How Fit Are You Take The 2 Minute Heart Rate Recovery Test
Heart rate recovery is a great way to assess your fitness level the quicker your heart rate recovers, the more fit your heart and body is. It is one of those factors like Resting Heart Rate and Fitness Assessments that can tell you a lot about your body and fitness.
The original idea for the recovery had its roots in the Bruce Protocol, which basically takes a short but stressful treadmill test and was able to see a correlation between how fast the heart recovered and how fit or potentially unfit the subjects cardiovascular system.
Weve found over the years that endurance or low effort activities have very different recovery rates. We enjoy measuring our recovery after a good hard workout, but for general informational purposes only. See below for a sample test and generalized results using the 2 minute recovery from Enhanced Medical Care.
Researchers Find Heart Rate Worth A Thousand Words
Sept. 19, 2000 — For those worried about their heart, here’s some good news: A person’s risk for having a life-threatening bout with heart disease can be determined easily and accurately using two simple, noninvasive tests. You’ve probably heard of one — exercise stress testing, also known as treadmill testing. The other you probably aren’t familiar with: heart rate recovery. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic report their results with these two tests in the Sept. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Heart rate recovery is a measurement of how much the heart rate falls during the first minute after peak exercise. It is routinely measured during millions of exercise tests every year. Doctors usually order these tests when they suspect that a patient may have a heart in trouble.
Patients are put on a treadmill and exercise to the point that they can’t go on. It is then that the heart rate recovery is taken. Afterward, it’s added to the picture created by how long the person can exercise and what the heart rate was doing during the exercise test. This big picture can give doctors a pretty accurate idea of how well the heart is working.
The healthier a person’s heart is, the quicker it returns to its normal beat the less healthy the heart is, the longer it takes it to recover from something like an exercise stress test.
What Is A Good Heart Rate Recovery On Your Apple Watch
The fitter you are, the quicker your heart rate will return to normal after exercise.
The gold standard for measuring the HRR is by using the YMCA 3-minute step test that requires you to step on and off a 12-inch step for 3 minutes straight while keeping a consistent pace and then see how quickly your heart rate will come back down.
When 3 minutes are up, stop immediately, sit down on the step, and check your heart rate recovery metric by using the digital crown on your apple watch to scroll down on the results following the end of the 3-minute workout.
You can compare your results with the YMCA 3-minute step test results using the table below.
| Heart Rate Recovery scores by sex and age following the 3 minute YMCA step test |
| Ratings for Men |
|
135-155 |
This simple chart provides you with some insights into how your recovery heart rate measures up to the averages of other people in the age group. It is important to know that these results will not be of much importance if you are taking any heart medications.
Another study from 2015 tested 274 elite male athletes. Those over the age of 18 had an average 1-minute HRR of 29.5, compared to 22.4 for subjects under 18.
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Post Workout: Heart Rate Data
When you have finished your workout, be it walking, running, cycling etc. you can review your data. You can use the Garmin Connect App. You get a graph of your heart rate over your workout session, an average, and maximum Heart Rate figure.
Get into the habit once you finish your workout, to stop and measure your heart rate immediately and two minutes after. Subtract the difference and that is known as your Recovery Heart Rate. Your Garmin Sports smartwatch can do this for you.
Remember not to move. You can breathe slower to help your heart rate slow down.
Some Garmin sports watches have a Recovery Time feature. This is not the same thing as Recovery Heart Rate. Recovery time is the number of hours before you will be back at 100% ability to train hard again after a hard workout. It is used to indicate when training hard is beneficial and when it is better to go easy.
For best results, Garmin advises going for several runs or workouts so your device can learn your overall level of fitness. It gives you a way to optimize your training program. This is used by serious athletes who are in training.
Recovery Heart Rate is for anyone interested in seeing how their exercise program is affecting their heart as an indication of improving health.
Resting Heart Rate is your Heart Rate when you have just woken up. A lowering of your resting heart rate is a sign of improved fitness. While the average adult has a resting heart rate of about 60-100 BPM, an athlete might have 40-60.
Cardiovascular System Science: Investigate Heart
Health
IntroductionAs Valentine’s Day approaches, we’re increasingly confronted with “artistic” images of the heart. Real hearts hardly resemble to two-lobed shapes adorning cards and candy boxes this time of year. And the actual shape of the human heart is important for its function of supplying blood to the entire body. You have likely noticed that your heart beats more quickly when you exercise. But have you ever taken the time to observe how long it takes to return to its normal rate after you’re done exercising? In this science activity you’ll get to do some exercises to explore your own heart-rate recovery time.
BackgroundYour heart is continuously beating to keep blood circulating throughout your body. Its rate changes depending on your activity level it is lower while you are asleep and at rest and higher while you exerciseto supply your muscles with enough freshly oxygenated blood to keep the functioning at a high level. Because your heart is also a muscle, exercise, in turn, helps keep it healthy. The American Heart Association recommends that a person does exercise that is vigorous enough to raise their heart rate to their target heart-rate zone50 percent to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate, which is 220 beats per minute minus their age for adultsfor at least 30 minutes on most days, or about 150 minutes a week in total. So for a 20-year-old, the maximum heart rate would be 200 bpm, with a target heart-rate zone of 100 to 170 bpm.
Materials
Preparation
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Running The Heart Rate Recovery In
When your workout is paused , instead of tapping End Workout, tap Recovery.
Fitdigits will begin a 2:00 minute countdown.
Stop your activity and focus on breathing, relaxing and bringing your heart rate down. Take long deep breaths, breath through your nose and relax. Watch your recovery on the chart which will show how many beats your heart rate has slowed since the start of the recovery period.
After 2 minutes, Fitdigits apps will display your recovery results including the percent of recovery by minutes. In the example, my heart rate recovered 15% or 20 beats per minute in the first minute, only halfway through recovery. By the end of the recovery, my heart rate was down to 105, a total drop of 28 BPM, or 21%. These results generally show a healthy recovery. According to the test published below, that puts me in the Your biological age is about the same as your calendar age category. Ill take that, but try to improve as well.
Measuring Resting Heart Rate
Go out for some vigorous exercise. A bike ride, jog or using an elliptical machine at the gym will suffice. Get your heart rate up to about 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, which you can estimate by subtracting your age from 220.
Once you’ve reached that level, stop and immediately take your pulse using your index and middle finger on the carotid artery in your neck or the radial artery on the inside of your wrist. Using a stopwatch, count the number of beats in 20 seconds, then multiply by three. Make note of that number.
Remain still, either seated or standing, and take your pulse again 60 seconds later. You don’t need this number to determine heart rate recovery, but it is important to know for purposes of assessing markers of physical fitness.
At 2 minutes, take your pulse again. Subtract this number from your peak heart rate during exercise to find your recovery heart rate.
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At What Heart Rate Should You Go To The Hospital
If youre sitting down and feeling calm, your heart shouldnt beat more than about 100 times per minute. A heartbeat thats faster than this, also called tachycardia, is a reason to come to the emergency department and get checked out. We often see patients whose hearts are beating 160 beats per minute or more.
Here’s What Your Heart Says About Your Exercise Recovery
Cardiovascular diseases are the number 1 cause of death globally more people die annually from heart diseases than from any other cause. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Exercise, nutrition, and other lifestyle interventions greatly affect how the human heart functions. Significant improvements in heart health can be achieved by strengthening the heart muscle through exercise.
The less efficient your heart is, the more it has to beat per minute to get your blood where it needs to go.
Cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis strengthens the heart muscle. Developing a stronger heart muscle allows for an increase in the volume of blood your heart pumps out with every beat. A great way to measure this cardiovascular improvement is by calculating your Recovery Heart Rate, a measure of your cardiac efficiency.
To calculate your heart rate recovery time, youll need:
- A watch or clock with a second hand or a simple stopwatch
- Something to record your number with
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Hrr On Your Apple Watch
To view your HRR data, track your racquet sports workout with TennisKeeper on your Apple Watch. When you finish your session, tap End to get a summary. Scroll to the bottom of the Summary view and tap Save to save the data from your session.
Next tap on the heart icon on your Apple Watch to go to the Heart Rate app. Scroll to the bottom. You will see a Recovery section. Tap to see how much your heart rate decreased after 1 and 2 minutes of your racquet sports workout.1 min and 2 min Heart Rate Recovery after Tennis Workout
To get a good reading, avoid doing anything strenuous for three minutes.
The Confusing Way Apple Displays Your One
A bit confusingly, Apple displays your one-minute and two-minute recoveries slightly differently on Apple Watch versus iPhone. On the Apple Watch, it shows the difference, indicated with a minus sign. So, for example, if your heart rate was 168 BPM when you finished your workout, and then 99 BPM at the one-minute mark, the Apple Watch would show -69 . But on the iPhones Activity app, it shows the actual BPM , so you must calculate the recovery time yourself.
Hopefully Apple will change this discrepancy in iOS 12 and watchOS 5 to make the apps consistent.
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What Makes A Difference In Heart Rate Recovery Time After A Workout
Faster heart rate recovery times after a workout indicate you are healthy and fit. You are fully recovered when your heart rate returns to its pre-exercise heart rate, but how quickly your heart rate falls in the first minute after you stop exercising is by far the most important post-workout heart rate measurement. You can improve your recovery heart rate and recovery time by improving your fitness, exercising less intensely and improving your post-workout routine.
Track Your Heart Rate
Keeping track of your heart rate can give you insight into your fitness level, heart health and emotional health, Dr. Sinha says. Many people are walking around with a resting heart rate that is too high, due to factors such as too much caffeine, dehydration, inactivity and persistent stress. Those extra heart beats over time can be taking years off your life.
Dr. Sinha recommends tracking your heart rate as well as keeping a journal of which activities are causing higher heart rates. Then use that information to make changes, set priorities and move toward a healthier life. If daily stress is raising your resting heart rate, for example, think twice about taking on that extra project at work or school. Consider adding a morning walk or a 10-minute breathing session at lunch.
A final reminder from Dr. Sinha: Get your doctors OK before exercising hard if you have a heart condition or other disorder where exercising may be unsafe. Also keep in mind that certain medications can affect your heart rate, making it a less reliable measurement.
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What Is Recovery Heart Rate
If you take group exercise classes or work out in a gym, you may have heard fitness trainers refer to recovery heart rate. In many spinning classes, for example, the instructor may ask you to take a recovery heart rate right after the hard part of the class is over. But you may not know the definition of recovery heart rate.
Recovery heart rate is simply your pulse rate after exercise. Some fitness specialists refer to it as the post-exercise heart rate. The pulse number is used for different reasons in different settings.
In a fitness class, you might take a recovery heart rate in the 3-5 minutes after exercise to make sure that your heart is recovering properly. Many group exercise instructors will recommend that you bring the recovery pulse rate under 100 beats per minute before you get off your spin bike, for example, or move to the floor for stretching.
Recovery heart rate is also used in popular fitness tests like the YMCA Submaximal Step Test. Recovery heart rate should not be used as a fitness measurement in people who are on medications that affect heart rate.
Knowing Where You Stand
A healthy recovery heart rate depends on many factors, including your age, gender, diet and hydration. Men’s heart rates are typically lower than women’s. If you had caffeine before exercise or you didn’t drink enough fluids, that can affect your heart rate. In general, according to Berkeley Wellness, a healthy drop in heart rate is around 20 beats per minute following exercise.
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Why Has My Resting Heart Rate Increased
As shown above, there are many factors to consider if you find yourself suddenly asking why is my resting heart rate getting higher? Its important to first think about the aspects that can contribute towards a raised resting heart rate that isnt a cause for concern.
Most people will notice their resting heart rate rising with age.
Most people will notice their RHR rising with age. While you cant control your bodys aging process, you can reduce its impact on your cardiovascular system. Try exercising within a variety of heart rate zones as this can be effective in reducing resting heart rate.
Not getting enough sleep can contribute towards your resting heart rate going up. If youre always exhausted, you could be experiencing chronic sleep deprivation. Not only does this lead to feelings of fatigue and a slower metabolism but it can also result in resting heart rate increasing. You should always try to get at least seven hours of sleep every night to ensure your body is sufficiently recovered.
Similarly, if youre training at an intense level but not allowing your body enough time to rest, you may notice hey, my resting heart rate has gone up! This is a sign that you need to give your body the time to repair properly so it can absorb the benefits of your workouts. Otherwise, all that hard work could end up having a detrimental effect.
But How Do We Know What A Good Heart Rate Recovery Is Fortunately There Is A Lot Of Solid Science To Give Us An Idea
A research article from the New England Journal of Medicine found that:
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A heart rate recovery of 15-20 beats per minute after one minute of rest was considered about average for heart health and anything faster than that was considered to be good heart health.
A 2017 article in the Journal of the American Heart Association pooled together a ton of studies on heart rate recovery and found a strong enough relationship between heart rate recovery and cardiovascular health to recommend it as something that should be looked at when gauging risk of things like heart disease.
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Why Is Hrr Important
Your heart rate is regulated by your autonomic nervous system, which is broken up into sympathetic activity and parasympathetic activity. Your heart rate changes based on whether sympathetic or parasympathetic activity is more dominant at the time.
If your heart rate doesnt appropriately drop after you stop exercising, it can indicate poor cardiovascular fitness or, in extreme cases, even a medical condition that is affecting your autonomic nervous system. The connection between HRR and your overall health has been shown in multiple studies:
HRR can predict overall health risk and mortality: a 6-year study found that patients with a heart rate drop less than 12 bpm one minute after peak exercise were at increased health risk than those with a normal HRR .
Improving HRR via exercise significantly reduces mortality: the Cleveland Clinic studied a group of patients who started cardiac rehab after a heart procedure. They found that patients who improved their HRR to normal levels through exercise had significantly lower mortality than patients who did not .
HRR as a predictor of atrial fibrillation: a 3-year study found that patients with low HRR were more likely to develop atrial fibrillation .
Independent connection between diabetes and HRR: Elevated fasting glucose levels were shown to be connected with abnormal HRR, even after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and more .