Fitness and Heart Rate

AlbertSchwartz

Hi all, your thoughts please.

I have been training at the gym for the past couple of months and have noticed improvements in my fitness lvl's. My resting HR is down to 55 bpm my blood pressure is 119/69. All this ain't bad for a 280 lbs fatty.

Now recently i have noticed that my workouts on the machines have stayed the same, by that i mean intensity, speed duration, machines calorie display. The differance however is my heart rate, its gone from 170 - 180 to 150 - 160. Now as i'm still doing the same 'work', is the lower heart rate due to fitness? My legs are tired when training so its not as if i can go much faster but my heart rate has slowed.

So is this a case of improved cardiovascular system and the legs now need to catch up or is something else happening?

Thanks

Al

AlbertSchwartz

Hi all, your thoughts please.

I have been training at the gym for the past couple of months and have noticed improvements in my fitness lvl's. My resting HR is down to 55 bpm my blood pressure is 119/69. All this ain't bad for a 280 lbs fatty.

Now recently i have noticed that my workouts on the machines have stayed the same, by that i mean intensity, speed duration, machines calorie display. The differance however is my heart rate, its gone from 170 - 180 to 150 - 160. Now as i'm still doing the same 'work', is the lower heart rate due to fitness? My legs are tired when training so its not as if i can go much faster but my heart rate has slowed.

So is this a case of improved cardiovascular system and the legs now need to catch up or is something else happening?

Thanks

Al

tanzmamma

Hmmm... I am completely guessing here. But I would think... that you're getting more fit so your body doesn't have to work as hard (which is making your HR go down)... but you're still WORKING those muscles which is making them feel tired afterward?

Is there any way to add SOMETHING to make it more difficult so that your heart rate gets back up? What is your target HR zone?

calatibo

your heart is a muscle too, and you are training it to work more efficiently. It is also likely to be larger and so can pump more blood around your body, thus more oxygen and thus does not need to work as hard to keep you going.

Just think of your blood as being the fuel delivery, that needs a pump to move it around. A bigger more effiecient pump will not need to be worked as hard as a tiny, ineffecient one.

it is also the reason your resting heart beat is down

AlbertSchwartz

your heart is a muscle too, and you are training it to work more efficiently. It is also likely to be larger and so can pump more blood around your body, thus more oxygen and thus does not need to work as hard to keep you going.

Just think of your blood as being the fuel delivery, that needs a pump to move it around. A bigger more effiecient pump will not need to be worked as hard as a tiny, ineffecient one.

it is also the reason your resting heart beat is down

Yeah i figured as much, just didn't hear other comment on it, my legs during training have the lactic burn so can't realy push harder yet until they catch up.

but... i know that a fit person will be quick to get their HR up to 200 and then recover quickly...

Anyone else noticed this?

lotusfromthemud

In my understanding, a lower, sustained heart rate during exercise is better for fat loss. Googling "target heart rates" should give you a better idea of where your's should be.

Maybe try interval training? Take 30 second spurts and go as hard as you can (shooting the h.r. up) and then take recovery time, then repeat.

This is what I do. . .my heart rate will go up to 180ish (quite high for me) and then recover quickly. (Also, my legs scream for mercy on the spin bike during this interval) Than, I take a few minutes, let my heart rate drop, and then go again.

Great progress on the resting heart rate.:flowerforyou:

Fit2btied

Sounds awesome to me...you are becoming a much healthier machine! Congrats!

dwalden

One thing else you might consider is changing things up. If you are continually doing the same thing your body will get accustomed and will adjust accordingly. If you normally bike trying running or swimming instead. Try using the rowing machine or if you are using an upright bike try using a recumbent bike.

Whenever I moved to something new it seemed to be much harder initially until my body adjusted. Now I do a mix throughout the week to keep my body guessing. It has really helped and kept me continually loosing weight.