Sleeping Heart Rate?

lots of similar thoughts in this thread too

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10842560/is-my-heart-rate-normal/p1

Justin_7272 wrote: »

Mine is typically 50-60bpms during day at rest (RHR), tends to be in the lower range lower when I'm doing at least 1 hour cardio daily and I am in relatively good shape (5'10", ~155lbs, lift daily). When I was ~175lbs and drinking daily it was typically around 80-90bpms.
You said yours dips to 40-80bpms during sleeping, which is a very wide range. Generally the more overweight you are the higher your RHR will be (which is not good). I think a bigger indicator of whether you may have an issue is your RHR vs sleeping HR. An indicator of overall health is your max HR vs resting. You can calculate your max HR by subtracting 220 by your age, but a more accurate way is to conduct a medical stress test. Again, generally the more you are overweight the lower your max HR may be. If you're concerned, best to consult your doctor.

IMU, HRmax doesn't necessarily vary with overweight, it's more of a genetic thing, with a tendency to decline as one ages (but decline more slowly among those who stay fit). However, someone who's very unfit may be limited in the heart rate they can reach (in a medical stress test for example) by various physical factors.

I wouldn't count on a medical stress test to reveal HRmax. I've done both a medical stress test, and an athletic step test (on a rowing machine). The medical team stopped the stress test as I approached age-estimated HRmax (220-age), once they had the data they needed for the medical assessment they'd been asked to make. The exercise test topped out at *substantially* higher BPM than the medical test.

Yes, generally someone who's not fit will have a higher RHR. Someone who is fat and reasonably fit may have a lower RHR. (My RHR was in the lower 50s, occasionally upper 40s, when I was still class 1 obese, as a recreational short-endurance athlete who trained routinely.) A RHR in the 40s/low 50s is not unusual among recreational athletes.

I don't think we're going to be able to give OP really super great personalized advice. Some people have a relatively lower heart rate because they're fit, some people have a relatively lower heart rate because of genetics, some people have a relatively lower heart rate because of a problematic heart condition.

If someone has a low RHR, and has other worrisome symptoms (weakness, fatigue, fainting, chest pain, breathing difficulty, etc.), they should consult their doctor *soon*. If someone has a low RHR but is athletic and training regularly with no other symptoms, it may not be urgent to see the doctor (unless they're worried).

OP, you mention sleep problems. What's the nature of those problems? Have you discussed them with your doctor? Are you snoring, waking frequently? Conditions like sleep apnea are fairly common, especially but not exclusively among people who are overweight, and can create serious health risks (for heart disease, for example). There are other sleep conditions that benefit from medical diagnosis, too.

To answer your specific questions, OP: My heart rate drops into the upper half of the 40s fairly often when I'm asleep. It's hard for me to tell you how high it ranges while I'm asleep, because I still have a form of sleep interruption insomnia, waking frequently, and not always fully awake enough that my tracker realizes I'm awake. (Last night, most of the time was up and down in the 50s, with a few spikes up into 60s/70s, but those may've been waking. That's not an unusual pattern for me, though it'll often drop into the 40s, though rarely below 44-45, too.)

That fitness tracker (a Garmin) usually estimates my waking RHR in the lower 50s. I'm very active, and at a healthy weight. My age-estimated HRmax (220-age) would be 155. My sports-test-estimated HRmax is about 180. I do have sleep apnea, diagnosed when I was overweight/obese, but I still have it at a healthy weight.

Since it seems you are new here, I have a few questions.
The fitness tracker is new. And you say you’re having trouble sleeping.
Do you snore? If so, please ask your doctor for a sleep study as soon as is practical.
Sleep apnea can cause a low heart rate, and it is something that brings with it very serious health risks.

Are you new to fitness? If not, it could be fine. But if you are? I would absolutely talk to the doctor.