pulse rate
 

this post is 2fold.

1) take a poll of 2p2s pulse rates
2) determine what a pulse rate is from people who know this stuff.

so, find your pulse on your neck or wrist. double click the clock icon so you can see the seconds and count for 30 seconds and double the # of beats you get.

For those of you who know what this # signifies, please tell us!! what is normal? what is great? what is good?

Thanks,
Barron

Re: pulse rate
 

Lance Armstrong has a resting heart rate of 32 bpm

Re: pulse rate
 

I'm not a doctor, but this is my general understanding of pulse rate stuff. Resting pulse rate can be a decent indicator of fitness, but then there's also a genetic component so there aren't any one-size-fits-all rules here. In general my resting rate is around 60, but when I'm training hard and in good CV shape (e.g. lots of soccer/running/basketball) it will drop to 45-50.

You can get a sense of your resting pulse rate by taking it a few days in a row, preferably in the morning right when you wake up, as long as you're not being jolted out of sleep by an alarm.

Online it generally says that the "normal" adult range is between 60-100, that sounds OK but fwiw it seems to me that a resting rate of above 80 or maybe 90 is getting pretty high.

One benefit of knowing your resting rate is that it's a good early-warning system to see if you're overtraining and/or are on the brink of getting sick: If my resting rate is maybe four or five beats higher than it ought to be on consecutive mornings, it's a good sign that I need to back off a little.

Obviously people use working pulse rate all the time to gauge the intensity of their workout. It's probably too big a topic to summarize here, and it doesn't work perfectly for everyone, but all runners should have a decent sense of their max heart rate so that they can figure out how hard they should be working for VO2 pace, tempo pace, regular pace, etc.

Yes, elite endurance athletes seem to end up having ridiculously low pulse rates, readings in the 30s are not uncommon. But I know a highly-fit, highly-trained woman whose heart rate is never below 70. And then there's my dad--not exactly an olympic threat--who wins free food at this local breakfast place because on their pulse machine he clocks in in the low-40s.

By the way, super low pulse rates aren't always good. Zero is an extreme example. But seriously, very low heart rates can be a sign of heart disease. Very high resting heart rates can mean a whole bunch of not-great stuff. Of course, drugs and external things can affect this too. Also, kids have higher pulses than adults.

Hm, I see I'm using the terms "pulse rate" and "heart rate" interchangeably which I know is not necessarily true, but it's a pretty nitty distinction. Other nitty points include that you're not supposed to take your pulse with your thumb; your thumb has its own pulse and can screw the reading up. If I felt like typing more, it would very likely be about the tricks some people learn to temporarily lower their pulse rates, not too useful as a general life skill, but pretty handy if you're trying to break the Guinness Record for breath-holding. Or if you're OJ taking a polygraph. Some of this yogi mind-control stuff might be total pseudo-science though. By the way, your body naturally slows your pulse rate down when you're underwater, and I think that's cool. I think it's called the diving response.

my resting heart rate issue
 

I answered 55-59. If I wake up in the morning and relax for a bit my rate will be in this area. Sometimes if I really relaz, it falls below 50 (as low as 45). During the day, my pulse is rarely less than 60 and prob more like 65 while sitting at my desk. Should my heart rate ever go _below_ my resting heart rate? If by definition it can't, then maybe I should have put <50.

BTW: my understanding is essentially what bellytimber posted.

Re: pulse rate
 

[ QUOTE ]


One benefit of knowing your resting rate is that it's a good early-warning system to see if you're overtraining and/or are on the brink of getting sick: If my resting rate is maybe four or five beats higher than it ought to be on consecutive mornings, it's a good sign that I need to back off a little.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is probably the best reason to know your rest HR.

When I was in good shape, I had a resting heart rate in the low 40's. I remember measuring 42 on the morning of a long stage race. Then on the 4th day, I was relaxing in the afternoon after that day's race and I could just feel my heart racing...it had moved all the way up to 72.

Conversely, if you are just starting on a plan that includes aerobic fitness you might be at 60, then as you get in better shape you can watch it drop. So along with weight or some sort of test (e.g. a mile run or 5k, etc), resting heart rate can be followed as a sign that you are getting in better shape.

Re: pulse rate
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


One benefit of knowing your resting rate is that it's a good early-warning system to see if you're overtraining and/or are on the brink of getting sick: If my resting rate is maybe four or five beats higher than it ought to be on consecutive mornings, it's a good sign that I need to back off a little.


[/ QUOTE ]

This is probably the best reason to know your rest HR.

When I was in good shape, I had a resting heart rate in the low 40's. I remember measuring 42 on the morning of a long stage race. Then on the 4th day, I was relaxing in the afternoon after that day's race and I could just feel my heart racing...it had moved all the way up to 72.

Conversely, if you are just starting on a plan that includes aerobic fitness you might be at 60, then as you get in better shape you can watch it drop. So along with weight or some sort of test (e.g. a mile run or 5k, etc), resting heart rate can be followed as a sign that you are getting in better shape.

[/ QUOTE ]

How fast you recover is also an indication of fitness, although that's harder to see without a HRM. Recover in the sense of doing something at 70-80% of max and having your HR come down out of that range when you lesson the effort. When I first started doing cardio my HR would tend to shoot up and stay up for a long time, now it doesn't do it as much.

Re: pulse rate
 

i hav anywher between 80-100, am i gonna die?

Re: pulse rate
 

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Lance Armstrong has a resting heart rate of 32 bpm

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Training or doping? Both.

Re: pulse rate
 

lol I think you need a few more increments below 54.

Re: pulse rate
 

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lol I think you need a few more increments below 54.

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If it's rest rate in the morning, yes, but not if you take your rate now, in front of your computer