Heart Rate

Molly08

Hey Guys!

I've been trying to get healthier since January. I have really started to include cardio the last 2-3 weeks to my healthy diet. I walk 3Km, it takes me roughly 30minutes. Anyway here are my stats:

Resting Heart Rate: roughly 72 (I think it may have higher to start with!)
When I'm done exercising: roughly 145bpm
2 minutes after: down to 108bpm
5 minutes after: down to 84bpm

My question is this: Is that healthy? A big part of my reasons to exercise is so that I have healthy heart and live a nice long life ) Will my heart rate go down quicker as I exercise more? I started at 288 and am down to 256lbs (in 14weeks). Just wanted to see if that's normal.

Thx )

Davali

Was thinking this myself today.... will be interested to hear everyone's thoughts...

iamhealingmyself

Right now you're putting unusual (to your heart) stress on it. As you walk more (or do any kind of exercise), you will build your endurance and you will see your rate will be harder to get up that high and you will burn fewer calories as your heart (and body) become more conditioned. Not being a doctor I can't really say if it's good or bad, but if you're concerned ask your doctor what he/she thinks. Someone who's known you for awhile can evaluate your overall health better than we can on here with limited knowledge.

I found this (and some other good information) here: http://www.nemahealth.org/programs/healthcare/heart_rate_pulse.htm
Recovery Heart Rate

One way to determine if you are reaping the benefits from exercise is to calculate your Recovery Heart Rate, a measure of how quickly you return to your resting heart rate after a workout. To calculate your recovery heart rate:

1. Take your pulse ten seconds immediately after you have finished exercising. Write down the number.

2. One minute later, take your pulse again and write it down.

3. Subtract the number for the second pulse check from the number for the first pulse check. This number is your Recovery Heart Rate. The greater the number, the better shape you are in!

BryanAir

I'm not an expert, but from what I see online it seems like you are in the normal range for all your stats. As you improve your fitness then your resting heart rate should get lower and your recovery heart rate will probably be lower. Editing to say that your recovery heart rate after 2 minutes will be lower, not that you will recover slower.

cmriverside

It depends on your individual situation. And yes, your resting Heart Rate will improve with fitness.
Here's a method to calculate:
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This method of calculating your target training zone is based on your maximal heartrate and resting pulse.
The correlation here is more directly linear: 60% to 80% of your Heart Rate Reserve, HRR, equals 60% to 80% of your functional capacity.

To determine your target training zone with HRR, do this:

Take your resting pulse three mornings in a row, just after waking up. Add all of them together, and divide by 3, to get the average.

Let's say your average is 60 beats per minute.

(220) - (your age) = MaxHR

(MaxHR) - (resting heart rate) = HRR

(HRR) x (60% to 80%) = training range %

(training range %) + (resting heart rate) = (your target training zone)

so,

220 - 35 = 185 (MaxHR)

185 - 60 = 125 (HRR)

125 x .6 = 75 (60% training percentage)

125 x .8 = 100 (80% training percentage)

75 + 60 = 135 (target training zone, in beats per minute)
100 + 60 = 160 (target training zone, in beats per minute)

So, your target training zone, in beats per minute is 135 to 160. Of course, to get a 15 second target simply divide each number by 4. That would be 34 to 40 beats over 15 seconds. When counting beats, start with the first beat as zero: ie. 0-1-2-3-4...38-39-40.

http://www.sportfit.com/sportfitglossary/energetics_aerobic_krvnn.html

LovelySnugs

bump to come back

zeeeb

sounds about right to me... my spin instructor said to me that if you are unfit it can take a couple of hours for your heart rate to recover, which sounded extreme to me and as you get fitter your heart rate should start to recover faster and faster.

i know when i do a spin class i get my heart rate up between 140 and 170 throughout the class but it only takes a minute or 2 to get it back down to something a bit more normal.

walking is not as much effort as a cycle class, so it's hard to get your heart rate up very high walking. but for fat burning they say your heart rate should be at 120+ (depending on your age). but i find it seems pointless working in the 120-130's range and really don't feel like i'm doing anything worthwhile unless i'm at or over 140.

But again, that all depends on how your body responds to exercise. some people can lose a tonne of weight from walking. Me, i can walk til the cows come home, and i won't lose weight unless I'm really working alot harder than walking. or walking for 3 hours a day or something.