Saturday, March 16, 2024

Why Is It Important To Know Your Resting Heart Rate

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What The Experts Do

The Importance Of Having A Lower Resting Heart Rate

Monitor Heart Rate for Motivation

For Johns Hopkins cardiologist Michael Blaha, M.D., M.P.H., most workoutstake place on an elliptical trainer in his home. His machine has electrodeson which he can place his hands to automatically see his heart rate. Itgives me a sense of how hard Im working, he says.

Blaha also uses his targeted heart rate to guide the course that heprogrammed into the machine, so that he works up to where he wants to be interms of exertion. Knowing your target heart rate and trying to achieve itcan be very motivating, he says.

Stay on Top of Your Heart Health

If you have a new or existing heart problem, it’s vital to see a doctor. Our heart health checklist can help you determine when to seek care.

How To Check Your Heart Rate

Bernard Kim, M.D. contributes to topics such as Cardiology.

George Batsides, M.D. contributes to topics such as Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Like the check-engine light on your car, your vital signs can alert you when somethings wrong so you can get your vehicle to a mechanicor rather, your body to a doctorbefore it breaks down.

Knowledge is power, says George Batsides, M.D., chief of cardiac surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center. The more data you have about your body, the better off youre going to be.

One of the most important vital signs to monitor on a regular basis is your heart rate, or pulse. Although its not a perfect indicator, measuring it both at rest and during exercise can give you a sense of your overall physical fitness and maybe even your risk for a heart attack.

Follow these tips to calculate it and keep track of it:

  • Know Whats Normal
  • There are two different heart rates:

    • Resting heart rate, which is your pulse when youre inactive and sedentary
    • Maximum predicted heart rate, which is your pulse when youre exercising at maximum effort

    Before you measure either, its important to know whats normal:

  • Check Your Pulse
  • Once you know whats normal for someone of your age, you can take your pulse and compare it. You can measure your heart rate manually or electronically.

  • Dont Panic
  • Check Your Blood Pressure, Too
  • What Resting Heart Rate Means

    Resting heart rate can be compared to VO2max, in that they both measure a parameter that itself has many facets. RHR measures not just the integrity and health of the heart, but the overall health of the blood and the tissues it oxygenates, as well as the nervous and hormonal systems, which play important roles in setting heart rate.

    A good deal of research has looked into the association between RHR and cardiovascular disease which is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and also the association with total death rates.

    In all cases, the research has found that

    • a low resting heart rate means a low death rate
    • a high resting heart rate means a high death rate

    Associations dont get much easier than this for a test that you can do yourself at home, no expense or doctors order required.

    Since theres an abundance of research in this area, lets just look at one recent study: Elevated resting heart rate is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease in healthy men and women.1

    The study was done in Finland. The Finns take a keen interest in heart disease because their country had at one time the worlds highest rate of heart disease.

    The subject population consisted of 10, 519 men and 11.334 women, more than enough to generate solid data. Follow-up time for any individual in the study ranged from 6 to 27 years from the time that RHR was measured. Median follow-up time was 12 years.

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    Changes Of The Maximum And Resting Heart Rate

    The heart rate changes during your lifetime. Simply by getting older. A new born baby has a resting heart rate of 130-140 and it drops with every year. This is the reason why the formula 220 minus age came up. But there are a lot more factors than just age that influence your heart rate all the time. Therefore you should test again from time to time to make sure your training zones match your physiology.

    But there are also short term changes in your heart rate. You wont be able to reach your max heart rate every day. Also the resting HR is changing from day to day up to 15 beats per minute. reasons can be a cold or over training. By checking your resting heart rate regularly you can spot abnormal stress levels early and adapt your training.

    PerfectPace is the endurance training platform for triathletes that takes you a step ahead. For a steady performance gain you had to know a lot about training methodology to plan your training sessions. Especially in a sport like triathlon where three sports need to be planned correctly. This is where PerfectPace steps in. It offers not only unique statistics that up to now were only available in expensive desktop applications but it also helps to create a plan that boosts your performance with the help of artificial intelligence, big data;and the latest advances in training science. PerfectPace considers not only your training activities but also rest days, tapering, even injury and your personal strengths and weaknesses.

    Why Measure Resting Heart Rate

    Why It Is Important To Pay Attention to Your Resting Heart ...

    Javaid Nauman, post doctor at Cardiac Exercise Research Group . Research areas are cardiac diseases, exercise, cardiovascular epidemiology and genetics.

    Conflict of interest: None declared

    Resting heart rate can predict cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Measurements are easy to obtain, and monitoring heart rate can help in cardiovascular disease prevention and management.

    The rates of death attributable to cardiovascular disease have declined over the years, yet the burden of disease remains. Almost half of all cardiovascular events occur among individuals without prior cardiovascular disease, although, they are at lower absolute risk compared with those with established cardiovascular disease . Epidemiologic evidence suggests that measurement of resting heart rate can be used to establish future risk relations in population . However, the prognostic importance of this simplest cardiovascular parameter has generally been overlooked.

    Prolonged higher heart rate at rest increases the risk of new onset of hypertension, and is associated with metabolic abnormalities. It also contributes to the development and progression of coronary atherosclerosis, facilitates plaque destabilization, and initiates arrhythmias, leading to acute coronary events and sudden death .

  • 1.

    Kerr AJ, Broad J, Wells S et al. Should the first priority in cardiovascular risk management be those with prior cardiovascular disease? Heart 2009; 95: 125âââ9.

  • 3.
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    Cardiac Output Heart Rate And Stroke Volume Responses:

    Cardiac output refers to the total quantity of blood that is ejected by the heart and is usually measured in litres per minute.; Heart rate refers to how often the heart beats and is also meaured per minute.; Stroke volume refers to the amount of blood that is ejected by the heart with each beat.; So cardiac output is quite simply the product of heart rate and stroke volume.

    Heart rate increases in a linear fashion to increases in the intensity of exercise.; This is illustrated in the adjacent graph, showing how the heart rate increases to match the incremental demands of walking, jogging and running.

    It is also worth noting that heart rates start to rise prior to any type of exercise just the thought of exercise is enough to trigger a heart rate response.;

    This initial response serves simply to prepare the body for activity and is controlled by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.

    Stroke volumes also rise as a person starts to exercise and continue to rise as the intensity of the activity increases.; This is shown in the adjacent stroke volume graph as the increases between standing, walking and jogging.; This increase is primarily due to a greater volume of blood returning to the heart.

    The increase in stroke volume only continues up to a point however.; Once the intensity of the exercise exceeds 50-60% of an individuals maximum heart rate their stroke volume ceases to rise, as shown on the graph as the similar stroke volumes for jogging and running.;

    What Impacts Your Resting Heart Rate

    Heart rate is influenced by many factors such as genetics, age, weight, medications, mood, sleep, time of day, and caffeine intake. It can also be affected by diet, tobacco use, and hydration status, and exercise, explains Richard Payden, M.D., at UCHealth in Estes Park, Colorado.

    In general, an adult will have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100. Some very active individuals, such as runners, may have resting heart rates that are even down into the 40s. There is no average resting heart rate for a runner.

    Because heart rate is influenced by so many of these variables, its best to measure it first thing in the morning for a more accurate insight.

    Read Also: List The Steps Of How To Calculate Your Target Heart Rate Zone

    Does Your Heart Have A Maximum Number Of Beats

    The maximum number of lifetime heartbeats for humans is about 3 billion. But you wont die when you reach a set number of heartbeats. Heartbeats, however, are a marker of your metabolic rate. The faster your metabolic rate , the shorter your lifespan.

    For example:

    The total number of heartbeats per lifetime is amazingly similar across all mammals. For example, a mouse has; a heart rate of 500 to 600 beats per minute but lives less than two years. At the other extreme, a Galápagos tortoise has a heart rate of about six beats per minute and has a life expectancy of 177 years.

    Do the math and the heart of a mouse beats 100 times faster than that of a tortoise. But a tortoise lives 100 times longer than a mouse. Humans, however, have about 60 bpm and have about 3 billion heartbeats per lifetime.

    Why It Is Done

    Is it IMPORTANT to know your HEART RATE during a WORKOUT? Why? Heart Rate Zones and Exercise.

    Your pulse is checked to:

    • See how well the heart is working. In an emergency situation, your pulse rate can help find out if the heart is pumping enough blood.
    • Help find the cause of symptoms, such as an irregular or rapid heartbeat , dizziness, fainting, chest pain, or shortness of breath.
    • Check for blood flow after an injury or when a blood vessel may be blocked.
    • Check on medicines or diseases that cause a slow heart rate. Your doctor may ask you to check your pulse every day if you have heart disease or if you are taking certain medicines that can slow your heart rate, such as digoxin or beta-blockers .
    • Check your general health and fitness level. Checking your pulse rate at rest, during exercise, or immediately after vigorous exercise can give you important information about your overall fitness level.

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    What Is Your Pulse

    When your heart beats it pushes blood around your body. This heart beat can be felt as your ‘pulse’ on your wrist or neck.;

    Your pulse is measured by counting the number of times your heart beats in one minute. For example, if your heart contracts 72 times in one minute, your pulse would be 72 beats per minute . This is also called your heart rate.;

    A normal pulse beats in a steady, regular rhythm. However, in some people this rhythm is uneven, or ‘jumps about’. This is known as an irregular pulse.

    Resting Heart Rate During The Night

    Nightly average RHR varies widely between individuals. A normal heart rate can range anywhere from 40 to 100 beats per minute and still be considered average. It can also change from day to day, depending on your hydration level, elevation, physical activity, and body temperature. As with many of your bodys signals, its best to compare your RHR with your own baseline. Avoid comparisons to those around you.

    When looking at your RHR curve, pay special attention to these three things:

    • Your trend: Does your RHR go up, down, or stay level during the night?
    • Your lowest point: When is your RHR lowest?
    • Your end: Right before you wake up, does your RHR change?

    With these questions in mind, here are three patterns you may recognize in the night-time heart rate curves you can see with Oura:

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    How To Improve Heart Rate

    Make Time for Regular Exercise

    • Make time for exercising every day, even if its just walking. Getting regular exercise stimulates your heart and lowers your heart rate. Aim for aerobic activities like; swimming, cycling, or dancing.

    Avoid Sitting for Long Periods of Time

    • Studies have found that sitting too long is just as harmful to your body as smoking2. Take more breaks, get up and walk around, stretch your legs, just move your body. Keep yourself active as much as possible to stimulate your heart.;

    Avoid Smoking

    • First of all, we know that smoking is bad and can potentially lead to lung cancer and other diseases, but it also increases the resting heart rate. Quitting can lower your blood pressure and heart rate almost immediately3.;

    Reduce Stress

    • This is the one that is sometimes out of our control, but if you have a lot on your mind, such as work, family, money, youre probably stressed. If you are mindful of the stress in your life its a good idea to do things for yourself that reduce stress like; meditation, yoga, exercise, massage, and deep breathing. Find ways to calm yourself down to reduce stress and your heart rate.

    Take measures to improve your heart rate by exercising or leading an active healthy lifestyle. Keep your heart happy!;

    For more on heart health, listen to our podcast on 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Heart Health. To access our monthly blog post highlights, to our newsletter today!;

    What Is Your Target Heart Rate And Why Is It Important

    When You Exercise What Happens To Your Heart Rate ...
    • What should your target heart rate be when you work out?
    • How do you find it and what does it mean?

    If you want to get the most bang for your buck when you exercise, knowing your target heart rate will help. It not only helps you maximize your workout, but also move you closer to your weight-loss goals. That way, you can be sure youre getting the most out of each and every sweat session.

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    Why Is It Important To Get It Checked

    Often an irregular pulse is harmless. However, it’s important to get it checked by a health professional, because sometimes it’s a sign of a heart condition.

    The most common kind of heart rhythm condition is atrial fibrillation , which can put you at greater risk of having a stroke. Fortunately, if you have AF, there’s medication you can take to help reduce this stroke risk.

    Your doctor can do a simple test called an ECG to further check your irregular pulse.

    How To Lower Your Resting Heart Rate

    Besides obvious factors like losing fat and not smoking, the most important way to lower resting heart rate is through exercise.

    While endurance exercise may be on record as producing the best results, to my knowledge, other exercise modalities havent been look at. For example, what is the Olympic sprinter Usain Bolts resting heart rate? Or that of an Olympic weightlifter? my guess is that they are all quite low.

    High-intensity interval training is also good for lowering RHR.

    The key for lowering RHR is, just as for anything you want to improve, putting a stress on the body. Therefore, exercises like walking, while a healthy pursuit, may not do much to lower RHR; they simply dont proviode enough stress to the system.

    If you dont already exercise, and want to undertake a program of RHR-lowering exercise, you should get a doctors clearance first, especially if youre older and/or have pre-existing illnesses.

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    How To Lower Rhr

    Its important to maintain an active lifestyle with regular aerobic exercise, a balanced diet, regular sleep and hydration. If your RHR is high, these are the first factors to assess. Beyond the basic lifestyle factors, a few other steps can be taken to significantly lower RHR:

    1. Alcohol and smoking. Regular drinking and smoking increase stress on the heart and the cardiovascular system. Cutting back or eliminating these habits altogether may have a positive impact on not only reducing RHR, but overall well-being as well.

    2. Manage Weight. Maintaining a healthy weight promotes increased metabolic and energy efficiency and decreases strain on the heart; hence lowering RHR.

    3. Meditation. Long, slow breathing can help regulate your heart rate and over time works to decrease RHR as well.

    Resting Heart Rate is an important measure of overall wellness for both athletes and anyone focused on a healthy lifestyle. At Biostrap, were dedicated to putting you in control of your health by measuring biometrics at clinical-grade accuracy, so you can track and improve your performance and wellbeing better than ever.

    Biostrap Team

    What Is A Normal Heart Rate

    What Is A Healthy Heart Rate – What Affects Heart Rate – What Is Maximum Heart Rate

    Again, while heart rate can vary from individual to individual, it is commonly said that a normal heart rate is somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute . However, it can be different for various situations. For instance, some people might have over 100 bpm, which is known as tachycardia, while others have heart rates around 50 to 60 bpm, considered to be bradycardia.

    In some cases, there are abnormal heart rates, in which the heart beats irregularly, also known as arrhythmia. More so than not, it can be contributed to disease or otherwise a problem with the heart being able to pump blood effectively throughout the entire body.

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