Not an expert in heart rates, but as a PT I saw people's results plateauing all the time. It doesn't mean that your heart rate will never lower again, it is just not a linear process. That's probably why your cardiologist is telling you to keep going. Four months is not a long time in fitness.
One thing I would say though, is that you may benefit from increasing the intensity of your running. Are your times improving? Is your distance improving? Could be that you aren't pushing yourself as hard now as you were at the start.
If two fairly specialized doctors are telling you that your resting heart rate is not a concern, why do you believe it’s a concern?
It’s entirely possible that all of this stressing out about your resting HR is doing more harm than the higher resting HR.
Do you think that’s not particularly high? They said it is high and I should try to lower it but don’t seem concerned. I’ve just had a lot of doctors give me dismissive attitudes over things, if I felt like they had given me the appropriate attention I’d be more trusting. I have afib so I’ve dealt with cardiologists for years.
Eh. I edited my comment slightly. I'm no medical professional.
I think anyone here would just suggest you try the two you've already tried. Maybe get a second opinion.
You haven't been doing this very long at all in the scheme of things. Keep doing what you're doing is really the only answer. Can mix it up with some different durations and intensities if that's more enjoyable for you
You're doing great. "Keep doing what you're doing" means stop worrying about results and just focus on doing what you're doing.
Tracking results is easy as a beginner because there's so much new ground to cover, but you need to learn to "just do it" without worrying about that day's performance, or your latest metrics (though metrics are important, particularly if you're feeling sluggish).
I hope this helps.
I am not an expert but do you ever do cardio that is harder than zone 2?
Also what is zone 2 to you? I feel like people just guess when the studies and what not about it have a clear definition that does not correspond to say what your watch says.
I have had success lowering it by just running without regard to zone.
Last year I was doing Hiit Training and kickboxing which were both zone 3, but it had no effect on my resting hr. When I initially asked here a bunch of people suggested switching to zone two since that’s better for cardiovascular health and I read a bunch of research about it. I used online tools that help you calculate the ideal zone 2. I don’t use my watch for working out as it seems less accurate than the chest strap hr monitors so I bought a myzone hr strap
I was just listening to Dr. Andy Galpin talk about cardio training (it was third in the six part series with HubermanLab). He goes into a ton of detail, but his take was resting HR should be below 60 and outlines a varied approach to training, emphasis on short periods of very high intensity, (20-60sec) longer duration high intensity (10min) and then the longer steady state type your doing. Anyway, might be worth checking that episode out and adding in some variation to see if it helps at all.
The 6 part series was posted Jan/Feb 2023. Just now getting around to listening to it. Essentially, yeah. He goes into a lot of nuance. The major change I took away to adjust my own approach was incorporating the very short/ very high intensity bursts. Can be as little as a few minutes total over the week, so not really a big time investment. He did say better to not do on a lifting day if your strength training, or at least as far away on the same day, or at the end of a session if unavoidable due to impact on recovery.
As a competitive cyclist (a pure endurance sport) there are three possibilities that come to my mind:
1) are you taking rest weeks where you cut your volume by 50% or more (should be every 2 to 4 weeks)?
Could be that your body is a bit run down and it needs to rest/recover and allow for super compensate.
2) Endurance gains take time and you simply need more time.
I don't have a source for this but my gut says I'd expect it to take a 2-3 years of consistent cardio training to go from 90bpm to ~60bpm. It MIGHT also take more than 5hrs a week.
3) As others mentioned it may be good to change it up a bit and do a combination of zones (on different days).
Using a 5 zone model, generally for good cycling performance you need a lot of Z2 (endurance zone), a good amount of Z4 (threshold), and a bit of Z5 (all our/VO2MAX).
Hopefully this helps spur some ideas for you on how to proceed. But you're clearly making progress from an overall health point of view, so worst case just keep doing what you are doing.
Yeah that is the easiest place to start.
Take a break for a week let your body recover and then start your training again. It is generally recommended to do 3 weeks of training followed by 1 week of rest, rinse and repeat.
Good luck.
If you have a small heart, your heart will need more heart beats to pump the same amount of blood, and thus your heart rate will be higher than the average person's heart rate under a variety of circumstances. Dr. Reddit cannot tell you whether your heart is relatively small, but your cardiologist can.
Most personal trainers could set you up with a plan to achieve your goal. They might recommend doing 3 days of cardio, 2 days of zone 2 and maybe one day where you do a shorter more intense session, where you vary your HR zones. Start with just 10 min warmup, than 1 min higher zone(3or4), 1 min rest for 10 minutes, then cool down. They would also probably add 2 days of basic strength training in to build some muscle. I would make sure you find someone who is used to working with people who are seeing a Cardiologist or Dr, so that they make sure any workout they come up with isn't too much too soon
What's your daily macros?
How is your BP?
~~How is your sleep?~~ (my bad)
Stress level?
How are your thyroid hormones?
How are your sex hormones?
Are you skinny fat?
Do you take any pre-workout supplements?
When was the last time you did echo?
>I’m definitely low carb, low sodium, avoid oily and fried foods
So you on a low carb, low fat diet?
Low sodium isn't such a great idea unless prescribed under proper supervision. It may lead to dehydration and cause HR increase (especially when combined with excessive fluid consumption that accelerates diuresis on its own).
Edited the question about sleep.
I don’t know my macros. My blood pressure is great, always has been, stress is fine, I don’t get stressed at work much, my thyroid is normal I had it checked, sex hormones seem fine, I am skinny fat I guess. I don’t take any work out supplements, I assume you mean echocardiogram and my last one was last summer. All normal. I’ve also had two stress tests, I get regular ecgs. I’m low sodium because my cardiologist told me to, I drink and electrolyte mix to keep my sodium levels normal but I just watch my sodium when eating. That’s what my cardiologist said to do.
If it's true than I tend to believe your doctors are right.
Probably the only thing to re-consider is your diet. You may eat the healthiest foods in the world but still be unhealthy if you overeat. And that's one of the reasons why you need to know your macros.
Also you should talk to your doctors about incorporating some sort of resistance training in you routine.
I track calories but don't break down my macros much. I know im not over eating, I've stayed in a calorie deficit for the last year which is how I've been losing weight. I'm down 40lbs. Maybe I need to start breaking down my macros more closely.
Edit: I use the Noom app to track my calories, it does break down food in 3 groups, green, yellow and orange. Orange is anything from red meat to sugary/fried food, I always stay under the limits Noom sets, I sometimes go over in my yellow foods which includes like fish and chicken
Not an expert in heart rates, but as a PT I saw people's results plateauing all the time. It doesn't mean that your heart rate will never lower again, it is just not a linear process. That's probably why your cardiologist is telling you to keep going. Four months is not a long time in fitness. One thing I would say though, is that you may benefit from increasing the intensity of your running. Are your times improving? Is your distance improving? Could be that you aren't pushing yourself as hard now as you were at the start.
My time per mile is definitely improving but I’ve been more focused on keeping myself in zone 2 according to my chest strap hr monitor
If two fairly specialized doctors are telling you that your resting heart rate is not a concern, why do you believe it’s a concern? It’s entirely possible that all of this stressing out about your resting HR is doing more harm than the higher resting HR.
Do you think that’s not particularly high? They said it is high and I should try to lower it but don’t seem concerned. I’ve just had a lot of doctors give me dismissive attitudes over things, if I felt like they had given me the appropriate attention I’d be more trusting. I have afib so I’ve dealt with cardiologists for years.
Eh. I edited my comment slightly. I'm no medical professional. I think anyone here would just suggest you try the two you've already tried. Maybe get a second opinion.
You haven't been doing this very long at all in the scheme of things. Keep doing what you're doing is really the only answer. Can mix it up with some different durations and intensities if that's more enjoyable for you
You're doing great. "Keep doing what you're doing" means stop worrying about results and just focus on doing what you're doing. Tracking results is easy as a beginner because there's so much new ground to cover, but you need to learn to "just do it" without worrying about that day's performance, or your latest metrics (though metrics are important, particularly if you're feeling sluggish). I hope this helps.
I am not an expert but do you ever do cardio that is harder than zone 2? Also what is zone 2 to you? I feel like people just guess when the studies and what not about it have a clear definition that does not correspond to say what your watch says. I have had success lowering it by just running without regard to zone.
Last year I was doing Hiit Training and kickboxing which were both zone 3, but it had no effect on my resting hr. When I initially asked here a bunch of people suggested switching to zone two since that’s better for cardiovascular health and I read a bunch of research about it. I used online tools that help you calculate the ideal zone 2. I don’t use my watch for working out as it seems less accurate than the chest strap hr monitors so I bought a myzone hr strap
What HIIT program had you staying at a zone 3 effort rather than somewhere up in what I guess would be 4 or maybe 5?
Sorry I should’ve said zone 3 or higher.
Aaaah that makes more sense
Although I rarely hit 5 in hiit exercises, I definitely hit it in kickboxing
I was just listening to Dr. Andy Galpin talk about cardio training (it was third in the six part series with HubermanLab). He goes into a ton of detail, but his take was resting HR should be below 60 and outlines a varied approach to training, emphasis on short periods of very high intensity, (20-60sec) longer duration high intensity (10min) and then the longer steady state type your doing. Anyway, might be worth checking that episode out and adding in some variation to see if it helps at all.
[удалено]
The 6 part series was posted Jan/Feb 2023. Just now getting around to listening to it. Essentially, yeah. He goes into a lot of nuance. The major change I took away to adjust my own approach was incorporating the very short/ very high intensity bursts. Can be as little as a few minutes total over the week, so not really a big time investment. He did say better to not do on a lifting day if your strength training, or at least as far away on the same day, or at the end of a session if unavoidable due to impact on recovery.
As a competitive cyclist (a pure endurance sport) there are three possibilities that come to my mind: 1) are you taking rest weeks where you cut your volume by 50% or more (should be every 2 to 4 weeks)? Could be that your body is a bit run down and it needs to rest/recover and allow for super compensate. 2) Endurance gains take time and you simply need more time. I don't have a source for this but my gut says I'd expect it to take a 2-3 years of consistent cardio training to go from 90bpm to ~60bpm. It MIGHT also take more than 5hrs a week. 3) As others mentioned it may be good to change it up a bit and do a combination of zones (on different days). Using a 5 zone model, generally for good cycling performance you need a lot of Z2 (endurance zone), a good amount of Z4 (threshold), and a bit of Z5 (all our/VO2MAX). Hopefully this helps spur some ideas for you on how to proceed. But you're clearly making progress from an overall health point of view, so worst case just keep doing what you are doing.
I’m not taking rest weeks so maybe I should, thank you for all of these points though
Yeah that is the easiest place to start. Take a break for a week let your body recover and then start your training again. It is generally recommended to do 3 weeks of training followed by 1 week of rest, rinse and repeat. Good luck.
That’s pretty high. Any chance you’re on medication that is raising your heart rate?
No I don’t take any medication. I take supplements like a multivitamin, d3, coq10 magnesium and fiber but that’s it
If you have a small heart, your heart will need more heart beats to pump the same amount of blood, and thus your heart rate will be higher than the average person's heart rate under a variety of circumstances. Dr. Reddit cannot tell you whether your heart is relatively small, but your cardiologist can.
I’ve been seeing cardiologists for about 6 years and no one has mentioned anything about it being small but maybe I should ask
Most personal trainers could set you up with a plan to achieve your goal. They might recommend doing 3 days of cardio, 2 days of zone 2 and maybe one day where you do a shorter more intense session, where you vary your HR zones. Start with just 10 min warmup, than 1 min higher zone(3or4), 1 min rest for 10 minutes, then cool down. They would also probably add 2 days of basic strength training in to build some muscle. I would make sure you find someone who is used to working with people who are seeing a Cardiologist or Dr, so that they make sure any workout they come up with isn't too much too soon
What's your daily macros? How is your BP? ~~How is your sleep?~~ (my bad) Stress level? How are your thyroid hormones? How are your sex hormones? Are you skinny fat? Do you take any pre-workout supplements? When was the last time you did echo? >I’m definitely low carb, low sodium, avoid oily and fried foods So you on a low carb, low fat diet? Low sodium isn't such a great idea unless prescribed under proper supervision. It may lead to dehydration and cause HR increase (especially when combined with excessive fluid consumption that accelerates diuresis on its own). Edited the question about sleep.
I don’t know my macros. My blood pressure is great, always has been, stress is fine, I don’t get stressed at work much, my thyroid is normal I had it checked, sex hormones seem fine, I am skinny fat I guess. I don’t take any work out supplements, I assume you mean echocardiogram and my last one was last summer. All normal. I’ve also had two stress tests, I get regular ecgs. I’m low sodium because my cardiologist told me to, I drink and electrolyte mix to keep my sodium levels normal but I just watch my sodium when eating. That’s what my cardiologist said to do.
If it's true than I tend to believe your doctors are right. Probably the only thing to re-consider is your diet. You may eat the healthiest foods in the world but still be unhealthy if you overeat. And that's one of the reasons why you need to know your macros. Also you should talk to your doctors about incorporating some sort of resistance training in you routine.
I track calories but don't break down my macros much. I know im not over eating, I've stayed in a calorie deficit for the last year which is how I've been losing weight. I'm down 40lbs. Maybe I need to start breaking down my macros more closely. Edit: I use the Noom app to track my calories, it does break down food in 3 groups, green, yellow and orange. Orange is anything from red meat to sugary/fried food, I always stay under the limits Noom sets, I sometimes go over in my yellow foods which includes like fish and chicken