Resting HR & Training HR

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welshreduk
welshreduk Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi,

I am 36 and have been going to the gym for the last month 3 times a week doing 60 mins of cardio (2 x 30min) on the recumbent bike & cross trainer.

My resting HR yesterday was 51 bpm with BP of 122/78

When I work out my HR "peaks" at 170 on Cross trainer and 160 on recumbent bike (and I feel great during workout at these stats) AVG is 160 & 130.

My question though is regarding how long it takes for my resting HR to get back down to 51.

If I train today my HR will be 70 (ish) in the evening and 60 (ish) next morning. The following morning it is down to 51/52 and then when I exercise that day it's back to 70 that evening, 60 next morning, 51/52 morning after that.

Is it normal for it to take that long to go down to 51 and is 51 normal anyway in an overweight 36yo?

I was 14st 7 when I started but I am now 13st 9 with a target of 10st 13

I am 5ft 7

Replies

  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    Yes, that is normal. As you lose more weight and get more in shape the HR will drop back down to minimum more quickly.

    HR stays somewhat elevated until you are fully recovered from a workout. The harder and longer your workout the longer that takes.
  • welshreduk
    welshreduk Posts: 8
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    Hi,

    Thanks for your reply, 51 bpm seems low to me though?

    I'm not worried about it, just the opposite but I have a hard time understanding why it's low when I am overweight and only just starting with my cardio.

    If I look around the web for charts on HR they ALL class someone with a resting HR of 51 as an Athlete???

    Also the machines in my gym keep warning me of high HR when I go over 160 on the Cross trainer (170 on bike) but I know it would be even higher than that if I was running and I feel like I am at peak workout when at this HR?

    Are the warnings premature or should I slow down?
  • maegmez
    maegmez Posts: 341 Member
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    It's not unusually low. I started getting healthy back in August and my rhr is 53. I'm not an athlete by any means ( 5'4", 177 pounds with 50 to go) but I have been doing loads of cardio which is great conditioning for the heart.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    Resting heartrate is partly genetic and partly due to fitness. Mine is between 38 and 42 depending on how rested I am. Even when I was 35 lbs overweight and smoking a pack and a half a day it was only up to the mid 60s. So 51 is not unusual. I expect that in the long term with more weight loss and increased fitness you could get it down into the low 40s. Also, resting heartrate decreases quickly when starting an aerobic exercise program and you have already been at it a month.

    Going over 160 isn't going to hurt you as long as you don't have some sort of pre-existing heart defect. However, you could lower that into the mid 140s and build aerobic fitness just as well. The difference in calorie burn is minimal and you will be able to recover from the workout much quicker. You could also go longer without additional stress or even add another workout to the week if you want to.
  • welshreduk
    welshreduk Posts: 8
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    Thanks again for the replies, both of which were really helpful.

    I did start off doing 3 workouts...

    30mins recumbent bike
    30mins Cross trainer
    30mins recumbent bike

    but I found this week that I can push a bit more doing 60mins instead of 90 and in fact the weight has started dropping quicker this week as a result.

    Also my HR only peaks at 160 on the bike and this is towards the end of my workout, the average last time I was on it was 131

    I have kept to the same settings since day 1 just pushing further as my fitness improves and I am really pleased with the difference in less than a month.

    Recumbent bike stats week 1...

    30 mins
    Level 5
    Avg HR 160
    Peak HR 175
    Avg watts 75
    Calories burned 200
    Distance 7 miles

    Recumbent bike stats week 4...

    30 mins
    Level 5
    Avg HR 131
    Peak HR 160
    Avg watts 115
    Calories burned 245
    Distance 8.9 miles

    I am going to keep an eye on my resting HR same evening & next morning to see if this improves over the coming weeks.
    Annoyingly I did not check this from day one even though I had a BP monitor all along.

    I am also going to see my GP to get my cholesterol checked and compare it against another check next month.

    @ Scott - Do you use some sort of monitor when you run? I might go running when the weather improves and I feel fitter but I'd prefer to be able to check progress/stats somehow as I run.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    I use a garmin 310XT gps watch and heart rate monitor when I run. This year I have been running mostly by heartrate and letting the paces fall where they fall. The exception is on speed specific days where I run by pace.

    One of my recent workouts is here if you want to see the kind of data it collects and displays. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/289094761
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,715 Member
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    Normal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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