RHR as fitness indicator/rate of change?

[AllMountin']

As part of my drive toward being a healthier/more fit mammal, I've been setting a few different benchmarks to aim for, one of them being a consistent RHR in the sub-50 bpm range. Today I hit 49 bpm, but typically test out around 53 bpm at night.

I know many cyclists track and train by heart rate religiously, so I aim my question at these types: What is a reasonable expectation for reduction in RHR over a period of 6 months? Or how long would it take to achieve a RHR reduction of 5 bpm, given moderate daily endurance training?

I'm not looking for a Contador-esque RHR of sub-30, but I am finding that setting goals is a helpful motivator. Losing pounds is good, but I want to be FIT, not just skinny. It seems like RHR should be a good, no BS indicator of fitness.

Thanks for any and all input.

[jonw9]

I don't pay too much attention to my resting HR. Maybe I should, I dunno.

I test for my Lactate Threshold every 4-6 weeks, and I use that to define how fit I am, or at least how my training is going.

Maybe look at resting HR as an indicator of over-training? If it is higher than normal, rest a bit perhaps.

On another note, I read the eating lots of chocolate cake is good to lower your HR!

[nailgunn]

Crap 53 nice not too bad for a none professional endurance athlete

As big as I am I have seen 61 but that was not optimal conditions. My understanding is test when you wake in the morning and before your feet hit the floor.
It is funny to watch your heart rate jump 10 BPM when you lift your head : )
I have done some reading about RHR and from what I have read it is a good indication of long term health, activitiy level and endurance.
Technically when you get things like Heart rate monitors and the Caloric rating based on heart activity as well as Body compansation scales your calculations are based on if you are considered Athletic(60 RHR or less) and standard (Above 60 RHR)
I also understand if your RHR stays high (based on your average) you may have over trained
No I have no clue what you can expect as far as time/reduction/activity but I would be intrested.

[AllMountin']

I test for my Lactate Threshold every 4-6 weeks...

How involved is this? I'm pretty lazy.

The HRM method requires negligible effort, and therefore is pretty appealing to me.

I'll get started on that chocolate cake regimen right away. Mmmm. German chocolate.

[Doc_d]

I think your resting heart rate is going to be pretty individual. What I mean is that if you took 2 similar people (same sex, age, height, weight and fitness level) they will still probably have fairly different resting heart rates. So I don't think you can use it to compare the fitness level between two people. But you can certainly use it as a gauge of your own fitness. If your resting hear rate was 60 a few months ago and now it's 55, then it's probably due to an increase in your overall fitness.

When I'm in really good shape (mid summer form) my resting heart rate is down in the 40s. I had to have an emergency appendectomy last fall. After the surgery the doctor and anesthetist were trying to wake me up as they rolled me out of the operating room. They kept asking over and over, with urgency and concern, "Are you an athlete? Are you an athlete?". Because I was still under the anesthesia I had a very hard time getting the words out, so they kept asking very persistently. I was finally able to say, "cyclist".

Later I asked the doctor what that was all about. They said they were concerned because my heart rate was very low during surgery and they kept seeing some aberration in my heart beat. She said it's completely normal in athletes though and nothing to worry about. I'm guessing they didn't see my low heart rate pre-op because I was in a lot of pain which probably elevated it.

[rvd]

Sleep more, eat more than your 1500 kcal/day diet, and measure in the morning. I had 48 this AM, which is not much higher than 15 yrs ago when I was in very good shape. Max HR seems to have dropped ~20 beats in those years. I agree with others that RHR is likely not a good indicator of fitness. Only an indicator of the strength/size of you heart, which obviously does depend on physical activity but also on (sporting) history and maybe genetics.

[jonw9]

I test for my Lactate Threshold every 4-6 weeks...

How involved is this? I'm pretty lazy.

The HRM method requires negligible effort, and therefore is pretty appealing to me.

I'll get started on that chocolate cake regimen right away. Mmmm. German chocolate.

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2 ... zones.html

[jonw9]

I think your resting heart rate is going to be pretty individual. What I mean is that if you took 2 similar people (same sex, age, height, weight and fitness level) they will still probably have fairly different resting heart rates. So I don't think you can use it to compare the fitness level between two people. But you can certainly use it as a gauge of your own fitness. If your resting hear rate was 60 a few months ago and now it's 55, then it's probably due to an increase in your overall fitness.

That holds true for all HR measurements, resting, maximum, and LTHR. You can't compare to other individuals numbers, it is pointless. All you can do is find your numbers and track how those change.

Also, for maximum HR, don't use 220-age, because it is wrong. If it were right, I would be 10 years younger than I am.

[ibisman]

RHR is not always a good mark of fitness. Mine has been in the 44 -45 BPM for 15 years and once while in the emergency room I told my wife.."watch me set off the alarm" after the nurse hooked me up and set the high and low limits on the equipment. I managed to relax and get it down to 38 and it did set the alarm off. The nurse came running in and my wife told her I was messing with her so she put the low limit down to 32 and said "lets see you set it off now smart guy". I couldn't.

[utabintarbo]

RHR is not always a good mark of fitness. Mine has been in the 44 -45 BPM for 15 years and once while in the emergency room I told my wife.."watch me set off the alarm" after the nurse hooked me up and set the high and low limits on the equipment. I managed to relax and get it down to 38 and it did set the alarm off. The nurse came running in and my wife told her I was messing with her so she put the low limit down to 32 and said "lets see you set it off now smart guy". I couldn't.

[AllMountin']

Sleep more, eat more than your 1500 kcal/day diet, and measure in the morning. I had 48 this AM, which is not much higher than 15 yrs ago when I was in very good shape. Max HR seems to have dropped ~20 beats in those years. I agree with others that RHR is likely not a good indicator of fitness. Only an indicator of the strength/size of you heart, which obviously does depend on physical activity but also on (sporting) history and maybe genetics.

You must be in decent shape still; you've been climbing like a goat past few rides. I get that heart rates vary person to person. But for me, going from 55 bpm to 45 bpm would likely be tied to a sizable increase in fitness level, or a medical condition. The same should be true for someone to drop from 75 bpm to 65 bpm. That is why I inquired about rate of change. I know what my number is now, and want to increase the efficiency of the machine. I just don't know what a reasonable expectation is/should be.

The 1500 calorie/day diet is only temporary, and is a separate deal from the long term fitness plan. It seems to be working. End of January I was at 205 lbs. I weighed in today at 191, only a couple/few weeks after setting a goal to be sub-190 by April.

Today I measured 47 bpm, 49 bpm, and 50 bpm. All were on the drive home from work. My averages seem to be trending downward even from what I was getting a few weeks ago. It may be possible that the low cal diet is affecting my metabolism. I'll continue to track things and see how they go.

[rvd]

Today I measured 47 bpm, 49 bpm, and 50 bpm. All were on the drive home from work.

Contador better watches out!

[Brent]

If your serious about trying to get the old resting heart rate lower start taking Beta blockers. I pick up old people on the ambulance all the time with their HRs in the 40's and 30's even, they must all be endurance athletes.

Also as a less sarcastic suggestion have full medical evaluation, you should also be monitoring your blood pressure,and have the doctor take a look at the plaque in your artery s, if you have a genetic predisposition to that it will effect your cardiac output greatly.

[davedejonge]

I think your resting heart rate is going to be pretty individual. What I mean is that if you took 2 similar people (same sex, age, height, weight and fitness level) they will still probably have fairly different resting heart rates. So I don't think you can use it to compare the fitness level between two people. But you can certainly use it as a gauge of your own fitness. If your resting hear rate was 60 a few months ago and now it's 55, then it's probably due to an increase in your overall fitness.

That holds true for all HR measurements, resting, maximum, and LTHR. You can't compare to other individuals numbers, it is pointless. All you can do is find your numbers and track how those change.

I'll agree here too. HR is just lower or higher on some for deeply personal reasons

I am in okay shape, my endurance is crap, but my resting heart rate is regularly in the 50's. When I give blood the attendant usually says, " oh you must be a runner.." right...

[Di_bear]

My understanding is test when you wake in the morning and before your feet hit the floor.

Exactly. The purpose of resting heart rate is to determine whether you're overtraining. For example, my RHR is ~60. If I work out hard three days in a row and suddently find that it's 75, there's a problem. It's time to incorporate some rest days and come up with a plan to prevent overtraining. Without adequate rest (which varies), exercise is worthless.

Regarding using heart rate training during exercise, well, I manually check mine while I'm working out, but it's a relativity thing. Is my five-minute resting spin really a resting spin, for instance? The raw numbers really are not a good gauge. It can vary based on what you ate, when you ate, how much you drank (hopefully water and not too much beer), whether you're ill, have been overtraining, are stressed, etc.