Is a drop in my resting HR a good thing?

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Verity1111
Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
edited March 2017 in Fitness and Exercise
Does this indicate a slight improvement in my physical fitness? I started being more active since I got my FitBit for Valentine's Day. My resting HR has been 74-75BPM for a long time or around there (even before I had the FitBit it was that when I'd measure) and the last few days or week it has stayed around 64-65BPM. So, it has dropped 10BPM. Is that a good indication, bad or neither? Also, my fitness level is very poor and my HR spikes extremely easily. I did a 3.0mph walk for a bit over an hr today and it averaged 135bpm. Just wondering if it means anything at all that it changed.

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  • marieamethyst
    marieamethyst Posts: 869 Member
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    I've been wearing my Charge 2 for a month and a half now after increasing my exercise, and my resting heart rate has gone down - according to the Cardio Fitness thing that Fitbit has with the Charge 2, I went from being on the border of Average/Good when I first started to the middle of Good now that my resting heart rate has dropped. So yes :)
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited March 2017
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    marieamethyst wrote: »
    I've been wearing my Charge 2 for a month and a half now after increasing my exercise, and my resting heart rate has gone down - according to the Cardio Fitness thing that Fitbit has with the Charge 2, I went from being on the border of Average/Good when I first started to the middle of Good now that my resting heart rate has dropped. So yes :)

    Yeah I am totally in the poor category lol badly in there. Not fair even just plain poor! maybe thats why its saying I burned 700 calories walking for 70 mins. It seems high but then my HR was 135 (average and went up to 165) and I had breathing trouble Lol. Im going to estimate around 400 to be safe but it could be over 700 I think because Im very out of shape. Sad really. I am glad I'm improving though! baby steps! Now if my hr didnt jump to 113 just walking room to room....that would be good. Lol. It spikes very easy and I easily get heavy breathing and chest pains. Youd think I weight 300-400lbs instead of 192 and Im only 26. lol
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    oh & thank you both for responding!
  • marieamethyst
    marieamethyst Posts: 869 Member
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    Verity1111 wrote: »
    marieamethyst wrote: »
    I've been wearing my Charge 2 for a month and a half now after increasing my exercise, and my resting heart rate has gone down - according to the Cardio Fitness thing that Fitbit has with the Charge 2, I went from being on the border of Average/Good when I first started to the middle of Good now that my resting heart rate has dropped. So yes :)

    Yeah I am totally in the poor category lol badly in there. Not fair even just plain poor! maybe thats why its saying I burned 700 calories walking for 70 mins. It seems high but then my HR was 135 (average and went up to 165) and I had breathing trouble Lol. Im going to estimate around 400 to be safe but it could be over 700 I think because Im very out of shape. Sad really. I am glad I'm improving though! baby steps! Now if my hr didnt jump to 113 just walking room to room....that would be good. Lol. It spikes very easy and I easily get heavy breathing and chest pains. Youd think I weight 300-400lbs instead of 192 and Im only 26. lol

    We all started somewhere! You're heading in the right direction, just keep at it - good luck! :)
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    marieamethyst wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    marieamethyst wrote: »
    I've been wearing my Charge 2 for a month and a half now after increasing my exercise, and my resting heart rate has gone down - according to the Cardio Fitness thing that Fitbit has with the Charge 2, I went from being on the border of Average/Good when I first started to the middle of Good now that my resting heart rate has dropped. So yes :)

    Yeah I am totally in the poor category lol badly in there. Not fair even just plain poor! maybe thats why its saying I burned 700 calories walking for 70 mins. It seems high but then my HR was 135 (average and went up to 165) and I had breathing trouble Lol. Im going to estimate around 400 to be safe but it could be over 700 I think because Im very out of shape. Sad really. I am glad I'm improving though! baby steps! Now if my hr didnt jump to 113 just walking room to room....that would be good. Lol. It spikes very easy and I easily get heavy breathing and chest pains. Youd think I weight 300-400lbs instead of 192 and Im only 26. lol

    We all started somewhere! You're heading in the right direction, just keep at it - good luck! :)

    Thank you! ^_^ I didnt walk for 5 months last year (bedridden) so I think that negatively impacted my fitness now that I think about it.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited March 2017
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    zachbonner_ wrote: »
    btw those calorie estimates are usually way off. Usually you burn only around 50% of what the estimates will tell you

    I estimated around 400 calories. I walked for 79mins it said and it was 3.5-4miles. It said 760-770calories burned and an average HR of 135bpm and 165bpm was my high (the BPM is accurate at least). I do read for some people FitBit is very accurate though. MFP said 300 and based on my experience dieting and exercising + my weight loss idk sounded a bit low then Map My Walk said 465 so I went with 400 (right in between) since Map My Walk also incorporated my height speed etc. Both were way lower than FitBit. So if FitBit is right I will have an extra 360cal in my deficit and lose more weight. I still win. lol
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    Gotta get this out of the way: it could be a good thing, it could be a bad thing, it could be a fluke, if you really want to know, see your doctor and get a referral to a cardiologist. All the advice you get here is worth what you paid for it. :wink:

    That said, the heart is a muscle like any other. When people start exercising, that often strengthens their heart. One thing that happens is for the stroke volume to increase, which is a fancy way of saying the heart pumps more blood per beat (so it doesn't have to beat as often to get the same job done).

    10 bpm in 3 weeks seems pretty quick for this kind of adaptation, but I don't know.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited March 2017
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Gotta get this out of the way: it could be a good thing, it could be a bad thing, it could be a fluke, if you really want to know, see your doctor and get a referral to a cardiologist. All the advice you get here is worth what you paid for it. :wink:

    That said, the heart is a muscle like any other. When people start exercising, that often strengthens their heart. One thing that happens is for the stroke volume to increase, which is a fancy way of saying the heart pumps more blood per beat (so it doesn't have to beat as often to get the same job done).

    10 bpm in 3 weeks seems pretty quick for this kind of adaptation, but I don't know.

    Well, I was pretty much sedentary. lol. I went from less than 3,000 steps per day and over doubled my average. I guess I just felt like upping my activity. I used to be very active before but then I didn't walk for 5 months due to injury last year and it had a negative impact on my fitness level. Not sure if it's a fluke or if it really did improve that much. Who knows? Lol. Time will tell. My breathing is horrid though and I feel like fainting just bending down for 5-10 seconds so I should probably see a dr

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