Slow heart rate - bradycardia

If you just went for your physical, your doctor must've weighed in on this? I would go with what he says about it. Bradicardia is not unusual at all for people in good shape who are getting regular exercise. My pulse is sometimes in the mid-high 40's at night; never as low as 40, but that's a matter of degree not of kind. Lower at night if I've had a vigorous workout that day - the connection is pretty clear.

It's pretty low, but not extremely surprising either for a runner. Only you know if it's unusual or not: is this a new thing, your heart rate used to be higher? Or has it always been on the lower end of the spectrum?

My HR drops to the 40's during my period and is in the 50's otherwise. And I'm not even very fit (yet), it's just genetic I think. Even obese and unfit my RHR was still in the 60's. Some people just have a lower heart rate, and combined with regular exercice it can lead to a RHR like yours.

My resting pulse rate is 44, I’m a runner and age 46 but have no symptoms of a slow heart rate so it’s just “my normal”. If you do have bradycardia you would have very noticeable symptoms: fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, confusion, fainting, shortness of breath, difficulty exercising, etc. Are you having any of these symptoms and did your doctor actually diagnose you with bradycardia?

RunsWithBees wrote: »

My resting pulse rate is 44, I’m a runner and age 46 but have no symptoms of a slow heart rate so it’s just “my normal”. If you do have bradycardia you would have very noticeable symptoms: fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, confusion, fainting, shortness of breath, difficulty exercising, etc. Are you having any of these symptoms and did your doctor actually diagnose you with bradycardia?

This.

I set off the bradycardia alarms at an outpatient surgery center a couple of years back (before any sedatives!). My surgeon was actually pretty enthusiastic about it: "It's fitness induced bradycardia! You're probably fitter than the whole lot of us here!"

IMU, it's still technically bradycardia, but if fitness induced, not a problematic health condition.

My resting rate per my tracker is usually in the low 50s, but frequently drops into the mid-40s during sleep. I'm active but far short of an elite marathoner. (I'm a recreational rower, usually 30-60 minutes of cardio 6 days a week, right now 3 days of strength training on top of that - nothing extraordinary.) I'll be 65 next month.

I read a book** about a couple who row/kayak near the arctic circle. The author mentioned resting awake in her tent when well into one of these SS cardio intense trips, pinned down by weather, and finding that her resting heart rate was 36. Healthy, just super active.

** Excellent book, "Rowing to Latitude" by Jill Fredston.

WandaVaughn wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I try not to worry about the low heart rate. The doctor didn't seem too concerned, so I shouldn't be.

If he had used English and said you have a lower than normal heart rate instead of using the medical term derived from Greek (the brady part means slow and the cardia part means heart) you wouldn't presumably have been concerned.

There's a world of difference between slower than average HR with adverse symptoms (which your Doctor would have mentioned) and slower than average HR with no symptoms.

My heart rate will go into the 30's while im awake. cardiology isnt concerned.

Runners have lower heart rates and I would expect most doctors know this. Last time I was in the hospital, the lowest setting before it alarmed was 45 bpm and they changed the alarm on the heart rate monitor so that it only went to the nurse station rather than beeping in the room. Otherwise, I was just going to have to figure out how to sleep through the alarm.

Fun fact: Garmins (or at least the Fenix 3 HR) will not display if your HR is less than 20. It just shows that there is no pulse. I know this from when I was dipping once and noticed it would cut out below 20. Manually checking my pulse came out to 17 bpm as that was happening.