As the title says… anyone else have any experience with low average HR and BMR and Daily MR
I have avg Daily HR of 41-43 BPM, and have just started wearing a Garmin Watch with HR tracking.
The unit states I am burning approx 2000- 2200 Cals daily NOT including training. This is just life/work/kids etc
Im 39 years old,
6 ft 1,
93kgs,
19% BF,
360w FTP,
42.5kgs Skeletal muscle mass from a recent body scan.
Always struggled to drop weight even with a good diet and training…, always had a very low heart rate even when not trained.
MY HR has always been super low since first noticing it in late teens.
Regular check ups, Blood pressure all good, nothing frightening, as with different HR monitors i can get it down under 40 bpm first thing in the morning with concentrated relaxation.
Currant Max HR is 186ish, Threshold is 165-170 bpm
A low RHR does not imply a lower metabolic rate, only an efficient heart stroke. HR’s link to metabolism is relative – when you raise your HR to 100 BPM (say), you’ll be burning more calories than someone of the same size/BF who has an RHR of 70 (say).
Your Garmin is most likely underestimating your calories. Based on your body metrics, your RMR is around 1,960 kCal/day; if we assume you burned 2,200, per your Garmin, this gives you a PAL multiplier of 1.12, which is too low even for someone who literally lies on the couch and watches TV for all of their waking hours. Spend some time looking through the Compendium of Physical Activities: Compendium of Physical Activities
Even desk work has a PAL of ~1.5. Try making a hour-by-hour breakdown of your typical day per the one done here, and you may be surprised by your average PAL: Human energy requirements . Even a modest average of 1.4 puts you north of 2,700 kCal/day typically.
If you’re actually eating 2,000-2,200 kCal and aren’t losing weight, it’s probably because you’ve tanked your metabolism.
All good, you don’t have to believe it.
Ive had a Polar watch, Garmin edge 500,800,530, 3 different Chest straps, Garmin vivomove HR, used my wife’s forerunner and a had a doctor comment when i was younger before i had surgery say “your the kid with the low HR”,
so not new to me in anyway, just investigating and trying to learn about how my body works.
My RHR fluctuates between 38-42. Usually low 50’s when at rest in the day
I’ve always struggled to lose weight, although I’ve never really stuck to a rigid diet for too long.
I started using My FitnessPal at the beginning of August and saw good results in the first month.
September has slowed down quite a bit even tho I’ve kept to the same calorie intake (1800+ 50-75% exercise calories) I still complete all my workouts so will consider dropping the percentage in October if things don’t progress. I should try and improve my diet a bit too.
I’m more determined this time but have always thought I lose weight slower than expected.
What is your height/weight/approximate BF? Unless you’re very short or older, your weight loss most likely stalled after a month because you’re drastically underfeeding.
Currently 104kg , 180cm. Haven’t a clue what my BF is.
I did think I was not eating enough, had a week or so of eating more (but still within MFP target) and gained weight.
I’m not always 100% accurate with my counting so usually err on the side of caution regarding my intake.
I’m a similar build 6’3" and 90kg - down from 92 3-4 weeks ago. My scales tells me I’m 12% but I’d think that isn’t a million miles off you considering the scans tend to report higher percentages. My RHR is low 30s, I’m usually mid 40s during the day. Max is 188 but threshold is low at ~160.
The main difference for me has been sleep quality. I’ve had a few months of longer runs and bikes over the last 2-3 months and have seen some body composition changes. But the real drop has only come in the last few weeks where I’ve been a lot more disciplined with my sleep regime.
Lack of sleep plays havoc with your metabolism, hormonal release gets thrown out of whack - can make it very difficult to shift weight.
You’re eating far, far too little. Any weight you “gained” in just one week’s time of eating more is undoubtedly water weight or scale error, unless you were genuinely binging.
Seriously, your body will quickly go into starvation mode with that kind of intake coupled with training rides for any consistent length of time. You’ll sabotage your fat-loss because your body is hanging onto every calorie, and you’ll also bury your metabolism and probably hit a hard wall in your training. Decent chance of nuking your Testosterone levels too.
I too have a “low” resting heart rate and the week average with Garmin is usually in the 36-40 range.
I do not think this effects metabolism however because the amount you move is more important than your heart beats for resting metabolism. Otherwise without movement in the equation basic metabolic functions of the body don’t have a huge difference.
One thing to mention that Amber always is so good about is never dieting on the bike, or around training. This is where your body needs extra and will use so as fuel, not for fat. Use zone 2 rides for fasting and getting into a caloric deficit but you are severely under training if otherwise you aren’t feeding.
One common phenomenon is someone who is in a caloric deficit from training subconsciously adapts for it by not moving as much the rest of their day. This will try to equalize the calorie deficit.
I have found better training and weightless when eating more whole foods and carbohydrates to replace what I burnt in a training session. A bowl of oatmeal, a smoothie, etc.
Prior to a training session restore the deficit you have been in with a quick carbohydrate snack like a bar, a sandwich, etc. and feel good about training hard, there will be an opportunity here to get more fit.
Thanks for taking the time to provide advice. I will definitely take it on board and focus more on the accuracy of my diet.
I’m not suffering with hunger as I have done with previous diets, I’ve also been performing well on my workouts so don’t think I’m too far away from a decent balance.
On workout days I’m consuming well over 3,000 cals, is that seriously under eating? Doesn’t feel like it.
Thanks again for your input.
Depending on your age and approximate BF%, your RMR is probably in the vicinity of 2,100-2,200 calories based on your height and present weight. This puts you at around 2,700-2,800 calories per day with a highly sedentary lifestyle (I’m talking 8-9 hours of desk work followed by 5-6 hours of TV watching). I don’t know your FTP or intensity, but if you’re doing TR workouts you’re probably doing at least ~500 kJ of work in each, which will converts to about 80% of your calorie burn (the standard convention of kJ = kCal does not quite account for the correct general metabolic efficiency of cycling, which is closer to 20% than 25% for most individuals).
So, 3,000 kCal/day is not a difficult barrier for you to break. If you’re genuinely eating 1,800 kCal/day + 50-75% of workout calories, this puts you at a regular caloric deficit of well over 500 kCal/day, which is a recipe for all kinds of trouble (including the stalling of your weight loss in the long run because you’re tanking your metabolism). The general rule of thumb for weight loss is not to exceed a 500 cal/day deficit, but bear in mind too that the stress of training will impose an additional recovery demand in your body.
My understanding is that it is your muscle mass, not your HR, that determines your bodies daily caloric burn.
For comparison, I’m 6’3" and running around 5-6% body fat right now. My heart rate right now, seated, is 44, my typical lowest sleeping HR is 32-35. I burn around 2100-2200 calories/day + exercise. I am almost completely sedentary at work - typically around 1500-3000 steps/day. I burn around 13,000 kJ on the bike each week
I would recommend full replacement of exercise calories and then experimenting with the remainder until you find something you can sustain that leads to long gradual weight loss. Try doing full exercise replacement +2,000 and see how that treats you for a month. Adjust the 2,000 up or down based on how you are responding, not based on anything else
