Why is my resting heart rate so high???
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I am in my late 30s and have a resting heartrate of between 38-44 per my fitbit. I really struggle to get my heartrate above 150 and it goes down very quickly! I have always wondered if this is a bad or good thing, but I have seen a cardiologist at three different points in my life and they can't find anything wrong (i sometimes have an irregular heartbeat under extreme stress). It is nice to know there is someone else who's heart does the same thing. I do a combination of lifting and interval type training about 5-6 days a week and my off days I almost always do a long walk or something like that. I think mine is also genetic as my dad's heartrate has always been low.
This is last night...
The dips are 3.5 mph. High points is 4.0 mph(2 full miles at that rate). Last 5 mins is a 3.0 cool down with a 70% capacity incline of my tread.
A recent jog...
I spike and within a min I shoot down. Prior to my daily workout my resting rate will be in the 40s.
Again not everyone is built this way. If your in a good state lower to upper resting rate then keep on doing what your doing and check in with your Dr if there is a drastic change either up or down.
To the OP you seem to be in good health, but I’m not a Dr so don’t just take my word 😁0 -
Lower heartrate for athletes tends far more to be in relation to people that do rather more than "light cardio (walking on an incline)".
Although your weight lifting is great for you it's not going to have much impact on your HR compared to moderate to higher intensity cardio (the clue really is in the name cardiovascular exercise!).
Personal range over many decades:
65 - 70 when not doing much or only low intensity cardio.
Low 60's when a regular squash player.
High 40's when I became an endurance cyclist.
Can't remember any time in last four decades of training when I've noticed a difference in HR from regular or no strength training.
BTW - one random sample of your RHR is just one data point. Check your pulse several times first thing in a succession of mornings before eating, drinking or anything stressful to get a more consistent idea. Stressing about your HR would be a good way to elevate it of course! Physical stress such as heavy training load and rapid dieting can also result in elevated HR.
Not a professional but as you said yourself you are right in the middle of the (extremely) wide range of normal so I'd regard that as surprising but not worrying.
It would be an interesting self-experiment to increase your cardio and see how your RHR responds.
Thanks for your response! I actually laughed when you said that stressing about it will increase it because you’re absolutely right lol. I will definitely start incorporating some high intensity interval training in my workout regimen, maybe 3 days per week from now on since I do want to strengthen my heart as well. & you’re right about my sample size, I need to collect more data to get an accurate view of what’s really going on. thanks for the advice!
HIIT (if you mean close to maximal effort very short duration intervals) isn't really the way to go.
Don't neglect the vast intensity range in the middle between incline walking and going all out for a few seconds.
HIIT also shouldn't be done three times a week, that would build massive fatigue and impair recovery. Think of HIIT (real HIIT not YouTube HIIT !!) as a condiment not a main course. It's something to build up to and use sparingly.
Cardio fitness is built from the base up.
Your heart is a muscle and just like other muscles your primary driver is volume at appropriate intensity, you wouldn't do AMRAP tests three times a week on another lagging muscle would you?
Just to add to this, I've read a lot of really geeky physiological adaptations of the heart valve doing harder, intense intervals all the time versus long, slow cardio.
To sum it up in dummy language that even I understand, your heart valve will get narrower and harder, over time, if you only do more intense cardio (I'd probably say some weightlifting could be lumped in with that -- heavy weights spike the HR quickly). I know really strong rowers that only go hard, every single time they row. Many have high BP and can't understand why. Perhaps that's why. They only know one speed -- all out.
The long, slow cardio heart remodels itself to have a softer, wider heart valve that pumps blood more efficiently, leading to a lower RHR.
At least this was my very layman's understanding of it.5 -
I am in my late 30s and have a resting heartrate of between 38-44 per my fitbit. I really struggle to get my heartrate above 150 and it goes down very quickly! I have always wondered if this is a bad or good thing, but I have seen a cardiologist at three different points in my life and they can't find anything wrong (i sometimes have an irregular heartbeat under extreme stress). It is nice to know there is someone else who's heart does the same thing. I do a combination of lifting and interval type training about 5-6 days a week and my off days I almost always do a long walk or something like that. I think mine is also genetic as my dad's heartrate has always been low.
This is last night...
The dips are 3.5 mph. High points is 4.0 mph(2 full miles at that rate). Last 5 mins is a 3.0 cool down with a 70% capacity incline of my tread.
A recent jog...
I spike and within a min I shoot down. Prior to my daily workout my resting rate will be in the 40s.
Again not everyone is built this way. If your in a good state lower to upper resting rate then keep on doing what your doing and check in with your Dr if there is a drastic change either up or down.
To the OP you seem to be in good health, but I’m not a Dr so don’t just take my word 😁
mrmota...if i am reading your workout right you burned 600 calories in 3.18 miles. My app shows I burn about 250 calories for 3.1 miles? Why would the difference be so high? Sorry if I am hijacking thread asking about something totally different from OP.0 -
I am in my late 30s and have a resting heartrate of between 38-44 per my fitbit. I really struggle to get my heartrate above 150 and it goes down very quickly! I have always wondered if this is a bad or good thing, but I have seen a cardiologist at three different points in my life and they can't find anything wrong (i sometimes have an irregular heartbeat under extreme stress). It is nice to know there is someone else who's heart does the same thing. I do a combination of lifting and interval type training about 5-6 days a week and my off days I almost always do a long walk or something like that. I think mine is also genetic as my dad's heartrate has always been low.
This is last night...
The dips are 3.5 mph. High points is 4.0 mph(2 full miles at that rate). Last 5 mins is a 3.0 cool down with a 70% capacity incline of my tread.
A recent jog...
I spike and within a min I shoot down. Prior to my daily workout my resting rate will be in the 40s.
Again not everyone is built this way. If your in a good state lower to upper resting rate then keep on doing what your doing and check in with your Dr if there is a drastic change either up or down.
To the OP you seem to be in good health, but I’m not a Dr so don’t just take my word 😁
mrmota...if i am reading your workout right you burned 600 calories in 3.18 miles. My app shows I burn about 250 calories for 3.1 miles? Why would the difference be so high? Sorry if I am hijacking thread asking about something totally different from OP.
I'll excuse myself as well to the op and all for starting it. As for your question. Have you added your info into your health app? Weight/height/age... That plus your heart rate(higher intensity the more cals burned). I am a solid 220 and as I mentioned my heart rate goes up so yeah I feel a walk at these speeds for my weight and height. If you look at my jog I hit 140-150s and maintain for over 30 mins. I get into the comparable range of cals burned brisk walking vs jog. More time of course for the brisk walk... An all out run that I am not ready for would burn more, but being 50 I do not want to wear and tear as I used to when I was much younger.0 -
mrmota...if i am reading your workout right you burned 600 calories in 3.18 miles. My app shows I burn about 250 calories for 3.1 miles? Why would the difference be so high? Sorry if I am hijacking thread asking about something totally different from OP.[/quote]
I'll excuse myself as well to the op and all for starting it. As for your question. Have you added your info into your health app? Weight/height/age... That plus your heart rate(higher intensity the more cals burned). I am a solid 220 and as I mentioned my heart rate goes up so yeah I feel a walk at these speeds for my weight and height. If you look at my jog I hit 140-150s and maintain for over 30 mins. I get into the comparable range of cals burned brisk walking vs jog. More time of course for the brisk walk... An all out run that I am not ready for would burn more, but being 50 I do not want to wear and tear as I used to when I was much younger.[/quote]
Also forgot to hit exactly on the 600 cals question you asked about. That’s the total cals during the workout. The cals that actually are the work was 500. These of course are estimates that the watch makes based on sex weight height and heart rate. They’re not exact, but gives you a general idea.0 -
Haven't read everything but some people just have a naturally higher heart rate. My dad did and when he had cancer they checked literally everything cause he was part of a study and they came to the conclusion he just has a faster than normal heart rate. I noticed mine was faster and recently got an inhaler because I have mild asthma. I guess I was working hard to breathe and now I'm not it's back lower. Hope you figure out your heart rate but really it sounds fine to me0
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MikePfirrman wrote: »Lower heartrate for athletes tends far more to be in relation to people that do rather more than "light cardio (walking on an incline)".
Although your weight lifting is great for you it's not going to have much impact on your HR compared to moderate to higher intensity cardio (the clue really is in the name cardiovascular exercise!).
Personal range over many decades:
65 - 70 when not doing much or only low intensity cardio.
Low 60's when a regular squash player.
High 40's when I became an endurance cyclist.
Can't remember any time in last four decades of training when I've noticed a difference in HR from regular or no strength training.
BTW - one random sample of your RHR is just one data point. Check your pulse several times first thing in a succession of mornings before eating, drinking or anything stressful to get a more consistent idea. Stressing about your HR would be a good way to elevate it of course! Physical stress such as heavy training load and rapid dieting can also result in elevated HR.
Not a professional but as you said yourself you are right in the middle of the (extremely) wide range of normal so I'd regard that as surprising but not worrying.
It would be an interesting self-experiment to increase your cardio and see how your RHR responds.
Thanks for your response! I actually laughed when you said that stressing about it will increase it because you’re absolutely right lol. I will definitely start incorporating some high intensity interval training in my workout regimen, maybe 3 days per week from now on since I do want to strengthen my heart as well. & you’re right about my sample size, I need to collect more data to get an accurate view of what’s really going on. thanks for the advice!
HIIT (if you mean close to maximal effort very short duration intervals) isn't really the way to go.
Don't neglect the vast intensity range in the middle between incline walking and going all out for a few seconds.
HIIT also shouldn't be done three times a week, that would build massive fatigue and impair recovery. Think of HIIT (real HIIT not YouTube HIIT !!) as a condiment not a main course. It's something to build up to and use sparingly.
Cardio fitness is built from the base up.
Your heart is a muscle and just like other muscles your primary driver is volume at appropriate intensity, you wouldn't do AMRAP tests three times a week on another lagging muscle would you?
Just to add to this, I've read a lot of really geeky physiological adaptations of the heart valve doing harder, intense intervals all the time versus long, slow cardio.
To sum it up in dummy language that even I understand, your heart valve will get narrower and harder, over time, if you only do more intense cardio (I'd probably say some weightlifting could be lumped in with that -- heavy weights spike the HR quickly). I know really strong rowers that only go hard, every single time they row. Many have high BP and can't understand why. Perhaps that's why. They only know one speed -- all out.
The long, slow cardio heart remodels itself to have a softer, wider heart valve that pumps blood more efficiently, leading to a lower RHR.
At least this was my very layman's understanding of it.
This is interesting. I'm genetically prediposed to aortic valve problems, as my otherwise perfectly healthy father passed away from a dissection at age 66. I weightlift 3 times a week and am aware of the spikes in BP it can cause, which is always in the back of my mind. I don't really like going all out for cardio and much prefer steady state, so this makes me feel better!0
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