I’ve been looking close my HR every morning thanks to the HRV, just experimenting if that works. Well I noticed my resting HR is lower than I expected. My HRV reading procedure is when I wake up, I go to the bathroom, pee, go up stairs, lay on my bed and wait 30sec while trying to make my respiration consistent, and take 1min reading.
HR usually is between 37-43 bpm. But I can see a low of 34 some days. I guess while sleeping this can drop a few more beats, but still havent tested. I’m 25 and my max HR is around 190.
Is this normal athletic bradychardia? What is dangeorously low?
HR is quite a person specific but according to garmin my RHR as a 46 yo is usually around 47-52bpm. It must do some averaging or something as I’ll sometimes see something lower recorded. My max is 197bpm. If you’re worried about your RHR talk to your doctor though as what is low for one person isn’t necessarily low for another. Similar with the max HR.
As a 47yo my range is about 40 to 186, but it goes lower, like yours. The medical system seems paranoid about it; when I go in from a cycling accident with suspected broken ribs, they hook me up to an ecg. It must be in the health care manual to eliminate heart problems when diagnosing, but every health care professional seems fixated on it, to cover their arses.
I use the ecg and blood oxygen functions of my Apple Watch, but they only work for “active” heart rates of over 50. But it alerts me when my heart rate drops under 42. Which is all the time, at my desk, watching tv, a bit annoying.
My advice would be to develop your own awareness of your heart and it’s effect on you, which you are doing. Dizziness when becoming suddenly active is something to watch out for, such as getting out of the bath, or some inverted yoga. The change in blood pressure from these things can cause fainting, and damage from a fall.
Generally speaking, the number itself isn’t as important as whether or not it’s normal for you, and whether it’s accompanied by any other symptoms. As with higher than average HRs, a few beats either side probably isn’t cause for concern but if you’re seeing a big difference and/or experiencing abnormal physical sensations I’d look into it ASAP. And as always, speak to a doctor if you have any concerns.
As a sidenote, optical heart rate monitors such as the ones you’d be using to measure HRV overnight do have a lower degree of accuracy than a chest strap. FWIW I’m almost identical in terms of age and max/resting HRs, and I can occasionally see readings as low as 25- but they’re more of a one-off ‘blip’ so I don’t put much stock in that.
I work with a lot of young patients in the hospital and do see these low rates in athletes.usually my approach is that a low heart rate that delivers perfusion is not too low. The only thing that may be worrisome is if a person is very hypertensive which will sometimes drive a young heart to bradycardia reflexively. It’s probably normal if you feel good! Enjoy your youth and fitness!
It makes sense to see a cardiologist if you are concerned. No one here will be able to give you a sufficient answer to whether it may be a problem in your specific case.
The numbers in general don’t sound too worrying to me though;
Mine ranges from 32 - 38 bpm dependant on rest or fatigue, for context I’m 49 but its been like that for two decades.
I have had it checked out on a number of occasions due to other things (like when medical staff noticed it was so low when they thought I’d broken my neck) and nothing irregular was discovered. If worried or in doubt get it checked out.
Best to look at trends o we time, and see how the RHR reacts to life’s “happenings”. What did it do in the days before your low reading compared to other days when it’s lower than normal. Likewise, how does it show when you’ve done a hard ride/workout.
I see my cardiologist annually for other reasons and his nurses seem somewhat concerned about my rhr. After some conversations he’s not concerned due to my fitness level as long as I don’t start getting light-headed when I get up from resting.
My waking hr is 34-39. If I’m lounging on the couch I’ll drop to high 40’s. My max is 177.
That’s normally determined by an examination by a medical professional. Did you measure your HR before HRV. Is there a known history of your resting HR?
I was a bit concerned about some other things, a bit of heart flutter once and had my heart checked out. All EKGs showed bradycardia and abnormal. I wore a Holter for a week and they got my heart as low as 30 while sleeping.
I followed that up with an ultrasound.
Bottom line is that my heart is supposedly totally healthy and the “symptoms” i am seeing are simply due to my fitness.
Odds are you are the same, but it never hurts to get checked out!
That’s it. There is no right or wrong. It’s very individual. But a rhr in the 35-45 is fairly common in well trained endurance athletes.
Just monitor it and note how you feel. If you feel good and during exercise your HR rises to what you suspect I’d say everything is fine.
*like always. If you really don’t trust it, go see a doctor. But be sure to mention that you train a lot. Most will see a HR of 40 and the alarm bells go off because it’s not that normal for the general population.
Thank you for the response - its been that way for “years” and in 2018 it freaked me out and by 2020 I had forgotten all about it. I can only peg a max HR of 186 for the record or should I say I shut myself down at that area.
I don’t think for the individual that age impacts your resting heart rate too much. It’s mostly fitness that impact where it sits in your range. I only have accurate resting heart rate data since aged 42 almost 14 years ago. My resting heart rate at my fittest in 2020 was within 1 beat of my lowest when 42. Like many I eased off in fitness in pandemic but it’s dropping again as I gain my fitness again, and now within 2 beats of 14 years ago.
