Low heart rate

madmix

Following the confrontation with my face and the road this morning (guess who lost!?!?) I spent the afternoon with the dregs of society in my local NHS establishment much to my annoyance and inconvenience.

However the nurse subjected me to blood pressure tests etc and after testing my pulse twice with machines then finally resorting to the old fashioned finger on the wrist method said "The heart rate is very low"

It was 49 BPM. My resting heart rate is about 42 bpm. I thought this was normal and was an indication of fitness. The nurse just shrugged when I told her this.

Anyone shed any light or opinions? Ride about 150 miles/week and run anything up to 50 miles/week weigh 90kgs, 6ft5 and male. Never had any other problems with heart rate and blood pressure was what it should be.

cookiemonster

I guess its correlated with fitness, in that an overweight person is likely to have a higher resting heart rate to support their flabiness, and a fit person will have a lower rate when resting as they're generally more efficient, but like max heart rate its more of a physiological fixed setting.

My resting is usually around 46-48, but I've seen 33 bpm when I wore a recording tape for a day; however I'm not as fit as a friend that has a more usual resting rate in the high 50's low 60's

jon

whyamihere

My resting rate's around 48ish. I wouldn't worry.

liversedge

indurain alledgedly had a rhr of 28. mine was 42 this morning and was 50 same time last year when I was detrained. not sure that rhr alone really means anything.

Bronzie

Mine was 39 when I had an ECG a couple of years back - the nurse asked me to see the doctor before I left the surgery, but my doctor thought it was nothing unusual for someone who exercises regularly. Go and see your GP if it bothers you for a bit of reassurance.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Resting HR in the low to mid-40s for fit aerobic endurance athletes is pretty typical.

TheGreatGatsby

had the same problem when I had my BP done after the accident and found that it was 46bpm. I think its pretty normal for cyclists/athletic type people to have low HR but I think it surprises people in comparison to the average joe.

Gats

phreak

I racked up 44 when I bought a hrm last week. Wouldn't think it would be too much of a problem, although I'm very impressed that you ride 150m a week and run 50m as well. How do you find the time?

nferrar

With cardio exercise your heart gets bigger/stronger therefore less beats are needed to pump the blood around. If it drops to low 30's though it can trigger your autonomic system thinking your heart has stopped so it causes another heartbeat which can lead to an irregular heartbeat.

markos1963

Pleased to find my resting heart rate dropping from 68 at the start of the year to 50 now, my doctor was well impressed. He is now recommending cycling to patients enquiring about getting fit, losing weight etc due to the low impact nature of it and the quick results it can have for cardiac improvement.

madmix

Cheers for the replies guys. Didn't think I was alone.

And I rack up the miles with long commutes and lunchtime runs. 30 mile total commute 3-4 days a week, one day running commute and the rest on weekends/days off.

doyler78

I don't think it really takes a lot of exercise to get your heart rate down as when I was unable to ride for about 4 months a few years back my heart rate went from a resting heart rate of 42bpm all the way to somewhere near 60bpm however within a few weeks of riding (and not a lot at that either) it rapidly came down to the mid 40's and then eventually back down to my normal level and that's where it remained until recently..

Started doing a structured training programme 7 weeks ago and within a week of starting it my resting heart rate nose dived again. Its now down to between 37-39bpm and I have only had one day where it measured at digustingly high 41bpm :roll:

disgruntledgoat

Even when bang on form mine rarely gets below low 50s... but I got sent for an echo test for an enlarged heart last year due to my doctor not asking what exercise i did after an ECG.

Was in there for 3 minutes, nurse took one look at teh echo and said "you either run or ride a bike a lot" and that was it.

Interestingly, when i went in later in the year to get the pins taken out of my elbow i was down at 42 when they wheeled me into the theatre.

oldwelshman

disgruntledgoat wrote:

Even when bang on form mine rarely gets below low 50s... but I got sent for an echo test for an enlarged heart last year due to my doctor not asking what exercise i did after an ECG.

Was in there for 3 minutes, nurse took one look at teh echo and said "you either run or ride a bike a lot" and that was it.

Interestingly, when i went in later in the year to get the pins taken out of my elbow i was down at 42 when they wheeled me into the theatre.

You were relaxed going into theatre so it may be lower then.
I just had pin in my elbow replaced and ulna nerve re routed.
My hr when I was coming round was 35, but generally rhr is 42 as it was throughout my stay overnight.
Looking forward to getting back on bike as I have only done track last 5 weeks, not one mile on road!!

ride_whenever

I'm usually around 50-60, but it has dropped into the 40s when reading lance armstrong threads, (I kid you not, I was sitting here watching it drop!)