Why do cyclists have the lowest resting heart rates?

ckd123

Hi all.

This may have been asked and answered before, however I can't find a thread.

Why do cyclists have the lowest resting heart rates? Why is it lower than a runner or swimmer pumping out the same cardiac output? I've tried looking through a few journal articles too and I can't seem to find an answer.

My theory is that it's something to do with all of the output going through the legs, potentially something to do with an adaptation in venious return, being more efficient to have larger yet less frequent pumps, however I have no evidence to support this theory.

Any help would be appreciated. This isn't for a project, just for myself.

Thanks guys

Chester.

term1te

Is it really the case cyclists have the lowest resting heart rate? Or is it only anecdotal? It would be interesting if cyclists' resting heart rate was statistically lower than other groups. However, given that half the population has a below average resting heart rate, does cycling lead to a lower heart rate, or do those with a lower resting heart rate gravitate to cycling?

littledove44

Cross country skiers are lower.

dw300

Pretty sure Freedivers are lower. But thats when theyre actually competing.

edhornby

I think that Indurains resting heart rate was recorded as being very low and this is often quoted in the general media as a reason for 'cyclists are very fit'

ai_1

I remember seeing a top 10 list for highest recorded VO2max and it was composed entirely of cyclists, cross country skiiers and ultra runners. I think I saw a similar list for minimum HR with the same sports at the top but I'm not as sure about that. Certainly Indurain is well known for his extremely low resting HR (28 I think?)

I don't know if there's a generally accepted concensus as to why this is but I would have thought it's down to the fact that most other sports operate at higher intensity for shorter periods both in training and competition.
Most runners do marathon distance or less. A top class marathon runner is going flat out for a little over 2hrs in competition. Compare this to a grand tour where cyclists are riding continuously at varying intensity for 4-6hrs a day for weeks. I'm not familiar with nordic skiing but I think it's a fairly low impact endurance sport which would make it similar to cycling in many ways. I don't know the duration of their training or events though.

P.S. - Are we leaving doping out of this? Could have a significant impact but who knows if it has....

ednino

Agree with the above. I found intervals & turbo sessions did very little to my resting HR. Doing 4+hour rides in zone 3/4 made a much bigger difference

uphillstruggle

Not sure a low hr has too much relevance anyhow.

Mine is regularly below 40 and i get my ass kicked every time i enter an event.

dw300

Muscle uses oxygen. Heart pumps oxygen to muscles. Cyclists train to use oxygen more efficiently. Cyclists tend to put far more hours of training their heart to develop size and stroke volume than other sports. Cyclists have relatively low muscles mass, and low amounts of excessive weight putting load on their organs at rest. This isnt brain science/rocket surgery folks.

markp80

ednino wrote:

I found intervals & turbo sessions did very little to my resting HR.

Conversely, I've found intervals and turbo sessions have dramatically reduced mine, over the course of the last 18 months or so.

displacedaussie

Highly trained athletes tend have low resting heart rates. Most professional cyclists are very highly trained.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradycardia

Bradycardia (/ˌbrædɪˈkɑrdiə/; from the Greek βραδύς, bradys "slow", and καρδία, kardia, "heart"), in the context of adult medicine, is the resting heart rate of under 60 beats per minute (BPM), although it is seldom symptomatic until the rate drops below 50 BPM. It sometimes results in fatigue, weakness, dizziness and at very low rates fainting.[1] A waking heart rate below 40 BPM is considered absolute bradycardia.

Highly trained athletes may also have athletic heart syndrome, a very slow resting heart rate which occurs as a sport adaptation and helps prevent tachycardia during training. (e.g. professional cyclist Miguel Indurain had a resting heart rate of 28 BPM).[2] Martin Brady holds the world record for the slowest heartbeat in a healthy human, with a heart rate measured in 2005 of just 27 bpm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_heart_syndrome

Athletic heart syndrome, (AHS) also known as athlete's heart,[1][2] athletic bradycardia or exercise-induced cardiomegaly is a non-pathological condition commonly seen in sports medicine, in which the human heart is enlarged, and the resting heart rate is lower than normal.
Athlete's heart is common in athletes who routinely exercise more than an hour a day, and occurs primarily in endurance athletes, though it can occasionally arise in heavy weight trainers. The condition is generally believed to be a benign one, but may sometimes be hard to distinguish from other serious medical conditions.

buckles

dw300 wrote:

Muscle uses oxygen. Heart pumps oxygen to muscles. Cyclists train to use oxygen more efficiently. Cyclists tend to put far more hours of training their heart to develop size and stroke volume than other sports. Cyclists have relatively low muscles mass, and low amounts of excessive weight putting load on their organs at rest. This isnt brain science/rocket surgery folks.

I thought cyclists generally tended to train their legs...

Bozman

I had to go for an ECG a few years ago and my RHR was that low that I got asked if I was on drugs.
I'm not super fit and I don't maintain a brilliant diet, I drink a bit and at the time I used to have a fag every now and again. I was told that I had RHR of a professional athlete, it ended up at roughly 40 but in the first test it read low 30s.
Conclusion - you don't have to be fit to have a low heart rate.

macroadie

Bozman wrote:

I had to go for an ECG a few years ago and my RHR was that low that I got asked if I was on drugs.
I'm not super fit and I don't maintain a brilliant diet, I drink a bit and at the time I used to have a fag every now and again. I was told that I had RHR of a professional athlete, it ended up at roughly 40 but in the first test it read low 30s.
Conclusion - you don't have to be fit to have a low heart rate.

you had a fag? what was his name?