Pulse drop

fastercyclist

Hey guys,

My pulse has gone from 59 to 45 (controlled conditions - even was on a caffeine high on the 45 reading) in 3 weeks. Is a rapid reduction in pulse rate associated with overtraining?

I've also lost ~8kg in the last 6 weeks (81 to 73) could this be partially responsible for the drop in pulse rate? Unsure about the relationship between pulse rate and weight.

Just pasting in some stats for a more holistic diagnostics. [age 21 - time cycling 6 weeks]. Just want to check if this is normal/expected or not.

Vital stats on 25/10/09
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 74.2 KG
BMI: 22.4
Body fat: 5.1kg / 6.1%
Blood pressure:113/65
Pulse rate: 45

Vital stats on 12/09/09
Height: 6 feet
Weight: 81 KG
Blood pressure: 118/67
Pulse rate: 59

For an idea of cycling progression over same period

Weekly stats 12/9/9-18/9/9
Total time riding: 7 hours 57 minutes
Total distance: 103 miles
Total elevation change: 18200 feet

Weekly stats 18/10/09-24/10/09
Total time riding: 11 hours 34 minutes
Total distance: 177 miles
Total elevation change: 34,500 feet

Cheers.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Resting pulse tends to fall as fitness improves, up to a point.

fastercyclist

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Resting pulse tends to fall as fitness improves, up to a point.

Okay thanks, was a bit perturbed as I could only find references to it dropping by similar values over several months rather then that quick. Cheers.

Alex_Simmons/RST

fastercyclist wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Resting pulse tends to fall as fitness improves, up to a point.

Okay thanks, was a bit perturbed as I could only find references to it dropping by similar values over several months rather then that quick. Cheers.

well you should compare averages taken over a week, rather than just one day which might be influenced by other factors. For instance your starting rate may have been inflated for some other reason.

Headhuunter

Yes, 1 reading is irrelevant, same with blood pressure. My resting HR ranges between 40 (when I've just got up and am sat in front of the telly just before leaving for work) to about 60 or even 70 sometimes (when I'm actually busy in the office, perhaps after a coffee). It usually sits around the 50 mark.

You need to check your pulse at various times of the day over a period of a week or so and in any case resting pulse rate doesn't tell you much, you need to work out resting rate, max HR and time it takes for you to get to resting rate froim max HR. The quicker your HR recovers after a tough endurance session, the fitter you are.