Info about cardiovascular performance and resting heart rates?

[zCypher]

Does anyone know stuff on this topic? I'm curious. I've always had subpar cardio and it bothers me. What have you done to improve your cardio? What is and what was your resting heart rate (RHR)? Mine is in the 70s... I can easily make my heart rate go up to 130, 150 or even ~165-170... It doesn't take that much to get me out of breath, and I can't run for long at all. I am not overweight. In fact, I am underweight. And that's not because I'm a dweeb who browses AT all the time - cause I actually don't, believe it or not. I get a decent amount of exercise, and sometimes I hit the gym for some weights (have weight trained a couple times in the past).

I haven't been known to have any heart problems, haven't discovered any critical health issues with myself, and have had no major injuries of any sort, never broken anything, etc. That's not from being inactive, I've played hockey, basketball, rollerbladed, did tons of mountain biking, etc - i've just been lucky/careful.

So, what would the best tips for improving my cardio be? I understand that sleep and diet are critical considerations, and I think I'm good enough on both ends to improve myself at least to some respectable degree. It's just that my cardio is pitiful in comparison to almost anybody, which really does bother me. So I'd appreciate any suggestions.

What kind of exercises would you suggest, how long, how many times, etc etc etc, to begin with?

 

[amnesiac]

Just work your way up. Your heart is a muscle and needs to be built up in strength like any other.

Start with something easy on your body, the following are good:
- Power walking
- Treadmill on incline
- Bicycling
- Elliptical trainer

After you stop getting out of breath from that, try jogging or increasing the intensity of your workout.

Make sure to give yourself at least 5 minutes, preferably 10-20 to warm up, and do your cardio for 30-60 minutes.

 

[Fausto]

Here's the short answer. PM me if you want more details.

Resting heart rate varies by individual. To ascertain if you're making progress you need to establish a baseline. Take your resting heart rate every morning as soon as you wake up (while still lying quietly in bed) and record it. You also need to establish an aerobic capacity baseline. This can be done a couple different ways. The simplest (but most painful) is to see how fast you can run/bike/swim a certain distance. Repeat this once every couple months (on exactly the same course). If you get faster, you are getting fitter. The other, less painful way, to do this requires a heart rate monitor. Ride/run/swim for 20 min (after a good warmup) at a constant heart rate below your anaerobic threshold (160 beats per minute is a good round number to shoot for). Note the distance covered during this time at this heart rate. Repeat every few months...if you can go further in the same time at the same heart rate...you are getting fitter. Your morning resting heart rate should also drop over time as your body becomes more efficient. Mine is in the mid-60's when I'm out of shape and is currently around 45 bpm.

How to improve cardio: basically, you just have to stress your cardiovascular system a few times per week for 30+ minutes in order to force it to adapt to this stress. The longer and more often you do so, the faster it will adapt (as it perceives a greater stress). Start slowly and increase your total duration by no more than 10% per week in order to avoid injury. Allow yourself adequate recovery time (at least one or two day of total inactivity) and you'll make good progress. Remember that it takes several weeks for your body to make a physiological adaptation to a stress you put on it today, so be patient.

The only other question is to pick an activity. Cycling, running, swimming, etc. Pick the one you like most (or do several for variety) so you'll stick with it. That's about it.

 

[dolph]

my resting heart rate is 43 bpm.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: dolph
my resting heart rate is 43 bpm.

I can ride my bike 40km in under an hour.

 

[dolph]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: dolph
my resting heart rate is 43 bpm.

I can ride my bike 40km in under an hour.

bah! you could be riding downhill.

i can run 11 km in under an hour

 

[zCypher]

Well that's exactly why I'm concerned. 45bpm you guys.. compared to my 70-80! Even my dad who's 48 or 49 has a RHR of 40-50 and he doesn't do aerobic activity!

I will try to devise a plan. Thanks for all the good replies! I guess I pretty much have to do something regular, period. 30-60 minutes sounds like pure hell to me. Today I jogged to/from my bus stop on my way to and home from work, and to/from school afterwards. I used to only jog for 30sec-1-2min or so and just quit and walk the rest... Now I just gave myself a slightly lower pace and went the whole length. This is the type of thing I have to be doing, right? Give myself a sort of goal, and try to make it all the way through, even if it means slowing down - but enduring it long enough?

The walk is usually 7-9 minutes at a moderately fast walking pace. I didn't time myself jogging, but I know it obviously went by a lot faster. I was probably only jogging for 3-4 minutes if even that. I wasn't heaving and puffing when I got home, but my HR definitely wasn't 70-80 anymore. It's a nice cool temperature outside now, so it's good for jogging I think. Not cold to the point of burning your lungs, but nice and cool so you don't drown in sweat.

Another thing I want to note is that I can bike for long periods of time! Isn't that odd? I've biked so many hundreds of kms on my bike, I can't keep track. So many times I've biked 20k, 40k, even 100+k at a time. How is it that I can do that, but my cardio is still ass?