Last summer I started measuring my RHR to monitor overtraining.
Since then I've measured it every night and every morning to see fluctuations and long-term changes.
In the past six months, my RHR has lowered concomitantly with longer endurance activity (running, rowing) times.
Other things I've noticed in regards to overtraining and dietary changes:
Yeah, a lot of this stuff seems obvious but the mechanisms are never really tested on anyone more than middle aged Joes and Janes. For reference, my resting heart rate is usually between 38-42bpm at night and 42-46bpm in the morning during normal caloric intake. There are a lot of other effects of diet on heart rate, but most of them are tied to ketosis and didn't seem specifically appropriate to this thread.
I'm interested to hear what people's resting heart rates are, especially some of the faster runners and rowers. I realize RHR isn't overly precise as a measurement between individuals, but there's an obvious correlation.
Since then I've measured it every night and every morning to see fluctuations and long-term changes.
In the past six months, my RHR has lowered concomitantly with longer endurance activity (running, rowing) times.
Other things I've noticed in regards to overtraining and dietary changes:
- Overtraining lowers RHR but increases blood pressure, most likely due to vasoconstriction and energy conservation. Lowering calories exacerbates this. When I was testing out ketosis effects on myself, when I tried to read at night (laying supine, book on chest) my book would shake with heartbeats (visibly to other observers). This increase in blood pressure was palpable, contrary to what scientists state.
- Alcohol raises resting heart rate (duh) but the mechanism seems tied to its vasodilation properties. This may have been studied, but in terms of someone like myself a single drink was enough for vasodilation, a drop in systemic blood pressure, and a slight (+4-6bpm) increase in resting heart rate.
- As my resting heart rate lowered as I became more trained, palpating my heart rate became increasingly easier. Sometimes I just like in bed and can feel my heart beating through my back or ribs. This was alarming at first, but it feels normal now.
- Resting heart rate is lowest at night. Waking resting heart rate tends to be around 4-5bpm higher than it is at night.
Yeah, a lot of this stuff seems obvious but the mechanisms are never really tested on anyone more than middle aged Joes and Janes. For reference, my resting heart rate is usually between 38-42bpm at night and 42-46bpm in the morning during normal caloric intake. There are a lot of other effects of diet on heart rate, but most of them are tied to ketosis and didn't seem specifically appropriate to this thread.
I'm interested to hear what people's resting heart rates are, especially some of the faster runners and rowers. I realize RHR isn't overly precise as a measurement between individuals, but there's an obvious correlation.
It's usually around 70-80 when I check it randomly during the day though. I can't brag of being particularly great shape though, there's been way too little exercise lately.
