Resting heart rate

[Auntie Helen]

My resting heart rate has been reducing over the last nine months (I have lost 22kg in that time, having already lost 20kg since December 2019).

It is now 46-49bpm which seems very low. Is this too low?

Over this time my vo2 max has improved from 23.3 to 29.3 as I have done my running, more walking and some cycling.

Is my heart rate too low? Should I seek medical attention?

Blood pressure is also low at 100/70 as an average so I do get a bit dizzy when I stand up too quick.

[phantasmagoriana]

I've found mine going the other way over the past year or so - it used to hover around 40 when I did lots of exercise, and is now above 50 (I've also put plenty of weight on in that time).

[SteveC]

MrsC worries about my heart rate which is usually just below 50.
I checked on the NHS website and 40 is the lower limit for 'normal'.

[Polar Bear]

My resting heart rate has fallen from around 60 two years ago to around 46 to 48 now.  It's been steady now for at least six months.  I can still hit 180 plus when doing a stress test according to my hr chest strap monitor which gives me quite a range for a 58 year old.

The thing is, we are all different: ranges are only guidelines.  If you are concerned I would consult an appropriately qualified medic.

[Auntie Helen]

The thing about asking a medic here in Germany is they get paid for putting you on drugs etc so I am slightly wary. They would, for example, have me on drugs to raise my blood pressure as they consider low blood pressure a disease. Fortunately with my white coat syndrome my blood pressure always seems normal when it is taken by the doctor so they don’t realise it is actually so low!

All my reading around the subject seems to show that low heart rate is just a sign of fitness and nothing to worry about without other accompanying symptoms which might suggest thyroid problems etc.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I think it is one of those things that can't be generalised about.

When I was racing fit, my resting heart rate was mid-50s. Mid 60s was normal for me when moderately fit (like when I used to commute 50miles a day).

My VO2 Max was allegedly in the low 40s.

[Duckfoot1606]

I would say if you have any doubts at all refer to a doctor, there are conditions where this is symptomatic of a problem and equally there are levels of fitness in individuals as detailed up thread where this is perfectly normal. My own resting heartbeat has been mid 40’s for as long as I can remember, I’m certainly not mega fit but exercise everyday and played a lot of sport in my youth (I’m 60 now).

Certainly if you have any other symptoms such as dizziness or breathlessness it would need investigation

A

[rogerzilla]

Mine's been about 45 ever since I turned 18 and thought I should probably do some aerobic exercise.  It drops very quickly when you take up exercise due to a relaxation of the autonomic nervous system, and indicates little about fitness or health on its own.

[Wowbagger]

My resting heart rate is about 42. I've been on beta blockers for a little over a year, which I think has brought it down about 10 beats per minute.

I had a very reassuring series of correspondence with the excellent Sgt. Pluck OTP who takes a professional interest in such things.

[Kim]

Mine's gone down to about 70 from its usual 80 over the last couple of years, presumably as a result of weight loss.  It never seemed to correlate with cycling fitness, but would be elevated by lurgy.

[hellymedic]

Are you fainting?
Do you feel light-headed at times?
Have you blacked out or collapsed?

I'd not act without symptoms...

[TimC]

My RHR is currently 46-52 depending on what exercise I've done recently. I'm not as fit as I was back in my 30s/40s, when it would be as low as 34 at times - which caused some consternation when I was hospitalised with pneumonia in the Falklands in 1985! My blood pressure isn't quite as low as yours, at around 110/75, but I also get a little dizzy if I've been sat down a while and stand up quickly. While IANAD (see hellymedic's post above), I see no obvious reason to be concerned about your numbers. Well done on the weight loss!!

[T42]

If you're worried about it get a 20€ pulse oximeter. As long as you've over 95% oxygenation you're fine.

Caveat: oximeters, especially the cheap ones, aren't all created equal.  When mine read 92% the doc's read 98%.  The one in my watch turns in 94-98% depending on which bit of my wrist it's reading from.

[ian]

Mine is in the early-to-mid forties according to my watch. I think that's normal if you're doing a fair amount of aerobic exercise (and I swim most days, hike at the weekends, and even cycle every now and again), you've basically made yourself a bigger heart which consequently needs to beat less to pump the same volume of blood.

If it's low and you've spent your life doing nothing more energetic than watching TV and driving to the shops, then it's more worrisome.

[Auntie Helen]

I just noticed that my iPhone calculates my Resting Heart Rate around midnight - when I am asleep. And then in the text it says "Resting heart rate does not include your heart rate while you're asleep".

I have another App, "HeartWatch", which gives my sedentary bpm as 66. Which seems more like it!

I feel I am fit and well, I have this minor dizzyness which is postural hypotension due to my low blood pressure, so I think all is fine.

[hellymedic]

It might be worth checking standing & sitting BP for a big postural drop but really, I wouldn't get wound up about numbers unlss there were problems...

[hellymedic]

I had a heart rate monitor I used when I was young, fit and foolish.

I set it to alarm if my rate dropped below 40.

It obliged when I was having an early morning doze, post crack-of-dawn fast commute I saw 38 or 39 on the display...

[mike]

The athletes I coach all wear 24x7 heart rate watches and have to report every morning how they slept and what their waking HR is and its amazingly consistent, almost always within 10 of their lowest.  If it's more than 15 higher then it's assumed they're either getting ill or they are overtrained / not quite recovered and they take the morning off.   

it's incredibly personal - some of them are in the low 30s, others with very similar athletic scores are in the 60s. 

There's also no correlation between low resting HR and their maximum HR, some go from 30s - 220s, others from 60s to 180s or 190s (they're all < 25 yrs old).  We give them % of HR range as a guide to how hard they should be working for different sessions, so they work out what (for eg) 70% of their range is, then add it to their resting to get a target HR for the session and even that doesn't work for everyone, so we also watch 'perceived effort' quite closely to make sure nobody is working too hard.

[CommuteTooFar]

Sitting at the computer my Fatbit is reporting 52 at the moment. It reports a resting heartbeat as 48.

[Auntie Helen]

Just fainted 10 seconds after standing up, having lazed in bed for two hours after waking.

The feeling I had beforehand, a really weird dizziness, I have had very occasionally for the past 4 years or so since starting losing weight. It was a familiar weirdness so I just leaned on the sideboard but then woke up on the floor. My partner came and helped me up, he heard me go down.

It’s my wedding on Friday and I am mega busy this week but will perhaps try to see the doctor next week just for a general check. I’ve had this occasional light-headedness for years, as I said, but this is the first time I have actually blacked out with it. It seems to happen in the mornings, as far as I can remember. I also do 16:8 fasting so don’t eat until 12:30 but I don’t think that’s significant in my case.

I measure blood pressure occasionally and it ranged from 92-105 systolic to 64-73 diastolic this month.

[T42]

I measure blood pressure occasionally and it ranged from 92-105 systolic to 64-73 diastolic this month.

That's what mine hit when I took a quarter of the dose of vasodilator my cardiologist prescribed. I felt utterly knackered until it wore off.  Heart rate went through the floor as well. The hill out of our village might as well have been a wall for all the chance I had of getting up it.

[Wowbagger]

Wishing you all the best, AH. Nasty business, falling over.

[Auntie Helen]

Felt back to normal today but am keeping an eye on it.

Wedding in two days so quite a lot going on!

[Peter]

Helen I just read this thread.  I think the figures in your OP are not outside the norm at all, especially for someone who keeps fit.  I am not a doctor, but I have a heart condition now (AF) so I've had to take notice of these things and have read a fair bit on the subject.  100/70 is not bad, I think, and the Pulse Pressure (the difference between the two) is ok.  The light-headedness may be due to de-hydration - do you drink while you are fasting?  Maybe you don't need to fast anymore?  My blood pressure has always been low and now it rarely rises to 100 and is occasionally in the 70s, though usually 85 - 90.  I do get light-headed and occasionally have to lean on something for a few seconds but I've never fainted.  I think I might faint if I got married though, or I would if my wife hadn't already killed me.

As I say, I'm not a doc. but I'd be pretty pleased with your figures.  Maybe give it a couple of weeks being careful, to see how it goes, before deciding whether or not to see a doctor.  The fainting may be due to the fasting but I'd guess it is a cause for concern if it happens again.

I loved the pictures of your wedding!  Have a happy life!

All the best

Peter

[Wowbagger]

I may have mentioned this before. But then that is true of everything I say.

My BP has come down a lot since I have lost weight. I have to be careful if I bend over to do some weeding, pick something up etc. When I get up I have a tendency to feel a bit woozy. I haven't got a round tuit yet, but I keep meaning to consult the doc about BP. I'm on losartan and I have a suspicion that I no longer need to be.