Resting Heart Rate vs. Active Heart Rate

[njg13]

I bought a Polar heart rate monitor and i hav noticed something that I am curious about. I a 31, female...my resting heart rate seems to be around 70-80, sometimes as high as 85. This seems WAY to high for me. During exercise, my heart rate gets up to the 130s within 5-10 minutes and to the 150s in 15 minutes. The highest it has ever gotten was 182, while running. That seems low to me. So, are my numbers good? Bad? How can I get my resting heart rate down? (I already run and feel like I'm in pretty good cardiovascular health. Any advice/info will be greatly appreciated.

[freebirdmac]

72 bpm is normal, but most "in shape" people are around 60 or below. Do you consume caffeine? Your numbers while running seem fine.

[BuffedWildCat]

Keep in mind resting heart rate isn't the only indicator of fitness level. I have a "high" resting heart rate too for being as in shape as I am, (mine too is right around 70). For example I can maintain my heart rate at 90% of my MHR for 10 min on my nordic track and Saturday at outdoor speed skating practice my heart rate stayed up at 83-93% for the entire practice, 45 minutes. So another indicator is how long you can sustain a high heart rate. If either your resting heart rate goes down and/or you find you can sustain a higher heart rate for longer periods, both are indicators of increasing fitness level.

[momto2]

interested in all the responses ... my resting heart rate is higher (70-75ish) as well.
???

[medjen]

My resting heart rate has always been higher and I've always had low blood pressure. The two kind of go together.

In my late teens/early 20s, it was in the low 100s, despite activity level. Now it's right around 75-80. I wouldn't worry too terribly much about it unless your doctor has mentioned it. Everyone's normal is going to fall across a range. Some people have a naturally faster pacemaker.

[IronCitGrl]

Mine is always around 60. Nurses always say "oh you have a nice slow pulse" Even when I didn't workout it was still slow and now that I do work out it is still at around 60.

[swindled]

Heart rate really varies from person to person. I have a resting heart rate of 60 right now, it was lower when I was younger in the mid 50's. My max heart rate is 182 (VO2 testing helped determine this), which actually was an issue for my kayking coach. My coach would try to determine how hard you were working by how high your heart rate was and he wanted at least 140 beats per minute (for short sets), which was easy for the other girls I was training with as they all had higher heart rates than I did. I generally averaged around 125 per set. So even though I had good VO2 health, and could keep up if not beat the other women around me my heart rate was always lower which ticked my coach off because he thought it was because I wasnt working hard enough.

[yoplait311]

HR's are so interesting. Best way to track improvements is to take a baseline and measure from there.

My resting is low at around 39-42.
However, my max HR is about 202-205.
I workout in ranges, based on the intensity of the workout prescribed.

How do I know my fitness is increasing?
After a hard or fast interval my HR will get up to 180...but it only takes seconds for it to drop to the 100's. Fast recovery = fitness

[BuffedWildCat]

Originally Posted by yoplait311

...
How do I know my fitness is increasing?
After a hard or fast interval my HR will get up to 180...but it only takes seconds for it to drop to the 100's. Fast recovery = fitness

Great point, can't believe I forgot to mention that one! Yep, the more quickly your heart rate drops down the more fit you are.

[Irun4fun]

yout resting is high, i take mine 3 times a day, morning/after workout/bed, and douring my workout at times, i tend to be 55-65 resting and 130-180 running. target zone for endurnace is 130-170 so ur there wehn working out, try taking your resting pulse without the watch, the watch might be reading wrong.(resting is when youve been sitting with minimal movement for at least 5 mins. my heart rate goes up just like yours during exersize.. fast, its normal.

[njg13]

Originally Posted by medjen

My resting heart rate has always been higher and I've always had low blood pressure. The two kind of go together.

I hadn't ever heard this but my blood pressure has always been on the low end, usually 100-110 over 60-70. the highest it has EVER been was ONE TIME at 130/80 when I was pregnant and had almost gotten into a car wreck as I pulled into the dr's office. The nurse looked at me and said, ok what happened, your blood pressure is never this high.