Resting Heart Rate Question...

Children have faster heart rates, and rate slows as we become adults, but normal is above 60 bpm. However, one of the goals of cardiovascular exercise is to lower your resting heart rate. A lower resting heart rate is an indicator of good heart health. But it can also indicate a problem, especially if it's joined by palpitations or any abnormal sensation.

If you're concerned, you should get it checked out. You'll probably be given a Holter monitor to wear for a 24-48 hour period which will continuously record your heart beat. Then your doc will look at that to see if anything looks abnormal. He might also give you an EKG exam, so he can see your heart, examine the thickness of the walls and valves and make sure all the valves are functioning properly.

It's good to know for sure, but it's probably just that you have a healthy heart. My own resting heart rate is in the upper 40s, and I had it checked, and it's just very healthy, so that's one less thing to worry about.

It seems like the fitter you are, the lower the heart rate. I just asked my friends the other day what their resting rate was (mine is 58). They all had pretty similar rates, although they mentioned that when they were heavier their rates were higher. One friend had an alarmingly high rate, although she is very fit. Maybe you're a special snowflake?

Sorry to bump an old thread, but my resting heart rate seems abnormally low as well.

This isn't true resting heart rate, but mine measured over 30s is 52 sitting at my desk now, which for a 35 year old guy puts me in the middle of "athlete" range on a lot of charts. I have been exercising (P90X) ~1hr/day for the last 7 weeks, but other than that I have a pretty sedentary desk job. Athlete I am not. When I started cutting back on calories after a "eat nothing that isn't deep fried" Super Bowl party, I dropped pretty quickly in ~45 days from 185 down to about 170lbs, though I wasn't really tracking it. I haven't moved much in the last few weeks though, despite measuring and logging foods and eating at -500 calories.

Is it common with prolonged (multi-month) deficits for your body to compensate by lowering metabolism and that might be causing a lower resting heart rate?

DaveinSK wrote: »

Sorry to bump an old thread, but my resting heart rate seems abnormally low as well.

This isn't true resting heart rate, but mine measured over 30s is 52 sitting at my desk now, which for a 35 year old guy puts me in the middle of "athlete" range on a lot of charts. I have been exercising (P90X) ~1hr/day for the last 7 weeks, but other than that I have a pretty sedentary desk job. Athlete I am not. When I started cutting back on calories after a "eat nothing that isn't deep fried" Super Bowl party, I dropped pretty quickly in ~45 days from 185 down to about 170lbs, though I wasn't really tracking it. I haven't moved much in the last few weeks though, despite measuring and logging foods and eating at -500 calories.

Is it common with prolonged (multi-month) deficits for your body to compensate by lowering metabolism and that might be causing a lower resting heart rate?

You're perfectly fine. I'm 35 too and my resting HR is 53. I do zero cardio. Very normal especially if you've been doing an hour of cardio every day.

Yes low resting HR is a good thing. Athletes can have very low resting HRs http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-answers/heart-rate/faq-20057979