Resting heart rate + Weight Loss

NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I've had a Fitbit Charge HR since early Feb. I like to see how my resting heart rate is just from a pure geeky point of view and do take it mostly with a pinch of salt as I know there is always room for error with a HRM watch.

However I have gone from having a resting heart beat of 70 odd (Last year when on BC and fat as you like) to between 53-58 resting heart beat now I've lost weight. My poor heart was taking the toll of my gluttonous life. :(

Has anyone else noticed a marked difference since losing weight?

Replies

  • Fitforevermore
    Fitforevermore Posts: 399 Member
    lower is better I think
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Is that your RHR when you first awake or after at least 10 minutes of lying on your back doing nothing?
  • loribethrice
    loribethrice Posts: 620 Member
    I have for sure. But, I think mine is more from exercise than from my weight loss. I have POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) which is a form of dysautonomia and before I was exercising regularly my resting heart rate was around 120. Now it stays between 70-80.
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Is that your RHR when you first awake or after at least 10 minutes of lying on your back doing nothing?

    It varies. I know during sleep it goes as low as 50. Sat doing nothing I'm around 54-57 lol
  • hmaddpear
    hmaddpear Posts: 610 Member
    Yup - resting heart rate (that is, sat at my desk at work), is approx. 20bpm less than it was two years (and 75lb) ago. I went from high 70's to around 60bpm. It's not just the lost weight, but also the increased exercise/stamina and better nutrition. I'm definitely feeling better for it!
  • minties82
    minties82 Posts: 907 Member
    My resting heart rate has gone from an average of 72 to 53 from Jan 4th. Prettt cool!
  • Gska17
    Gska17 Posts: 752 Member
    edited May 2015
    Mine went from the 90s to low 70s. The last time I gave blood I was shocked when they read me the number.

    Edit: I just took mine. 58. Wow...
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Normal is anything between 60 and 90. Mine tends to run on the low side. I had a nurse pretty worried when she measured my heart rate and it was 47.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Idk what my resting heart rate is, but doing normal stuff it's 67 bpm. I remember it being 90 bpm when I weighed 320.
  • KatherineDevore
    KatherineDevore Posts: 9 Member
    I have (POTS) Dysautonomia too. My resting heart rate is normally 120-130. I was on the elliptical for 10 minutes a few weeks ago and my heart rate went all the way up to 205! I have a hard time finding a good target exercise heart rate. I guess it's almost impossible with this condition! Lol
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    yep my heart rate went back from 167 to 57 in 8 months :)
  • cyronius
    cyronius Posts: 157 Member
    My resting heart rate is around 53bpm, but I only got my Surge around 4 weeks ago, so I don't know what it was like prior to starting to get fit and lose weight.

    That being said, I'm still in the overweight category and have lots more work to do. I'm far from an athlete, so I have no idea why my heart rate sits so low...
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Resting HR is more improved from exercise than strictly weight loss.

    Reason why you can have a drop of 20 bpm while dropping no weight due to increased water weight from the exercise.

    There are overweight people in great fitness shape (as measured my RHR, HRR, and VO2max).
    And there are healthy weight people in terrible fitness shape.

    That's the reason why the cheaper Polar's like F7/F4 make some bad assumptions that a bad BMI means bad fitness level, and gives a low VO2max reading to assist in estimating calorie burns. And vice-versa.

    The better ones (and from what I'm reading the Surge/Charge HR included), take into account your RHR along with BMI to get better estimate of VO2max and therefore calorie burn.
    Fitbit's (and perhaps other trackers too) have the additional ability to use amount of weekly exercise as another factor to improve the estimate of fitness level.

    Mine stays around 42-48 even during winter lifting bulk when the cardio has dropped way off, and the lbs go on.
  • Elle1657
    Elle1657 Posts: 14 Member
    Agree with post above.

    Increase in cardiovascular endurance will make the heart stronger and more efficient at pumping blood therefore less beats per minute are needed for end organ perfusion.

    So it doesn't so much have to do with lower weight but rather better cardiovascular conditioning. Also there are other factors like genetics, stress hormones, fluid intake that influence HR.

    To get the most accurate baseline resting heart rate check immediately after you wake, in bed lying supine.

    Don't know if this helps at all, I am interested to see that people are also fascinated by this.

    Anyways congrats on lowering your heart rate! And changing your lifestyle!
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner wrote: »

    Has anyone else noticed a marked difference since losing weight?

    According to my fit bit my resting heart rate is 45 ish. Even when sitting and counting my pulse it's around that or even lower, 36 I think is the lowest I have see it.

    Lower I hear is better but too low can be signs of problems.

    I think my heart rate hadn't come down or not my much from losing weight. But I think my heart rate is lower because of heart issues. VSD Etc for those in the know.

  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited June 2015
    yeps...raises hand i have that too.
    Discovered pretty late btw ( 23 years old) Normally around childhood i understood.
  • xX_PhoenixRising_Xx
    xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Posts: 623 Member
    My RHR used to be in the high 70s when I was 329lbs and unfit to the point of losing my breath when walking upstairs in my house. Now I was just checked (and cleared) by a cardiologist in April. My HR overnight is around 40, and usually between 45 and 50 if I've been moving around and sit down for a few mins. The cardiologist put it down to a combination of weight loss (around 150lbs lost and been maintaining for a year) and cardiovascular fitness.

    I'm not fit enough to attribute my low RHR to fitness alone - I can run 5km but I'm certainly not an extreme athlete - so the weight loss and less stress on my body has quite a bit to do with it.
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
    It's not fitness that has improved mine. I do no exercise lol
  • ms_maruska
    ms_maruska Posts: 119 Member
    My heart rate went down really fast. I've been exercising for 7 weeks now and a few days ago I checked my blood pressure and was really surprised to see that my HR was 45-55 (I checked a few times because I didn't realize it would happen that fast)!
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