Resting heart rate predicts cardio health

by Jacki Donaldson (Subscribe to Jacki Donaldson's posts)
Aug 26th 2008 7:30AM

Categories: Fitness

Once while having an echocardiogram to test for heart damage from the breast cancer drug Herceptin, my technician asked me if I was a runner. "I do run," I told him, and then asked how he knew. He told me I had a really low resting heart rate, something runners often have. He seemed impressed by my low number. I was flattered.

Many athletes pride themselves on a low resting heart rate. It means they're in good physical shape and their hearts don't need to pump as hard, say the experts from Reader's Digest. Translation: Low heart rate folks have less risk for heart problems. Higher rates mean the heart needs more oxygen, and the cardiovascular system gets stressed.

The best way to reduce your heart rate is to exercise regularly. While working on your fitness, shoot for this healthy resting heart rate range: 55-65 heartbeats per minute.

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Comments (6)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Baron 8-26-2008 @ 10:03AM

Too bad it doesn't translate the other way, where a high resting rate would be the same as a brisk walk... i.e. if you were resting at 80 bpm, it would do as much good as if you were doing some speed walking.

jmchez 8-26-2008 @ 10:31AM

Last time I had an EKG, the technician just wrote "Suffers from Bradychardia" on my chart. It kind of scared me until I found out that it just means low heart rate; mine is 47.

Kristen 8-26-2008 @ 11:16AM

When I was in jr. high, I developed pneumonia and had to go to the ER. When they took my pulse, they immediately freaked out, thinking I was REALLY sick, until my mom told them that I was an athlete. Ever since, I've been weirdly proud of my low heart rate! Ha! I freaked out a doctor :)

FRiC 8-26-2008 @ 3:55PM

At least the other poster's medical workers know their stuff. Last week I had a medical checkup and the EKG technician informed the doctor about my abnormally slow heartrate. The doctor looked at my BMI and told me to lose weight, exercise more, and try to eat fish instead of other meats.

I told her that if I ate any more fish and need more exercise I should just turn into a fish and swim around all day...

Kevin 8-27-2008 @ 8:40AM

Interestingly enough, in addition to low heartrate, ive heard that a study found that runners and other athletes also tend to have heart palpitations, which are perfectly normal. This is actually because the heart is better adapted to running at 140 or 150 bpm, so it will skip a beat or so when resting. ive felt this a couple of times, and I agree with Kristen, this, and having low heart rate has always been something im proud of

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