We were chatting last night about rest HR and other related topics on the back of another sportsman dying on the training field yesterday.

Some stories emerged and I said I thought that cyclists probably had the lowest rest HR.

What sort of rest HR have people recorded in the past?

Tim

38 first thing in the morning. Sitting here at the computer after a jog it's just over 60.

Mike Spence will probably be lower but he leaves his HRM recording when he's asleep.

I seem to have it lowest either first thing in the morning or at around 7pm, lying still, almost on the edge of sleep / dozing.

I did see 38 in May, but 40-42 seems the norm now. Likewise, sitting here it's mid 60's (actually  higher right now as Photoshop CS2/3 have both started playing up again displaying Error 1271)

What about Armstrong and Co?

Tim

A12tfp are you using Mac?

I had an hour long call to Adobe over an InDesign file got corrupted after installing 10.5.5

My PC just got stuck in a loop trying to log into Autodesk and it's going through the roof right here !!

Never checked my heart rate really I think it would scare me

PC.

I have all manner of issues with both CS2 and CS3.

Tim - trying to stay calm!

Ah right, Adobe had a massive problem with Apples last update with CS3 just crashing for no major reason...I've now got a copy of CS4 waiting to go on for trial

(which is funny you save yourself £300 by flying to New York buying a copy of CS3 Master staying in a travellodge and flying back)

42bpm while horizontal (but awake). as measured on Polar HRM

190 plus after a good tug....

Big Mig Indrian of the TDF had a sub 30 iirc.

Lance Armstrong 32bpm

note i am not sure where i am getting that number from. I assume i have read it somewhere. I would be interested to see if anyone can confirm if tis true or not.

Interesting reading.

Whilst my rest (almost asleep) HR seems low at 40 ( the Polar software says my  HR max should therefore be 173), I see 174-175 most rides and saw 178/9 on the Viking Challenge 10 days ago & I really felt that I can tell you!

Oddly lactic acid build up is not my limiting factor - it's that I simply can't go any faster and ultimately if I keep up a very high HR on a ride I assume I run out of glycogen (?) and become exhausted. Bonking I believe it's termed. Rarely do I ache the next day nor are my legs stiff - unless I get a bout of cramp.

I felt somewhat like that at this year's SITS, and was glad of a rest TBH! In the tent at 11pm every time I moved I whacked my head on the suspended overhead light - which was getting on my nerves! The next day I never hit it once. I guess being fitter means I should be able to sustain a reasonable HR  for longer and should aim to keep my HR to a lower level if I want to perform better over longer time spans in 2009.

Tim

"Mike Spence will probably be lower but he leaves his HRM recording when he's asleep."

LOL, seen some scary ones from when I'm sleeping but they don't really count IMO.  While I'm awake it can vary (depending on fitness) from high 30's to low 40's.

How / when do you measure it?

If my lowest is measured when I'm prone and almost asleep / ready to doze off, is this how it's best measured? And what scary levels have you seen over the years?

Tim

First thing in the morning, it goes a bit mad after that as the first thing I do when I get up in the morning is have an espresso.

Lowest I saw was towards the end of a two week roadie camp in Majorca, left it on at night and it went down to 34 IIRC.  My proper resting that day would have been 38 ish.

How come I saw mine dip down to 38 this summer?

I'm not as fit as many on this site, and my full medical a couple of years back showed my lungs and heart were of average size (shame!).

Tim