How quickly should your heart return to your resting rate?

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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I mean after exercising? I've been doing 40 min exercises for the past month+ where I get my heart rate up to about 150+ during most of the time. I'm currently 228lbs and 6'1. According to my heart rate watch that's just about 80% of my max which isn't too too bad. However I noticed that I'm atill at 100+ after 1/2 hour or more. My resting rate is about 80.
 
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Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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Edit: Yes I know these numbers are bellow average which is why I'm loosing weight and doing the exercise in the first place.
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
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128? dude, you need the gomad training diet asap
 

InflatableBuddha

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Jul 5, 2007
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o_O Um, typo dude? LOL.

When you're less fit, it takes longer for your heart rate to come down. You won't get it to return to RHR, as that figure is only accurate at complete rest (lying down, usually first thing in the morning).

Eventually, when you're fit, your heart rate will return to normal within just a few minutes (3-5).
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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o_O Um, typo dude? LOL.

When you're less fit, it takes longer for your heart rate to come down. You won't get it to return to RHR, as that figure is only accurate at complete rest (lying down, usually first thing in the morning).

Eventually, when you're fit, your heart rate will return to normal within just a few minutes (3-5).

Yeah that's what I though / knew. I plan on getting down to the 170-180 lb range. Which may be a bit too low but I'll put on some muscle in the future. I got to a high of 260 lbs :oops:

Some years back I started to loose weight and got into an OCD thing (goes along with my anxiety and depression issues) and ended up getting down to about 135 (remember I'm 6'1). That was WAY too LOW.
 

InflatableBuddha

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2007
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Yeah that's what I though / knew. I plan on getting down to the 170-180 lb range. Which may be a bit too low but I'll put on some muscle in the future. I got to a high of 260 lbs :oops:

Some years back I started to loose weight and got into an OCD thing (goes along with my anxiety and depression issues) and ended up getting down to about 135 (remember I'm 6'1). That was WAY too LOW.

Yea, I recall you saying that you'd been at a very low weight at one point. 170-180 is a healthy range (albeit on the low end of the range) at your height. However, make sure you're losing weight slowly, and then you can start gaining muscle once you're down to your healthy weight.

It's been said a bazillion times before in here, but the fat loss sticky is the place to go for healthy weight loss info.
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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Yea, I recall you saying that you'd been at a very low weight at one point. 170-180 is a healthy range (albeit on the low end of the range) at your height. However, make sure you're losing weight slowly, and then you can start gaining muscle once you're down to your healthy weight.

It's been said a bazillion times before in here, but the fat loss sticky is the place to go for healthy weight loss info.

I was loosing weight at almost a pound a day at one point (probably initially a lot of it was water loss) but I've slowed down now :) However I'm still going fairly quickly (about a pound every few days).
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
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Yea, I recall you saying that you'd been at a very low weight at one point. 170-180 is a healthy range (albeit on the low end of the range) at your height. However, make sure you're losing weight slowly, and then you can start gaining muscle once you're down to your healthy weight.

It's been said a bazillion times before in here, but the fat loss sticky is the place to go for healthy weight loss info.

I've had my HR consistently around 200 on a few occasions (when I'm on machines, otherwise hell if I know when I'm just running - no fancy monitors on me)... at that point I'm feeling like "uh... if someone so much as touches my chest the red stuff might explode from it", and is oddly awe-inspiring to watch my chest quite visibly thump as the heart beats. I'm fit, 5'11" 165lbs.

Is 200 pushing the limits? I felt it was justifiable to back down the intensity a notch to bring my HR down to upper 180s, and I honestly felt "relieved" like it was a full body sensation. :)
 

InflatableBuddha

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2007
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I've had my HR consistently around 200 on a few occasions (when I'm on machines, otherwise hell if I know when I'm just running - no fancy monitors on me)... at that point I'm feeling like "uh... if someone so much as touches my chest the red stuff might explode from it", and is oddly awe-inspiring to watch my chest quite visibly thump as the heart beats. I'm fit, 5'11" 165lbs.

Is 200 pushing the limits? I felt it was justifiable to back down the intensity a notch to bring my HR down to upper 180s, and I honestly felt "relieved" like it was a full body sensation. :)

Haha, yea...200 is damn near 100% of your maximal heart rate.

The most accurate formula is [207 - (0.7 x age)], +/- 10bpm, based on individual circumstances. So for a 25 year old, max HR is, on average 189.5 bpm. The upper end of this range is pushing 200. Keep in mind that you can only sustain that for about 30 seconds.

In the upper 180s, you would be at 93-95% of your maximal heart rate, which coincides perfectly with your V02 Max - a pace that a fit athlete could sustain for 5km. So yes, you would feel pretty "relieved" in comparison.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
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Haha, yea...200 is damn near 100% of your maximal heart rate.

The most accurate formula is [207 - (0.7 x age)], +/- 10bpm, based on individual circumstances. So for a 25 year old, max HR is, on average 189.5 bpm. The upper end of this range is pushing 200. Keep in mind that you can only sustain that for about 30 seconds.

In the upper 180s, you would be at 93-95% of your maximal heart rate, which coincides perfectly with your V02 Max - a pace that a fit athlete could sustain for 5km. So yes, you would feel pretty "relieved" in comparison.

Yeah I'd say my HR is probably on the upper range if those sensors are accurate. I can almost always feel my pulse very strongly in my chest, and I remember when I was close to 200 (it was probably around 195-197 iirc), I felt like I was at that for a decent little while, definitely sustained for half a minute and could have gone a little longer - but at that rate I likely would have had to back down to a far slower pace to regain energy.

Whenever I'm on machines I am almost routinely naturally finding myself in what appears to be that V02 Max range. Not on treadmills as I do despise running, but on other cardio machines I thoroughly enjoy pushing myself a lot.

That upper 190s was on an elliptical. And I'm always immediately getting comfortable in the mid to upper 180s on the bike machines or the elliptical machines.

Good to know I'm doing that right. I've looked at those HR graphs of what is ideal but rarely consciously think about my heart rate, not until that one time at least. The one thing I always got out of those graphs was that somewhere in the 180s did tend to be a good place to be.
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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I'm going to start running on the treadmill soon. Currently I only do a brisk walk, 2.5 miles/hr at a 10% incline for 40mins (and my heart rate stays at about 150 during this). I'm slowly increasing the speed over the weeks, while keeping the 10% incline, and will be at a slow jog soon.
 

InflatableBuddha

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2007
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Yeah I'd say my HR is probably on the upper range if those sensors are accurate. I can almost always feel my pulse very strongly in my chest, and I remember when I was close to 200 (it was probably around 195-197 iirc), I felt like I was at that for a decent little while, definitely sustained for half a minute and could have gone a little longer - but at that rate I likely would have had to back down to a far slower pace to regain energy.

Whenever I'm on machines I am almost routinely naturally finding myself in what appears to be that V02 Max range. Not on treadmills as I do despise running, but on other cardio machines I thoroughly enjoy pushing myself a lot.

That upper 190s was on an elliptical. And I'm always immediately getting comfortable in the mid to upper 180s on the bike machines or the elliptical machines.

Good to know I'm doing that right. I've looked at those HR graphs of what is ideal but rarely consciously think about my heart rate, not until that one time at least. The one thing I always got out of those graphs was that somewhere in the 180s did tend to be a good place to be.

I think I should have been a bit clearer. V02 max range is a sustained 5k race pace (13-14 min all-out for elite males). Since you don't race 5km flat-out with every workout, this is also the heart-rate you would hit during 800m to 1000m intervals (2.5 to 3 minute bursts with perhaps 2 min rest in between). This type of effort is great about once every 1-2 weeks.

Perhaps twice a week, you'd be working out at lactate threshold HR - about 170s for HR. For general aerobic efforts, you'd want to aim for 155-160 bpm.

I'd have to think the sensors on those machines probably overestimate HR slightly, based on your observations.
 

InflatableBuddha

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Jul 5, 2007
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I'm going to start running on the treadmill soon. Currently I only do a brisk walk, 2.5 miles/hr at a 10% incline for 40mins (and my heart rate stays at about 150 during this). I'm slowly increasing the speed over the weeks, while keeping the 10% incline, and will be at a slow jog soon.

BTW, this is pretty much the perfect HR for this length of aerobic workout. Keep an eye on the HR, and adjust the speed as you get fitter. (Do remember to do some easier workouts too; don't just increase every single session).

You're well on your way though.
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
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I think I should have been a bit clearer. V02 max range is a sustained 5k race pace (13-14 min all-out for elite males). Since you don't race 5km flat-out with every workout, this is also the heart-rate you would hit during 800m to 1000m intervals (2.5 to 3 minute bursts with perhaps 2 min rest in between). This type of effort is great about once every 1-2 weeks.

Perhaps twice a week, you'd be working out at lactate threshold HR - about 170s for HR. For general aerobic efforts, you'd want to aim for 155-160 bpm.

I'd have to think the sensors on those machines probably overestimate HR slightly, based on your observations.

I'm not sure what to think about the HR monitors on cheap workout machines. The one I have at home here reads my HR as 128 or so during my workout but the dedicated HR watch monitor that I borrowed from my father has it at around 150. I'm going with the watch as it's likely more accurate. However that's a difference of 22bpm!
 

Alone

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2006
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I've just started running 5km a night. I check my own pulse occasionally during my runs, and I seem to be sustaining around 200 for 5-8 minutes at a time, at least, then only a break for some exercises (situps, pushups, plank), then 5-8 minutes again. Repeat.
 
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darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
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I'm not sure what to think about the HR monitors on cheap workout machines. The one I have at home here reads my HR as 128 or so during my workout but the dedicated HR watch monitor that I borrowed from my father has it at around 150. I'm going with the watch as it's likely more accurate. However that's a difference of 22bpm!



I dunno, unless you are woefully out of shape, you shouldn't be at 150bpm on a brisk walk. Of course, we can't really confirm that until we know your max heart rate & age. But when I was out of shape (5'8 ~200lbs @ 26-27 yrs old) a brisk walk would only put me at the 140bpm mark tops at your intensity level. As of today, I would just about push the 150bpm envelope running at 6mph. Of course other factors may play into this like cholesterol level and blood pressure... I don't get to see other peoples stats often so I can only compare against mine and 150bpm for a brisk walk just sounds insane to me. :p

And I have no clue how some of you push 200bpm... damn youngins... I'm 29 now but the highest I've ever got mine is about 180=185ish out of 192max.
 

InflatableBuddha

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2007
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And I have no clue how some of you push 200bpm... damn youngins... I'm 29 now but the highest I've ever got mine is about 180=185ish out of 192max.

Well, as I posted, 200 is pretty much an all-out effort for a fit person in their early 20s (max 30-60 sec). We all know max HR decreases with age.

Either these guys (or their equipment) are overestimating their HRs, or they're part of the small percentage of people with unusually high max HRs.
 

Alone

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2006
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Either these guys (or their equipment) are overestimating their HRs, or they're part of the small percentage of people with unusually high max HRs.

I check my pulse manually for 30 seconds during my runs, then multiply by two. I don't change my pace.

I used to run a lot more in basic training and had a better grasp of it. My vision tends to fade now, like, near blackout. Doesn't help that I only quit smoking a few days ago.

Oh...and I'm 22.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
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Well, as I posted, 200 is pretty much an all-out effort for a fit person in their early 20s (max 30-60 sec). We all know max HR decreases with age.

Either these guys (or their equipment) are overestimating their HRs, or they're part of the small percentage of people with unusually high max HRs.

22 here, so that will definitely play into it.
Have had physician-certified "healthy' blood pressure (I can never remember what they tell me, if they even do...) my whole life, always have had a body temperature around 97.5 unless I'm sick, have always been lean (except for genetic disposition to fatty layer over ab muscles) and have always seemed to have a pretty rapid heartbeat in general. When I was out of shape, HR was a different story.

I wouldn't doubt if I end up having an unusually high max. And I also don't doubt gym equipment might be inaccurate (even if they are really nice machines). Not that it matters, unless such an unusual characteristic is more likely to kill me - then I really don't want it.

Doesn't help my dented chest has always made me really focus on my heart and breathing, judging if my chest indentation has led to any performance issues.

Docs have said I check out fine, but I don't typically feel like my lungs are efficient. I can run for distance when my body is up to it, but pace is a whole nothing story; Always in the low end of the accepted 2 mile run time. Sometimes I worry myself sick over little things and have had times where I let anxiety basically turn into an anxiety attack. Never been confirmed but I know myself well enough to reflect and figure, that's likely the case.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Docs have said I check out fine, but I don't typically feel like my lungs are efficient. I can run for distance when my body is up to it, but pace is a whole nothing story; Always in the low end of the accepted 2 mile run time. Sometimes I worry myself sick over little things and have had times where I let anxiety basically turn into an anxiety attack. Never been confirmed but I know myself well enough to reflect and figure, that's likely the case.

Have you ever actually TRAINED for endurance before? Everybody feels like their lungs are inefficient when they train (which is technically untrue). Your lungs actually don't adapt at all to training - your cells do. As your cells adapt, they can utilize more oxygen and extract it more efficiently from the blood. On top of that, your body switches to more fat metabolism rather than carbohydrate metabolism, which results in fewer CO2s created per O2 - making you feel like your lungs aren't hurting as much. Pectus excavatum (dented chest) can cause cardiovascular problems. However, if you've been cleared by your doctors, you need to let that go. Just do light cardio more frequently. I guarantee you'll feel better about it.
 

darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
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SC is right... training changes everything. I initially thought I was a special case too because every time I ran outdoors... people would zip past me left and right while I was heaving and gasping for air at whatever pitiful pace I was at(it was at like 4-5mph for 30 mins tops). Then I just realized that these people have probably ran for months if not years and have done it consistently. They are most likely pros at this. So I stuck to it... to this day, I still see people passing me quite often and it'll always be the case but it doesn't bother me anymore because when I think about it, I'm zipping past thousands of people who are sitting on their couches at home as I pass from building to building, there's nothing to be ashamed of. And as of late, I find myself able to keep up with more and more people, especially the chicks because it's a lot easier to maintain 1000mph when your mind is focused on something else :p
 

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
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I dunno, unless you are woefully out of shape, you shouldn't be at 150bpm on a brisk walk. Of course, we can't really confirm that until we know your max heart rate & age. But when I was out of shape (5'8 ~200lbs @ 26-27 yrs old) a brisk walk would only put me at the 140bpm mark tops at your intensity level. As of today, I would just about push the 150bpm envelope running at 6mph. Of course other factors may play into this like cholesterol level and blood pressure... I don't get to see other peoples stats often so I can only compare against mine and 150bpm for a brisk walk just sounds insane to me. :p

And I have no clue how some of you push 200bpm... damn youngins... I'm 29 now but the highest I've ever got mine is about 180=185ish out of 192max.

Not too far off it. I'm a lot better than I was say 5 to 6 years ago but I've been overweight and sedentary most of my life (with a fear years of exceptions here and there). And the last time I had my cholesterol checked it was scary high, part of the reason I'm working on getting into good shape. My blood pressure has always been relatively OK. Due to life long issue with anxiety my resting heart rate is often higher than it should be. Through relaxation techniques I can lower it a fair bit for minutes at a time.