Resting Heart Rate

[henshaw11]

>I was always told to measure your heart rate after waking and while still lying in bed.

ISTR that was the Polar recommendation - sounds fine enough, you're resting, been doing nothing strenuous for a while - note the 'on waking' - and it ought to be fairly consistent from day to day.

 

[big al 83]

I wish I could get my RHR below 65. I'm 52, weigh 81kg and ride regularly and consder myself fairly fit.
When out on a ride my pulse is easily in the 160 - 175 bpm. Max HR 200 bpm.

I recall reading an article a while back that said approx. 20% of the population have a high HR and 20% have a low HR.
I must be in the high group.

A guy I work with who never exercises, is slightly overweight, has high blood pressure and is 62 yo. has a resting HR of 55 BPM ??

I also think that using RH as a fitness indicator is not a good indicator of fitness.

 

[Garz]

Yep, RHR is not an indication that you are in great shape as it relates largely down to genetics. Referring to RHR, MHR and recovery are just ways of helping you train smarter and give you a better overall indication.

 

[lowerstill]

Some interesting stuff to read for a newbie to the site. For my two penneth, after several years of measuring rhr (as soon as I got up); I remember it did get lower as I got fitter, a logical link between heart chamber volumes & beat timing. If nothing else measuring as soon as you get up should be when your body is at its most rested... well depending on how you slept I guess!

For me it became a pretty good time to review what condition I was in & how my body felt. Also gave me a chance to take stock my and think about the day... think maybe i'll start measuring it again!

 

[Garz]

I tried this once..

by the time I grabbed the strap, put it on and paired it to the watch and got back into bed, 'rested' position my heart rate had raised above 60 from whatever it was at. What would be interesting is the lowest value while you drifted off to sleep. Maybe it would be easier to refer to it as the 'sedentary seated' rate!

 

[Dan B]

I think mine was about 48 at its lowest, a few years ago when I was bothereing to measure it. But that could as easily have been hypothyroid-related bradycardia as anything to do with fitness, so I'm not inclined to but too much stock by it. As others have said, it's the changes that are important, and I suspect they're most important for knowing when you're off form and should back off from hard training

 

[byegad]

If I sit still and relax I can get mine down to under 40. When I was 15 and very fit it would drop to under 30. IIRC my lowest ever, in a trance like state, was 25bpm.

 

[iAmiAdam]

When I started training properly it was about 70, it's now 54. I see this as an improvement to my fitness. I also only really use RHR to calibrate zones. Before I ditched the HRM all together because it's a pile.