR of 50. RHR is really genetics and I think training can only lower it slightly. My RHR is around 55 nowadays but I doubt it will ever go down to the 40s.

bullfrog

Yes its quite true about the RHR being genetic, or so I think. My friend who is fitter than me has an RHR of well above 70 and mine is 55. But I also believe that RHR can be dropped alot from excercise but its probably also different from person to person. My RHR used to be in the 80's and is now 55.