Resting Heart Rate - as an indicator of health?

[TPMB12]

I was wondering if the metric RHR is useful as a general health indicator. I know it has merit through indicating level of fitness, lower the value the fitter you are likely to be. Does it indicate stress on the system due to bugs developing for example?

I'm curious since getting a decent 24/7 activity hr tracker. I've had a bout of ear infection that started after the RHR rose significantly above a fairly static figure. Then I was ill with a regular condition that knocks me off my feet which was matched by another rise that's still not recovered from, hence it's still high.

These all indicate to me It's got some interest to me. Possibly nothing you wouldn't know anyway but it's got me curious.

[Greenbank]

Yes, I think there's definitely some merit in comparing your own RHR over time. I used to years ago but stopped as it was a faff and wasn't doing much for me. I could definitely tell if my body was already starting to fight something I wasn't aware of. I'd be interested if I ever got 24/7 heart rate tracker (fitbit/etc), my current Garmin (920xt) requires a HR strap and I'm not wearing that all the time.

Comparing your RHR to others is utterly pointless. Cue lots of people posting their RHR in this thread...

[Kim]

Elevated RHR seems to be a reasonable indicator of low-level lurgy for me, along with difficulty getting the rate above a certain level during exercise.

My RHR has always been suspiciously high.  I assume because I'm either incredibly unfit, or chose the wrong parents.

[hellymedic]

As Greenbank has suggested many will post their RHR, and have done on similar threads here in the past.
Mine is usually low but I've not measured it of late.

I have taken no exercise this millennium so must be a little unfit.

A rise above you usual baseline might be an indication of some malady.

Habitual endurance activity does tend to drop the RHR.

[TPMB12]

My RHR used to be resolutely in the mid to high.70s. Then I saw it drop without me realising. At one point, at a nervous hospital appointment the nurse measured an actual heart rate of 55bpm. I have no.idea what my RHR was back then but a stressed period should have been higher.

Now I'm just under 60bpm as measured by my fitbit surge. According to one respected reviewer it's very good on getting the RHR right. I'm generally on 59 or 60 bpm almost without fail. However my two boughts of being ill it rose to 65bpm tops. Not a huge raise but a slope up to an elevated plateau indicates something I think. It matched a cold infection with ear infection and a major migraine (worst for 5 years plus). That last one came 2 days after getting over the ear infection and the after effects are still present. Put it this way RHR still high and my ride in this morning was dire. Funny though my ride day before was great. I usually get a bounce back day then fall back after migraines (usually due to minor repeats).

Anyway, RHR appears to me to be a good personally indicator. With a decent tracker it's as easy as waking up.

My other metric of interest is VO2 max. If only that was so easy to measure with a tracker! I've read about the Rockport walking test for it but I got a very high result. Being a challenge walker back then I guess it could have been true.

BTW if you've got any interest in self monitoring recommend the fitbit surge. The whole package with the Fitbit app just works so well. Careful it can become addictive. I've never managed to keep a good diary before but it's so easy with Fitbit. I'm not linked to them commercially BTW just through my tracker and the app so possibly only slightly biased.

[Chris S]

Elevated RHR (relative to your "normal" RHR and no one else's) is a reasonable indicator of elevated stress, which could be down to any number of things - raised immune response, over-training, bad sleep, it being the Monday after a 600k audax or day after you ran the London Marathon.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is another way of measuring stress. Some folks prefer it as an indicator of over-training.

[aidan.f]

When I was somewhat younger my RHR was also in the 30's. I had an annual mast climbing medical with Dr Cameron, who was anything but jolly - you have to remember that he was spending all day asking men to drop their trousers, cough and make sure their testicles moved upwards - he checked this with a pencil held lightly underneath ;-).

Part of the  examination was an ECG. I was suprised on one occasion to find the practice nurse returning and telling me that Dr Cameron had  been telling her that ones heart rate is Slower when you EXhale.

My ECG a paper printout in those days was, apparently, a good example of SEX.

[LEE]

Illness can, and does, raise RHR.  I know, I've just been ill and it pushed me from a (rough) average RHR of around 56 to nearer 66.

To draw any meaningful conclusions about overtraining and such like you need a good base of data over time, to understand how your RHR responds to different circumstances. However all I measure it for is to check it's a "healthy" number.  Anything around 60 is a perfectly reasonable RHR number so I don't dig any deeper.

[hatler]

I understand from a paramedic friend of mine that guidance for what is a 'good' RHR has recently been increased from (I think) 60 - 70. That was apparently driven by the need not to identify too many people as having an unhealthy RHR. Further reinforces the idea that a specific number isn't possibly as useful as an individual's own data over a period of time.

Edit. And the underlying reason behind the adjustment is that, as a nation, we have become less fit. 

[simonp]

Elevated RHR (relative to your "normal" RHR and no one else's) is a reasonable indicator of elevated stress, which could be down to any number of things - raised immune response, over-training, bad sleep, it being the Monday after a 600k audax or day after you ran the London Marathon.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is another way of measuring stress. Some folks prefer it as an indicator of over-training.

Definitely increased a day or two after a tough ride. However, overall drifting lower with training - reduced by around 10-12bpm vs winter now.

[LMT]

IME raised RHR over normal is a sign that your body is or has undergone some stress.

[rogerzilla]

Your RHR drops markedly after about two weeks of training.  This doesn't indicate a high level of fitness, just a relaxation of the autonomic nervous system.  It is still a good thing, though.  One thing to watch is that low RHR can be associated with high blood pressure if you're unfit (and vice-versa).

[TPMB12]

I thought it was 70-80bpm typical RHR for UK adult.

[LEE]

I definitely notice an increase in dizziness, when I stand up quickly, as I get fitter and my RHR drops.

I think it's basically my heart playing catchup with demands, from a slower starting point.

[Greenbank]

Orthostatic or Postural hypotension: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthostatic_hypotension

[L CC]

Er, yeah. New low in our house: RHR 43, BP of 95/44.

It's hardly surprising it takes a while for the blood to get to my head when I stand up.

Changes in RHR are usually after I discover what caused them- in a kind of 'O yeah, this snot-fest would be why I was in the 50s rather than the 40s' kind of way.

[citoyen]

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is another way of measuring stress. Some folks prefer it as an indicator of over-training.

I read about this recently. Very interesting. Apparently, higher variability indicates better fitness, which seems counter-intuitive to me but there you go.

You can get special HRMs that measure HRV, eg http://www.myithlete.com/

[Ruthie]

I read about this recently. Very interesting. Apparently, higher variability indicates better fitness, which seems counter-intuitive to me but there you go.

It means the heart responds more quickly to increased demand, enabling you to increase your activity level more efficiently.

[citoyen]

That makes sense. I guess high HRV is not to be confused with arrhythmia or tachycardia.


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[marylogic]

I found checking RHR very useful this weekend when trying to work out if I should ride Merse and Moors. I couldn't work out if I was ill or just being feeble, but a quick check found my RHR at 84, compared to my usual of 62. I DNSd.

[mattc]

I read about this recently. Very interesting. Apparently, higher variability indicates better fitness, which seems counter-intuitive to me but there you go.

It means the heart responds more quickly to increased demand, enabling you to increase your activity level more efficiently.

Also, the trained heart drops back to a low rate more quickly when you stop exercising - which I think is more intuitively an obvious effect of "fitness".

[simonp]

Indeed, a very slow recovery rate (<12 bpm within 1 minute of stopping, IIRC) indicates a significant risk of heart attack.

[rogerzilla]

AIUI the faintness when standing up quickly is also due to ageing and leaky valves in your leg veins.  These are supposed to close momentarily* when you stand up to preserve the blood supply to the brain but they don't do it as efficiently as you age.

*for American readers, I mean "for a moment", not "in a moment".

[DrMekon]

When I had a preassessment for hernia op, mine was 42bpm. I'm currently coming out of two weeks of chest infection, and am loaded up with drugs.

I don't know anything about RHR, but if elevated RHR is indicative of lurgy, it appears (and I feel like) I'm on the mend.


From my Garmin Vivosmart HR, wot I am rather enamored with.

[Greenbank]

That makes sense. I guess high HRV is not to be confused with arrhythmia or tachycardia.

Indeed, HRV doesn't have anything to do with your heart rate (as in beats per minute). You can have a heart rate of 60bpm and low HRV, or have high HRV and still have a heart rate of 60bpm.

HRV is the measure of the (ir)regularity of the beats. So a very low HRV would mean those 60bpm might be very close to being bang on a second apart.

Higher HRV would mean the gaps between beats are less regular: 980ms, 1s, 1020ms, 950ms, 1030ms, etc.

My Garmin Forerunner 920xt measures HRV to determine how well I've recovered from previous activities. It monitors the HRV for the first 6 minutes of an activity and then gives me a rating (GOOD, FAIR and probably others but I've never had anything lower than FAIR). The only time I've had anything other than GOOD was when I went for a run the day after a 180km cycle ride. Not sure if it continues to monitor HRV, I need to dig into the .fit file format to see if it's recorded in there somehow.