OT: surprisingly low resting heart rate

[Raptor]

A heavy female friend of mine has recently added a ton of training
volume - diet and resolution time you know. During the holidays, not
much activity. Last two weeks, multiple workouts per day, mainly cardio
but two-three resistance workouts per week. As a CPT, I keep advising
her to listen to her body and let it recover.

In prior months, she's had problems with food, as in eating FAR too
little. An overdue resting metabolic rate test has partially fixed that
and she's eating much better, though not always adequately given her
training volume. This better eating is over the last month or so.

The last time she knew her RHR, it was 60. She took it tonight, after a
workout this morning and shortly after eating a more or less complete
dinner, and it was 47. This strikes me as low because of her recent
exercise volume and recent meal. (Digestion raises heart rate if
anything. Right?)

We usually associate a lower RHR with improved CV fitness, and she's
improved though I can't quantify it. But she is not yet an athlete by
any stretch of the word at this point, and the time spent isn't enough
to really produce much improvement on its own.

No HR affecting medication that I know of.

OF COURSE the proper advice is to go to a doctor and get your
heart/blood checked out. But she'd rather not take the time.

So, informed speculation wanted about what could be behind this
startlingly low number. We at least need more HR numbers to be confident
of the 47, I guess. And the former RHR of 60 is a bit suspect too, but
she is a medical assistant and knows how to count.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

 

[Raptor]

I searched groups.google before posting this and found little. AFTER
posting, another search with a variation of the search term found me the
terms "bradycardia," "chronotopic incompetence" and "hypothyroidism."
How 'bout that - it was from a thread I participated in last year.

That's enough for now but if you have suggestions beyond that I'd like
to see them.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

 

[Terry Morse]

Raptor wrote:

> A heavy female friend of mine has recently added a ton of training
> volume - diet and resolution time you know. During the holidays, not
> much activity. Last two weeks, multiple workouts per day, mainly cardio
> but two-three resistance workouts per week. As a CPT, I keep advising
> her to listen to her body and let it recover.
>
> The last time she knew her RHR, it was 60. She took it tonight, after a
> workout this morning and shortly after eating a more or less complete
> dinner, and it was 47.

She ought to be taking her RHR first thing in the morning, which
gives a more reliable measure.

She might just be one of those people who respond very quickly to
cardio conditioning. I'm the same way, my RHR can plummet after
returning to exercise after a few weeks of rest. In as little as 4
days, my RHR can drop 8 beats.
--
terry morse

 

[Raptor]

[email protected] wrote:
>
> For someone who's been working out a lot, 47 isn't particularly low.

She's only been working out a lot in the last four weeks. I was puzzled
and worried. One helpful and informed person suggest I research
sympathetic and parasympathetic overtraining. I'm glad I did, though
p-symp overtraining symptoms read pretty much like the benefits of training.

A careful check-out by the doc indicates that her body is just
responding quite well. But the doc wrote her a note giving permission to
(only) follow a more-sane exercise schedule. Nothing wrong with the
volume per se, but it's too much for a relatively new exerciser. I'll
bless her desire to work harder in a month or so. And get her to track
her RHR.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

 

[[email protected]]

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:53:47 -0700, Raptor <[email protected]> wrote:
>A heavy female friend of mine has recently added a ton of training
>volume - diet and resolution time you know. During the holidays, not
>much activity. Last two weeks, multiple workouts per day, mainly cardio
>but two-three resistance workouts per week. As a CPT, I keep advising
>her to listen to her body and let it recover.
>
>In prior months, she's had problems with food, as in eating FAR too
>little. An overdue resting metabolic rate test has partially fixed that
>and she's eating much better, though not always adequately given her
>training volume. This better eating is over the last month or so.
>
>The last time she knew her RHR, it was 60. She took it tonight, after a
>workout this morning and shortly after eating a more or less complete
>dinner, and it was 47. This strikes me as low because of her recent
>exercise volume and recent meal. (Digestion raises heart rate if
>anything. Right?)
>
>We usually associate a lower RHR with improved CV fitness, and she's
>improved though I can't quantify it. But she is not yet an athlete by
>any stretch of the word at this point, and the time spent isn't enough
>to really produce much improvement on its own.
>
>No HR affecting medication that I know of.
>
>OF COURSE the proper advice is to go to a doctor and get your
>heart/blood checked out. But she'd rather not take the time.
>
>So, informed speculation wanted about what could be behind this
>startlingly low number. We at least need more HR numbers to be confident
>of the 47, I guess. And the former RHR of 60 is a bit suspect too, but
>she is a medical assistant and knows how to count.

For someone who's been working out a lot, 47 isn't particularly low.

Have her wear a Polar recording HRM to bed & check the
whole night's HR. The lowest is usually in the morning just
before getting up, but not always.

Make sure that she isn't dehydrated. Several days of heavy
workouts can lead to chronic dehydration which can possibly
lower the HR. Needless to say, this isn't good.

If she has been training hard, and then backs off for a few
days, her RHR can drop by 6-10 bpm as she "tapers".

If she is training this much, she should be keeping a log
of her RHR so that she will be better informed of her
"normal" RHR.

 

[Musashi]

47 isn't too low. However a low heart rate is one of the signs, as
mentioned, of hypothyroidism. I'd get a T profile(blood work) and if
it's find I wouldn't worry. And I'd only get that done if she has
other signs such as a low body temperature, low blood pressure, skin
problems such as dandruff, etc...

My morning HR is 42, resting daily HR ranges between 48-52. And that's
during the winter when I'm not training much at all. I've always been
that way. It's no sign of fitness for me as it is for top cyclists. I
recall someone like Merckx or Indurain having a resting hr of 37.

Musashi


On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 11:53:47 -0700, Raptor <[email protected]>
wrote:

>A heavy female friend of mine has recently added a ton of training
>volume - diet and resolution time you know. During the holidays, not
>much activity. Last two weeks, multiple workouts per day, mainly cardio
>but two-three resistance workouts per week. As a CPT, I keep advising
>her to listen to her body and let it recover.
>
>In prior months, she's had problems with food, as in eating FAR too
>little. An overdue resting metabolic rate test has partially fixed that
>and she's eating much better, though not always adequately given her
>training volume. This better eating is over the last month or so.
>
>The last time she knew her RHR, it was 60. She took it tonight, after a
>workout this morning and shortly after eating a more or less complete
>dinner, and it was 47. This strikes me as low because of her recent
>exercise volume and recent meal. (Digestion raises heart rate if
>anything. Right?)
>
>We usually associate a lower RHR with improved CV fitness, and she's
>improved though I can't quantify it. But she is not yet an athlete by
>any stretch of the word at this point, and the time spent isn't enough
>to really produce much improvement on its own.
>
>No HR affecting medication that I know of.
>
>OF COURSE the proper advice is to go to a doctor and get your
>heart/blood checked out. But she'd rather not take the time.
>
>So, informed speculation wanted about what could be behind this
>startlingly low number. We at least need more HR numbers to be confident
>of the 47, I guess. And the former RHR of 60 is a bit suspect too, but
>she is a medical assistant and knows how to count.
>
>--