resting heart rate

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resting heart rate

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

resting heart rate Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2004 9:28 pm

I was just curious if anyone has ever measured their resting heart rate. I measured mine just now (late evening) and got 51. For reference, I'm a 33 year old male. My RHR is normally lowest if I measure it just after waking in the morning, and I've measured as low as 46 I think. I read something recently that said Lance Armstrong's RHR is 32! If you've ever measured yours, what was it?

OldManRunner
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Rochester, NY
Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 262

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:41 am

All I know is that you're supposed to take it first thing when you wake up in the morning, before you even get out of bed, and I can never remember to take it then. My brain isn't functioning too well when I first wake up, and I can barely remember my name, let alone the fact that I should take my pulse!

Rustyboy

LA, CA
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 225

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:25 pm

I tested mine first thing out of bed a few weeks ago for the first time in ages. Before really piling on the miles, I was 61/mn, but now I'm at 53.

sfird
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Long Island, NY
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 80

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 1:47 pm

I'm also at 51. For the record, I'm 52 years old, 5'8", 152 lbs.

Jim2

Pasadena, MD
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 5

My Experience. Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 8:20 pm

Before I started running at age 42....and after 42 years as a couch potato....my resting heart rate (RHR) was 70-75. After just a couple of years of running, it dropped into the 40's at age 44. For the rest of my first running life.....age 45-51.....it ranged from 36 to 42. Even when I went into Johns Hopkins for prostate surgery in 1994 at age 55 after having backed off from running, it measured 37 on my checkin EKG. Three doctors....the resident physician, Johns Hopkins chief anestheologist, and the anestheologist who was going to put me under the next morning.....stopped in my room the night before the surgery to make sure that I was going to be OK. As soon as they learned that I was a runner, they were satisfied. I backed off from running seriously for most of the 90s and my RHR "soared" into the 50's. I started my second running life when I retired in 1998 and my RHR quickly dropped back into the 40s, although it never got below 45. I stopped running almost completely four years ago when my wife and I bought our sailboat and started living aboard her 6 months of each year. So, it has been that long since I have run hardly at all. And, what is my RHR? Well, I just checked it at 11:15PM while writing this post and it is 55. Not too shabby for an overweight and out of condition runner. ;-) It demonstrates the long term benefits of running!! Jim2

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 11:06 pm

Wow, this is a fit group!

Pretender
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Kansas, OK
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 100

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:54 am

I hate to be the proverbial turd in the punch bowl, but mine is 68. But that's because I'm a newbie. I'm 40 years old and have only been running for 4 1/2 months. I run at a barge-like pace, but I usually put in between 21 and 30 miles a week depending. When I started, my heart rate was alot higher. So was my blood pressure. I have dropped 20 pounds and my blood pressure has dropped from 180/140 to 115/72 on average. Yes, I believe in the health benefits to running! What's funny is that I have never really liked running. My only previous experience with running was the time I spent in the Marine Corps 20+ years ago. I started running for my health. My doctor threatened me with all kinds of prescription medication if I didn't shape up. He gave me two months to turn it around. I was serious about getting healthy, and out of nowhere WHAM! I get the running bug. Pretty funny! I think I'm really slow, but I looked in my log at how much I have improved. Yes I'm slow, but not as slow as I used to be! This morning I ran on the treadmill next to a guy that was probably 47 years old. He started at 8.6 mph and worked his way up to 10mph and he did it for 6 really fast miles. To me that is stunning. I assumed that he has run his entire life. I spoke with him later. He said he started running three years ago. He had never done it before that. He just gave up the pop and donuts and started running. <go forrest!> I honestly don't think I will ever equal what he's doing (he weighed maybe a buck fifty, I'm 200lbs, but want to drop to 175), but I'm encouraged. Yes yes, you only run against yourself, yada yada. I can't help it. I'm very competitive and want to be faster, fitter and leaner. I won't be denied! :o) Nice forum by the way. I like the layout, the topic and also the general tone of the contributors here. I used to lurk rec.running, but it is so full of barking moon-bats that it's hard to get to the stuff that is really worth reading!

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:27 am

Wow, blood pressure 180/140 to 115/72, that is a huge drop! Congratulations!! I think the resting heart rate of the general population is something like 60 to 70, but I'm just pulling that number out of the air. If you're coming from a background of high blood pressure and extra weight, then I think a RHR of 68 is excellent. Keep up the running, and I'm sure it will drop further. With the mileage you're already doing, I think you'll continue to see big improvements. About the guy you met at the gym, are you sure he was doing 10MPH and not KPH? 6 miles at 10MPH is certainly possible, but for a 47 year old guy who started running just three years earlier, it would be damned impressive. That works out to a 37:12 10K time, which would be enough to win a lot of local races. If it truly was 10MPH, then kudos to that guy for an amazing performance!

Pretender
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Kansas, OK
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 100

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:33 am

Rickshaw, Yes, he really was going 10mph. That's why I was so amazed. I'm capable of zooming up to 8mph for the last 1/2 mile and that will absolutely peg my max heart rate. This guy was fast and he just kept going. Maybe he's a genetic freak. Still, I know there are people like him. It blows my mind to think that if I ever hop on the treadmill and set it to 12 miles an hour and go for 26.2 miles, I would still not break the WR! Talk about your mutants. :o)

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 1:09 pm

Yeah, the WR-pace runners are incredible. Imagine you were toeing the start line at a major marathon, with Tergat, Kannouchi, Keflezighi, and the rest of the world's best beside you. When the gun went off, how long do you think you could hang with the lead group? A mile? No way. Half a mile? Nope. A few hundred yards? For me, if I took off at an all-out sprint I could probably hang with the leaders for only about 50 or 100 yards. Then they'd go on to finish the rest of a marathon at that same pace. God, that's a sobering thought!

allen

Utah
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 27

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 4:58 pm

I've been measuring my resting HR for about 25 years. I think it is an excellent indicator of one's body condition. When I ran marathons in my late 40s, my resting HR was 44, and then one day it dropped to 40 and stayed there until I stopped marathon training. I'm older now (69) and my resting HR is 50. For those interested, I'm keeping graphs of my resting HR. http://www.leigh.org/running/traininggraphs.html I've found that insufficient sleep really affects my HR. If you look at my graphs, you'll see places with the graph increases more than the normal jitter. Those places are times when I got insufficient sleep. One or two nights of insufficient sleep, and my resting HR will climb 10% or more, and it usually takes a couple weeks of good sleep to come down. /Allen

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 6:44 pm

I monitor my HR nearly every night before I drift off to sleep. I often read in bed for a little while first. This get's my body relaxed and thus my rate is lower than if I measured right after jumping in bed. I do this to monitor my days workout. If I see an incrase of 8-10 beats it's usually because I had a hard workout that day and if it continues for two or three days I know I need to ease off and watch for over training. So...my heart rate averages about 42 at night and 39 in the morning (when I remember to check it). There have been a few times (when I was in the middle of my training for a marathon) that I measured my night time HR as low as 36. When I measure my heart rate I also concentrate on my breathing and try to relax. I definitely think this aids in my HR being as low as it is.

allen

Utah
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 27

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 9:44 pm

I'm surprised that more runners don't measure their resting HR, because it is such a good indicator of ones body condition. But it does take some effort and consistency to do it regularly. Another good indicator that I use is my 30 situps that I do before I run. I think there is a really good coorelation between how I feel after I finish the situps and how I'll feel during my run. FWIW, I don't do situps the "army" way with my hands behind my head and my head and shoulders on the ground during each situp. That method puts a high strain on ones back. I use a method I saw in Runners World many years ago. My hands are held parallel to the ground, and during the situps I keep my head and shoulders off the ground. I get a lot of movement in my waist but very little strain on my back. For those who are interested, I have pictures in my site of me doing situps to illustrate the method.

terrysquier

Canon City, CO
Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Posts: 44

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 5:45 am

My resting heart rate is generally between 45 and 50. Terry

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 7:10 am

So what factor do you have to apply to the jolt out of bed your alarm clock gives you? Seriously though, when I wake up naturally, say on a sunday, my resting heart rate has been as low as 39-40, but during the week, it's usually anywhere from 45-50 as I eat breakfast. At night mine's usually in the low 50's, but it usually depends on how hard a run I had that night.

Pretender
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Kansas, OK
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 100

Re: resting heart rate Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 12:28 pm

One good reason to track your resting HR is also to determine whether you should even run that day or not. An author (compleat idiots guide to HR training - can't remember the name) said that if you HR is 10bpm higher than normal, skip the day. You are either overtrained/sick/about to be sick. Since I have been tracking it, I think that he is right. Pretty amazing.

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