Low pulse Not bradycardia.

muzmacol
muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a naturally occuring low pulse it rest at 42 bpm. My heart is fine as it has been checked out by a cardiologist, after a routine ECG, quite funny really, i heard the tech say to her colleague 'how old is he?' '38' she said ''blimey' she muttered.
My main point is two fold, how many others out there in MFP land have a similar condition? Secondly if so do you believe it helps with fitness.? I do you see, my heart does does in one beat what the average heart does in 1 an a half beats. In my brain i figure this ha got to help??? Any thoughts?

Replies

  • kitkat4141
    kitkat4141 Posts: 379 Member
    My resting heart rate is 49 BPM. My blood pressure is also on the low side of normal. My doctor says it is part genetics (my father is also this way) and partially due to my fitness level which is very good. I exercise 6 days a week, make sure I get plenty of cardio and strength train heavy lifting 3 times a week and lighter weights/higher reps at least twice a week.

    However, I have noticed it does not take much physical exertion to push my heart to the upper limits when I exercise and for this reason I wear a HRM and tailor my workouts accordingly.
  • kitkat4141
    kitkat4141 Posts: 379 Member
    BTW, I turn 55 next week. So, doctors are happy, I'm happy.
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    Yeah seems mine is genetic too, from my Mum. My fitness is improving dramatically, i noticed on my HRM i was unable to go much over 158 during a run, which happens to be about 75% target range.
    Interesting thanks for your reply.
  • kitkat4141
    kitkat4141 Posts: 379 Member
    The doctors love those low readings but later in life my father had quadruple bypass heart surgery. He was 80 years old at the time and drove himself home from the hospital after the procedure. I think he threw away all the pills they gave him to take too. What a character!
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    My dads side of the family have all had terrible heart problems, premature deaths generally, though my Dad is still here thankfully. Think i dodged a bullet on that score. Your old man sounds like a tough old bird!
  • PeaceCorpsKat
    PeaceCorpsKat Posts: 335 Member
    I have this too. When I am in really good shape (like when I did a marathon) I had a EKG that clcoked me at 38!

    My resting is really low and my temp is low - my normal body temp is about 96.4.

    It's wierd, but my heart does beat fast when I am working out. So it's not a problem.
  • Colbyandsage
    Colbyandsage Posts: 751 Member
    Hi. I have a pacemaker. Not for Brady but because I had episodes of passing out an dizziness from AV block. This happened about once a year for me. I got the pacemaker in June of this yr after they caught it after I was coming to after surgery. I am 33 and healthy....

    I have a natural low HR. when I sleep it does to the 40's. It is actually a good thing to have a low resting HR. it's also good to have a good recovery heart rate, meaning ur rate when u r doing hard cardio then recovering. I work in a cardiology business plus I have done a ton of research on heart conditions but I am no doc.

    Has the doc given you more than an ECG? Stress test or holter scan?

    If not, keep a eye on signs of a bigger issue. Passing out unexpectedly, chest pain, dizziness. Before I was diagnosed, I blew it off as stress or standing up to fast. I was so naive. I used to wake up in the middle of the night sweating and breathing hard. It has happened since I was a kid so I assumed it happened to everyone and that I had a nightmare :)
  • janet_pratt
    janet_pratt Posts: 747 Member
    I had it happen for a couple days. At one point, while I was in the hospital ER getting it checked out, it went down to 39! I just felt....like I was fading away. They kept me overnight and it went back up and they said, "Hmm..we don't know what it was but it seems to be better now. That will be 10,000 dollars." I usually rest around the high 50's.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    It doesn't have any effect on exercise performance or confer any particular benefit.
  • batlou
    batlou Posts: 97 Member
    My resting HR is around 45 and I don't have any problems. Had a stress test each year for the Fire Dept physical and good to go. I also exercise, a lot so I guess that helps.

    @muzmacol: I am curious, you said your HR is typically around 150's and only 75% of Target. You sure your calculating that right? That would put your Target HR at around 200 which would put your max at, uh, I am not even sure where.
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    sorry didnt explain that too well, its the early hours here. I meant target heart rate is normally 75% of max HR, or thats what i thought i understood. I'm 38 so my max is 182, a rough guess is that 155ish is about 75%. Is that clearer? I'm still getting to know my HR monitor, it may well be me.

    Symptoms wise i have had known whatsoever. I had a 30 min echo as part of my check-up and was told all is well. Now go away lose some weight and drink less, was his general jist.

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