How do I lower my resting heart rate?
tarisa01
Posts: 26 Member
I’m female, 23, 5’3”, and 194lbs with a resting heart rate of 75 BPM. I want to lower it but I’m not sure how. I know exersise and weight loss will help but what intensity of exersise? Is brisk walking/speed walking for an hour and forty minutes a day enough? My heart rate is usually around 150-170 while doing so.
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Replies
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100 minutes of walking is a lot. Is that directed exercise or just a consequence of lifestyle?
In practice, as you improve your fitness your RHR will reduce.3 -
I started power walking every day. In a year my resting heart rate went from the high 80's to the low 60's. I cut my bad cholesterol in half and more than doubled my good cholesterol. I also lost over 50 lbs. and went from a size 40 waist to a 32.
I kept my heart rate in the cardio zone in order to improve my fitness level. As @MeanderingMammal mentioned, as your fitness level increases your resting heart rate will decrease.4 -
Some of it is genetic.
Some of it is related to other health issues.
Some of it is fitness ... long term fitness, in particular. I rather suspect that it won't be something you'd notice in a week or two ... more like a year or two.
How do you know your resting HR is 75?0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »100 minutes of walking is a lot. Is that directed exercise or just a consequence of lifestyle?
In practice, as you improve your fitness your RHR will reduce.
I have a very sedentary job, I make like 500 steps a day, so to make up for it, I was 100 minutes a day to get about 12,000 steps and 8km in.3 -
OldAssDude wrote: »I started power walking every day. In a year my resting heart rate went from the high 80's to the low 60's. I cut my bad cholesterol in half and more than doubled my good cholesterol. I also lost over 50 lbs. and went from a size 40 waist to a 32.
I kept my heart rate in the cardio zone in order to improve my fitness level. As @MeanderingMammal mentioned, as your fitness level increases your resting heart rate will decrease.
Oh, okay. This is what I was wondering. I have lost 45 lb since July and I’m hoping to lose more and become more fit, so hopefully it will go down.1 -
Some of it is genetic.
Some of it is related to other health issues.
Some of it is fitness ... long term fitness, in particular. I rather suspect that it won't be something you'd notice in a week or two ... more like a year or two.
How do you know your resting HR is 75?
My family is all very over weight and have high heart rates, bad blood pressure, the whole bit so I don’t have much to go off there. As for other health issues, I do have severe anxiety which surely effects my heart rate to a point. In terms of long term fitness, I’ve only recently started to get into fitness in July and I’ve lost 45 lbs. I’m hoping to
Increase my fitness and weight loss quite a bit so hopefully this will help lower my heart rate. I know my resting heart rate is 75 because it’s averagely what I count when I’m at rest and take my pulse. It’s also close to what my Fitbit reads (though I am more comfortable counting myself).1 -
75 is a normal range. Did your doctor advise you it should be lower? If not don’t worry about it in and of itself. As you get more fit it will likely drop. It is a gradual process. Mine has dropped 20-30 points since I started on my journey 4+ years ago.6
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »100 minutes of walking is a lot. Is that directed exercise or just a consequence of lifestyle?
In practice, as you improve your fitness your RHR will reduce.
I have a very sedentary job, I make like 500 steps a day, so to make up for it, I was 100 minutes a day to get about 12,000 steps and 8km in.
Thanks, that's helpful. In practice that's more than enough to see improvement over time. Complicating issues are your current rate of weight loss, that means that at the moment your HR isn't all that consistent.
Just give it time.1 -
OldAssDude wrote: »I started power walking every day. In a year my resting heart rate went from the high 80's to the low 60's. I cut my bad cholesterol in half and more than doubled my good cholesterol. I also lost over 50 lbs. and went from a size 40 waist to a 32.
I kept my heart rate in the cardio zone in order to improve my fitness level. As @MeanderingMammal mentioned, as your fitness level increases your resting heart rate will decrease.
The news is so depressing. And then I come here and read awesome stuff like this, and think the world isn't so bad.5 -
Some of it is genetic.
Some of it is related to other health issues.
Some of it is fitness ... long term fitness, in particular. I rather suspect that it won't be something you'd notice in a week or two ... more like a year or two.
How do you know your resting HR is 75?
My family is all very over weight and have high heart rates, bad blood pressure, the whole bit so I don’t have much to go off there. As for other health issues, I do have severe anxiety which surely effects my heart rate to a point. In terms of long term fitness, I’ve only recently started to get into fitness in July and I’ve lost 45 lbs. I’m hoping to
Increase my fitness and weight loss quite a bit so hopefully this will help lower my heart rate. I know my resting heart rate is 75 because it’s averagely what I count when I’m at rest and take my pulse. It’s also close to what my Fitbit reads (though I am more comfortable counting myself).
Me too, sometimes. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Does walking help?1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Some of it is genetic.
Some of it is related to other health issues.
Some of it is fitness ... long term fitness, in particular. I rather suspect that it won't be something you'd notice in a week or two ... more like a year or two.
How do you know your resting HR is 75?
My family is all very over weight and have high heart rates, bad blood pressure, the whole bit so I don’t have much to go off there. As for other health issues, I do have severe anxiety which surely effects my heart rate to a point. In terms of long term fitness, I’ve only recently started to get into fitness in July and I’ve lost 45 lbs. I’m hoping to
Increase my fitness and weight loss quite a bit so hopefully this will help lower my heart rate. I know my resting heart rate is 75 because it’s averagely what I count when I’m at rest and take my pulse. It’s also close to what my Fitbit reads (though I am more comfortable counting myself).
Me too, sometimes. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Does walking help?
Not with the anxiety, but it helps with my depression in the long term.
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Your HR is normal. It may decrease as you get more fit, but if it doesn't, it's not anything to worry about.3
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I’m female, 23, 5’3”, and 194lbs with a resting heart rate of 75 BPM. I want to lower it but I’m not sure how. I know exersise and weight loss will help but what intensity of exersise? Is brisk walking/speed walking for an hour and forty minutes a day enough? My heart rate is usually around 150-170 while doing so.
Volume of exercise makes as much difference as anything, and you have a pretty good volume going there. You're right; exercise and weight loss will help. But be aware that some people's heart rates just run higher than others by nature.
It's not a competitive sport to get the numerically lowest heart rate among our friends or fellow MGP-ers
. The point is just to work on your cardiovascular fitness persistently over the long haul. You should see your HR lower over time, compared to where you started, as you get fitter. You'll probably also see your heart rate gradually get lower on your walks, at the same speed/exertion. That's progress! 3 -
Volume of exercise. When i am training actively for half and such, my rhr is in the 40-50 range. I also do some focused meditation and breathing exercises to slow my hr. Even just 2 minutes a day of focused breathing helps me lower it.1
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I’m female, 23, 5’3”, and 194lbs with a resting heart rate of 75 BPM. I want to lower it but I’m not sure how. I know exersise and weight loss will help but what intensity of exersise? Is brisk walking/speed walking for an hour and forty minutes a day enough? My heart rate is usually around 150-170 while doing so.
Volume of exercise makes as much difference as anything, and you have a pretty good volume going there. You're right; exercise and weight loss will help. But be aware that some people's heart rates just run higher than others by nature.
It's not a competitive sport to get the numerically lowest heart rate among our friends or fellow MGP-ers . The point is just to work on your cardiovascular fitness persistently over the long haul. You should see your HR lower over time, compared to where you started, as you get fitter. You'll probably also see your heart rate gradually get lower on your walks, at the same speed/exertion. That's progress!
Thanks. I know it’s not a competition. I’m just trying to get in shape and be healthy. Nothing to do with competition.0 -
RunnerGirl238 wrote: »Volume of exercise. When i am training actively for half and such, my rhr is in the 40-50 range. I also do some focused meditation and breathing exercises to slow my hr. Even just 2 minutes a day of focused breathing helps me lower it.
Okay! Thanks!0 -
I’m female, 23, 5’3”, and 194lbs with a resting heart rate of 75 BPM. I want to lower it but I’m not sure how. I know exersise and weight loss will help but what intensity of exersise? Is brisk walking/speed walking for an hour and forty minutes a day enough? My heart rate is usually around 150-170 while doing so.
Volume of exercise makes as much difference as anything, and you have a pretty good volume going there. You're right; exercise and weight loss will help. But be aware that some people's heart rates just run higher than others by nature.
It's not a competitive sport to get the numerically lowest heart rate among our friends or fellow MGP-ers . The point is just to work on your cardiovascular fitness persistently over the long haul. You should see your HR lower over time, compared to where you started, as you get fitter. You'll probably also see your heart rate gradually get lower on your walks, at the same speed/exertion. That's progress!
Thanks. I know it’s not a competition. I’m just trying to get in shape and be healthy. Nothing to do with competition.
Mostly, that was just a way to say "the raw number doesn't matter" (as long as your doctor thinks your heart is normal). I'm sorry: That wasn't clear.1 -
RunnerGirl238 wrote: »Volume of exercise. When i am training actively for half and such, my rhr is in the 40-50 range. I also do some focused meditation and breathing exercises to slow my hr. Even just 2 minutes a day of focused breathing helps me lower it.
This is it for me. Now that I've had the wHRM thing long enough, you can chart my RHR over a year and it's always highest in winter when the days are short, wet, and cold.
But @AnnPT77 is right, as usual. The raw number doesn't matter so much, it's a good indicator but only one.1
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