Heart Rate Recovery - senior vs young person

phoenixtoohot

I've read that the heart rate recovery (HRR) is a good indicator of fitness:

- If your HRR is 25 or over you are at minimal risk for cardiac death.
- If your HRR is 15 to 25 then you are at lower than average risk for cardiac death.
- If your HRR is 13 to 15 then you are at moderate chance of cardiac death. If you are in this range it is recommended that you schedule a cardiac evaluation.

Some people claim 50 bbp, or more, HRR values.

However, a 20 year old, with a maximum heart rate of 200 and resting of 50, would have a 150 bpm range between max and rest.
A 70 year old with a max heart rate of 150 and a resting rate of 75, would have a 75 bpm range

Seems like the 20 year old should have about a 2x drop over a 70 year old for the same level of fitness ... because he has twice the range betwen max and resting as the 70 year old.

My drop is between 20 and 30. I'm 70 and resting heart rate is usally around 65.

So the question is, is HRR for fitness a funcnction of age? That is, for the same level of fitness, shouldn't the 20 year olds HRR be about twice the 70 year old?

GadgetGuy2

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20000919/researchers-find-heart-rate-worth-thousand-words

The article references the Sept. 20th JAMA issue, which might answer your question.

The article states to calculate the HRR 1 minute after exercise ends, NOT, once the heart rate drops to normal resting rate. The delta between end of exercise and 1 minute after stopping, is the HRR.

P.S.-Congratulations on a score >= 25, some of the time! :drinker:

phoenixtoohot

Yes, that's correct, but the question has to do with HRR, not the resting heart rate.