Heart Rate

kel913
kel913 Posts: 30 Member
edited December 1 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all, I'm 31 years of age, 5ft7 and weigh 17st3 (241lb). I've always been fairly active, but always overweight and for the last 12 years I've been obese (maybe even morbidly obese?). I did lose around 5 stone (70lb) about 2 years ago but then put about 4 stone of that back on after becoming pregnant again. My youngest is now 8 months old and I've been actively losing weight again for a couple of month. I upgraded my Fitbit One to a Fitbit blaze as it has a heart rate monitor on it. I average about 10000 steps a day and also over the last couple of weeks been doing other exercise (hiit training mainly). I was showing my friend the Fitbit blaze and how it works etc when she noticed my resting heart rate was 57. She said that it was quite low to say that I am obese (she didn't put it as bluntly as that and she is the sort of friend who is able to say things like that to me without me being offended!! Haha!) So i started doing a bit of a google about it all and for my age, my resting hr comes under 'athlete' (my resting hr on my blaze has been consistently between 57-59 since I got it two months ago) so naturally I'm a bit baffled by this. Is it possible that I am still quite (well very maybe!?) fit from being active when I was younger and when I previously lost my weight even thought I'm obese? Should I be worried? Obviously I know that you are not docs (well most of you wont be!) but I don't want to go charging into my doctors and saying I'm worried about my hr if there is nothing to be worried about, if that makes sense!? Any thoughts? Thanks :)

Replies

  • chrisfwood
    chrisfwood Posts: 37 Member
    My Garmin has my RHR as 43 for last week and 44 for the last 3 weeks as an average, I'm 42 and by no means an athlete. It is called Bradycardia unless it is causing you issues then don't worry about it, you can talk to your doctor if you like and there would be no harm in doing so. I will at some point but I know my dad also has a slow heart rate (or did) and it did create problems like blacking out because basically his heart practically stop beating, now he has a pace maker.
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    There's kind of a general misconception with bradycardia that if your resting heart rate is lower, it means you're healthier or more athletic. Not really the case. Working on a cardiac floor, I can tell you, we see patients quite often with very low heart rates who, like a previous poster said, end up with pacemakers because they have electrical blocks in their heart that prevent them from working properly.

    That being said, upper 50's without symptoms (dizziness, chest pain, fatigue, fainting), isn't something I'd worry overly much about in terms of emergency, because you're basically at the upper end of the lower end of normal (if that made sense, haha). I WOULD mention it to your doctor, and monitor it, as well as your blood pressure, to get a sense of your baseline, and if you get any symptoms, I would definitely make an appointment sooner than later to get a medical opinion.
  • JoeCWV
    JoeCWV Posts: 213 Member
    One other thing. Did you check your pulse? Maybe the fit bit is wrong. Either way it is probably not slow enough to be an issue.
  • shank35l
    shank35l Posts: 102 Member
    LilRedRooster wrote: »
    There's kind of a general misconception with bradycardia that if your resting heart rate is lower, it means you're healthier or more athletic. Not really the case. Working on a cardiac floor, I can tell you, we see patients quite often with very low heart rates who, like a previous poster said, end up with pacemakers because they have electrical blocks in their heart that prevent them from working properly.

    That being said, upper 50's without symptoms (dizziness, chest pain, fatigue, fainting), isn't something I'd worry overly much about in terms of emergency, because you're basically at the upper end of the lower end of normal (if that made sense, haha). I WOULD mention it to your doctor, and monitor it, as well as your blood pressure, to get a sense of your baseline, and if you get any symptoms, I would definitely make an appointment sooner than later to get a medical opinion.


    o Unless you are on beta-blockers and/or a full time professional athlete bradycardia is not something to just shrug off.

    o Just to be on the safe side, see a GP and get an EKG

    o Holtor monitor couldn't hurt

  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    before doing anything else, check your pulse using something other than the fitbit. electronics are sometimes wrong.
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
    for what its worth I am a male 54 and my resting is as low as 54 and as high as 60. I do run about 25 miles a week and have the blaze. There is a graph in the heart rate area of the fitbit dashboard so you can look at the resting rate as far back as you like and see how it changes. I also got it up to 156 during my run. My gut feeling is it is pretty accurate but I am too lazy to check it.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    kel913 wrote: »
    Hi all, I'm 31 years of age, 5ft7 and weigh 17st3 (241lb). I've always been fairly active, but always overweight and for the last 12 years I've been obese (maybe even morbidly obese?). I did lose around 5 stone (70lb) about 2 years ago but then put about 4 stone of that back on after becoming pregnant again. My youngest is now 8 months old and I've been actively losing weight again for a couple of month. I upgraded my Fitbit One to a Fitbit blaze as it has a heart rate monitor on it. I average about 10000 steps a day and also over the last couple of weeks been doing other exercise (hiit training mainly). I was showing my friend the Fitbit blaze and how it works etc when she noticed my resting heart rate was 57. She said that it was quite low to say that I am obese (she didn't put it as bluntly as that and she is the sort of friend who is able to say things like that to me without me being offended!! Haha!) So i started doing a bit of a google about it all and for my age, my resting hr comes under 'athlete' (my resting hr on my blaze has been consistently between 57-59 since I got it two months ago) so naturally I'm a bit baffled by this. Is it possible that I am still quite (well very maybe!?) fit from being active when I was younger and when I previously lost my weight even thought I'm obese? Should I be worried? Obviously I know that you are not docs (well most of you wont be!) but I don't want to go charging into my doctors and saying I'm worried about my hr if there is nothing to be worried about, if that makes sense!? Any thoughts? Thanks :)

    First of all, don't rely on a wrist-based monitor for heart-rate information. It's fine for just a general activity-based monitoring, but if you want accurate data, then invest in a arm-cuff monitor, such as an Omron. A true resting hr must be taken upon waking, before getting out of bed.

    Also, even if you do have a low resting HR, that does not mean that you are "fit". Clearly with your weight/height, your health is not good. Get active, lose weight.
  • kel913
    kel913 Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks all, yes I have also been checking my pulse manually and even a friend who is a nurse has checked it too and it is most of the time identical to the Fitbit, other times it is only one or two beats out. Anyhow I am going to go to the doctors as I also suffer from cluster headaches which I have since found out has a link to bradycardia. Best to get it checked.

  • kel913
    kel913 Posts: 30 Member
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    kel913 wrote: »
    Hi all, I'm 31 years of age, 5ft7 and weigh 17st3 (241lb). I've always been fairly active, but always overweight and for the last 12 years I've been obese (maybe even morbidly obese?). I did lose around 5 stone (70lb) about 2 years ago but then put about 4 stone of that back on after becoming pregnant again. My youngest is now 8 months old and I've been actively losing weight again for a couple of month. I upgraded my Fitbit One to a Fitbit blaze as it has a heart rate monitor on it. I average about 10000 steps a day and also over the last couple of weeks been doing other exercise (hiit training mainly). I was showing my friend the Fitbit blaze and how it works etc when she noticed my resting heart rate was 57. She said that it was quite low to say that I am obese (she didn't put it as bluntly as that and she is the sort of friend who is able to say things like that to me without me being offended!! Haha!) So i started doing a bit of a google about it all and for my age, my resting hr comes under 'athlete' (my resting hr on my blaze has been consistently between 57-59 since I got it two months ago) so naturally I'm a bit baffled by this. Is it possible that I am still quite (well very maybe!?) fit from being active when I was younger and when I previously lost my weight even thought I'm obese? Should I be worried? Obviously I know that you are not docs (well most of you wont be!) but I don't want to go charging into my doctors and saying I'm worried about my hr if there is nothing to be worried about, if that makes sense!? Any thoughts? Thanks :)

    First of all, don't rely on a wrist-based monitor for heart-rate information. It's fine for just a general activity-based monitoring, but if you want accurate data, then invest in a arm-cuff monitor, such as an Omron. A true resting hr must be taken upon waking, before getting out of bed.

    Also, even if you do have a low resting HR, that does not mean that you are "fit". Clearly with your weight/height, your health is not good. Get active, lose weight.

    First of all, I haven't just been relying on the Fitbit, I have also been taking my pulse manually and the Fitbit appears to be pretty accurate. It was the Fitbit that flagged up that I may potentially have a slower heart rate than what I was expecting. It may just be a Fitbit and not an Omron or such but surely I am best to get it checked and seek advice than to just ignore it and not rely on it just because it is a wrist based monitor!? The Fitbit advises you to wear it throughout the night to get a more accurate resting hr, which I do.

    Just because I am 5ft7 and weight 17st doesn't 'clearly mean that my health is not good'. My bloody pressure is actually normal for my age (tested at docs just two weeks ago) I don't have diabetes nor am I bordering on having it. I have no other medical issues other than I get cluster headaches, which is nothing to do with being overweight. I also never claimed to be 'fit', that is why I was querying my low heart rate! As I mentioned in my original post, I am being active and I am losing weight, so thanks but I am already aware that this is what I need to do! I appreciate you taking the time to reply to my query but in future if your going to be rude and not give constructive feedback and basically just tell me that I am unhealthy and I need to get active and lose weight (which actually has nothing to do with my query) then I'd rather you just didn't waste your time to be honest!

    Have a nice day :smiley:
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    Never hurts to check, but particularly if you're doing intense cardio (like HIIT) it's not really surprising if your heart is decently strong. During my own weight loss and exercise, my resting heart rate fell from about 75 to about 55 over the course of several months of intense cardio 3x/week, and most of that occurred near the beginning, when I was still well into class 2/3 obesity.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    edited May 2016
    kel913 wrote: »

    Have a nice day :smiley:

    No intent to be rude at all. I was providing information. A doctor will tell you that your weight, at 241 pounds at 5'7", is affecting your health, and not in a good way.

    You asked:
    kel913 wrote: »
    Is it possible that I am still quite (well very maybe!?) fit from being active when I was younger and when I previously lost my weight even thought I'm obese?

    No. Having a low heart rate does not obliterate the effects of being overweight. But go see a doctor if you need confirmation of that.

    You have a nice day too. :)
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    kel913 wrote: »
    Hi all, I'm 31 years of age, 5ft7 and weigh 17st3 (241lb). I've always been fairly active, but always overweight and for the last 12 years I've been obese (maybe even morbidly obese?). I did lose around 5 stone (70lb) about 2 years ago but then put about 4 stone of that back on after becoming pregnant again. My youngest is now 8 months old and I've been actively losing weight again for a couple of month. I upgraded my Fitbit One to a Fitbit blaze as it has a heart rate monitor on it. I average about 10000 steps a day and also over the last couple of weeks been doing other exercise (hiit training mainly). I was showing my friend the Fitbit blaze and how it works etc when she noticed my resting heart rate was 57. She said that it was quite low to say that I am obese (she didn't put it as bluntly as that and she is the sort of friend who is able to say things like that to me without me being offended!! Haha!) So i started doing a bit of a google about it all and for my age, my resting hr comes under 'athlete' (my resting hr on my blaze has been consistently between 57-59 since I got it two months ago) so naturally I'm a bit baffled by this. Is it possible that I am still quite (well very maybe!?) fit from being active when I was younger and when I previously lost my weight even thought I'm obese? Should I be worried? Obviously I know that you are not docs (well most of you wont be!) but I don't want to go charging into my doctors and saying I'm worried about my hr if there is nothing to be worried about, if that makes sense!? Any thoughts? Thanks :)

    First of all, don't rely on a wrist-based monitor for heart-rate information. It's fine for just a general activity-based monitoring, but if you want accurate data, then invest in a arm-cuff monitor, such as an Omron. A true resting hr must be taken upon waking, before getting out of bed.

    Also, even if you do have a low resting HR, that does not mean that you are "fit". Clearly with your weight/height, your health is not good. Get active, lose weight.

    Clearly you should do some research before shooting from the lip......

    health.harvard.edu/blog/overweight-and-healthy-the-concept-of-metabolically-healthy-obesity-201309246697

    or, at the very least, consider being tactful.

  • kel913
    kel913 Posts: 30 Member
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    kel913 wrote: »

    Have a nice day :smiley:

    No intent to be rude at all. I was providing information. A doctor will tell you that your weight, at 241 pounds at 5'7", is affecting your health, and not in a good way.

    You asked:
    kel913 wrote: »
    Is it possible that I am still quite (well very maybe!?) fit from being active when I was younger and when I previously lost my weight even thought I'm obese?

    No. Having a low heart rate does not obliterate the effects of being overweight. But go see a doctor if you need confirmation of that.

    You have a nice day too. :)

    Non of your first post was informative at all, just your opinion, which was very rudely put! A recent lawsuit against Fitbit and their hr monitors was thrown out as it was proven that fitbit are actually very accurate. Also read the above article posted by briansharpe, it puts a shadow of doubt into your very informative point of 'clearly with your weight/height your health is not good'!

    As I put previously I had my blood pressure taken two weeks ago and was told by the doctor it was normal and I am actually healthy and have no health issues.

    Yes I am over weight and yes I do need to lose it and yes I am currently being active and losing weight so non of your 'information' was anything new to me. So is me being over weight affecting my health right now, no, funnily enough as told my my own, qualified doctor! Do I still need to lose weight, yes of course I do as I'm fully aware it could pose a threat to my health in the future.

    I asked the question 'is it possible I am still quite fit' in jest as clearly the whole post is me querying that having a low heart rate and a being over weight does not necessarily tally up.

    And finally, I am quite aware that having a low heart rate would not obliterate the effects of being overweight, I think you totally missed the whole point in my original post. I wasn't asking for clarification that my low heart rate meant I was fit, I was asking for opinions as to whether there could be an underlying issue with me having a low heart rate as it isn't necessarily 'normal'!

  • Triathlete1502
    Triathlete1502 Posts: 103 Member
    Hi

    Not an expert.

    But how did it go at your doctor's? Did he mention tests for your thyroid function?

    Hope you have your answers and all's well with you.

    All the best!
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