mine was 41 the other day when i went for a first visit to a new doctor. she asked if anyone had ever expressed concern about that, i pointed out that not that many people actually know. 😕

i’ve given blood recently, though, and it wasn’t checked or discussed…

Right now its 42 – 44 bpm. Just come in from walking the dog and am drinking my 6th or 7th cup of tea today. Sadly, I can’t donate blood as a result of my job requiring me to travel to some unhealthy regions and to take some nasty vaccines.

Your welcome to my organs when I’m done with them – hope my heart can go to a cyclist!

Resting Heart Rate is less of an indicator of how fit you are than how well your heart rate recovers after exercise. I’ve seen really fit people have an RHR up in the mid to high 70’s, and then terminally unfit/unhealthy people with RHR’s down in the 40’s.

If you’ve got a big pump (heart) and a small body, it will need to beat less often…

Mine’s somewhere around 60-62 iirc. But importantly for me at least, it recovers pretty quickly when I take my heart rate up high when exercising.

Last few times I’ve had my blood pressure checked though, it has been consistently low which was slightly alarming. Not low enough to worry about, but consistently lower than average. Slightly odd considering that all the men in my family have had a history of high blood pressure, and my Dad has been prescribed Beta Blockers a few times to thin his blood out a little!

I’m not allowed to give blood as I have lived in the UK.

Because V-CJD has totally turned this country into something like 28 days later.

Resting Heart Rate is less of an indicator of how fit you are than how well your heart rate recovers after exercise. I’ve seen really fit people have an RHR up in the mid to high 70’s, and then terminally unfit/unhealthy people with RHR’s down in the 40’s.

True.

If you’ve got a big pump (heart) and a small body, it will need to beat less often…

I’ve got a big body and it pumps slowly, what am I? (Don’t say an elephant). Actually, larger animals always have lower heart rates….

Mine’s somewhere around 60-62 iirc. But importantly for me at least, it recovers pretty quickly when I take my heart rate up high when exercising.

Mine takes minutes to fall to normal. Not good!

Interestingly my rhr is still ~44bpm despite me being very unfit!

My dad’s resting heart rate was in his 30s. After a couple of feints, he was referred to a cardiologist who fitted a pace-maker asap. He’s not the fittest bloke in the world, but neither is he a sloth by any stretch. He was first given a 24h ECG before the op was confirmed. The fact his heart stopped for a few seconds at a time whilst he was sleeping sealed the deal on the pace-maker. 😯

Long and short, you may appear perfectly healthy with a low rhr, but it might be a good idea to get it checked, and I’m not sure donating 10% of your blood stream would help if there was something amiss…

bad old days of dopeing

Everything I see tells me they are more efficently doped than ever. The rate of climb record belongs to Cantador and Boonen is the fastest rider to have riden the post 68 Paris-Roubaix course.

Did the riders slow down after the Festina affair which revealed a doping protocol (protocol de Lille) shown to increase power output by over 10% in independant tests? No, they got faster!

I had a dizzy spell at work and the ambulance chaps were called.

They thought i was having a heart attck and the whole protocol kicked in and they rushed me off to hospital.
Lots of checks later i was told i was fine, seems my heart rate – whilst hooked up to machines and being told i was having a heart attack – was 44BPM, low enough to fool the machines.

The rate at which my ‘arris was flapping was a LOT higher however..

Everything I see tells me they are more efficently doped than ever. The rate of climb record belongs to Cantador and Boonen is the fastest rider to have riden the post 68 Paris-Roubaix course.

the same could be said about any sport where every new generation of athletes goes faster, longer, etc

well… since this thread has resurfaced, i might as well give an update.

I went to my GP yesterday and he listened to my heart and took my blood pressure (120/60 – i have no idea what this means – can anyone decipher it for me or shall i google it?).

He said he’d put money on me being absolutely fine, but just in case there is an electrical reason for my resting rate being low (something to do with the signals not getting through), he wants an ECG, so I’m booked in for one of those in a couple of weeks.

Dave

120/60 is low end of normal range ie just where you want to be. the high number is systolic ie as the heart contracts and the low diastolic – as the heart relaxes again measured in pressure mmHg 🙂

The fact his heart stopped for a few seconds at a time whilst he was sleeping sealed the deal on the pace-maker.

My heart takes long pauses (2-3 seconds-ish when very relaxed) fairly regularly, considering my RHR is spaced by about 1.3s anyway it doesn’t seem too odd. I was told it was pretty normal by my GP some years ago? You have me worried now, that combined with my blood pressure of ~100/60 (edit to correct).

Never had any ill effects from it!

as low as 39 when fit & rested. 8)

plenty of endurance type exercise will increase the size and efficiency of your heart (like training any muscle), this hypertrophic state leads to each stroke moving more blood, therefore less strokes are required to perfuse the body effectivley. This also tends to lead to lower blood pressure as the heart can move so much blood in one go (so to speak). This is fine in an athletic person and will aid performance and recovery for several reasons.

However… in a normal person Bradycardia (slow heart rate) can cause dizzyness, numbness, confusion, feinting etc. The associated low BP has similar symptoms.

Some of the heart rates being quoted here are very low (40’s), but cycling is an endurance sport so that is not particuarly unusual. However if/when you stop cycling, the hypertrophy can cause you some health problems as it becomes a very fine line between normal heart rate and dangerously slow!

However if/when you stop cycling, the hypertrophy can cause you some health problems as it becomes a very fine line between normal heart rate and dangerously slow!

Presuming you’re medically trained….

So does the heart not recognise you’re no longer using it and return to normal operation? What you’re saying is we shouldn’t do endurance exercise as it’ll kill us later in life? 😀 Or we just should never stop?

I’m interested in that answer too!

My resting used to be 40 to 41. Its higher now that I am older and much lesss well trained.

Last time I was in hospital after a crash I was constantly setting off the alarms, my normal resting rate is low 40’s. If I’m properly relaxed it’ll go down to the low 30’s.

I once gave a med student a scare when I was getting my heart checked out for a suspected murmour, she was spending so much time trying to listen to it I’d been laid down for a while and my RHr was dropping and dropping, I think she was all for reaching for the crash cart!!!

53bpm here. Down from about 70bpm at the start of the year.

In a medical I had about 1 or 2 months ago it was 46. This was not my true resting heart rate as I had just walked through the factory and it was about 11am so I had bee sat up/’working’ at my desk.

When I was in hospital November 2010 (broken bone) it was as low as 42 but I was less fit then and was on drugs. I guess my true resting heart rate now would be somewhere between those two figures.

Interestingly my rhr is still ~44bpm despite me being very unfit!

As for me.

the hypertrophy can cause you some health problems as it becomes a very fine line between normal heart rate and dangerously slow!

Exercise is generally good for us, but sometimes the volumes and rates people choose to exercise at (especially if they’ve been out of action for a while) can be dangerous for the heart.

Having spent the last several months establishing what is and isn’t wrong with my heart (still not 100% clear, but it isn’t nearly as bad as feared), I’m paying rather more attnetion to it that simply saying “My RHR is 42 nernerner”.

With no symptoms to speak of I’ve no reason to visit the GP so I don’t get to have nice checks 😀 When I arrest someone will find me.

With no symptoms to speak of I’ve no reason to visit the GP so I don’t get to have nice checks When I arrest someone will find me.

What you may be experiencing are ectopic beats – a small extra beat that causes a delay and the next one to feel “big”.

I had this and only thought something of it when it lasted for 4 days. Turns out I’m on the path to ending up like Ton….

Our home BP monitor has a fit if I take my BP when rested.
“Alert! Alert! Non-human organism detected!”

I have to jump around to get it up past 45 before it’ll take my BP, which is always a bit high.

Right now it’s 42 although I’d only ever class myself as slightly above average fitness.

About 68/78 sat about. Lowest about 58. Doesn’t seem to do me any harm. Got minor branch bundle block which might be bumping it up?

The doc at hospital actually shut his books with my notes when I told him I can happily race all day with it between 125/160 and suffer no ill effects, he almost booted me out.
On the other hand my wife who has had illness since her teens has a very low heart rate.

On the other hand my wife who has had illness since her teens has a very low heart rate.

Nothing too serious I hope. But this does demonstrate that resting or max are irrelevant when used in isolation.
It’s more about how the heart works, and ECG will pull up all sorts of info for someone who knows how to read them.

You have me worried now

My dad was totally unfazed by it all up until having a feint after exertion on a hot day in the Grampians here in Oz. Doc back in the UK checked him out before he came out as he’d recently had a post-retirement health check involving an ECG, and although slow, his heart rate seemed fine. It was only after the 24h thing after his feint (and spotting his heart ‘pausing’), then him almost having another feint in the surgery that convinced everyone he should have the pacemaker fitted.

FWIW, 4 months later he says he feels as fit as a fiddle by comparison to before – much more energy.

Right now it’s 42 although I’d only ever class myself as slightly above average fitness.

Oh c’mon Samuri – I used to read your blog, and you’re a damned sight fitter than I am, and I’m probably almost half your age! GIT!