How can I get my resting heart rate down

[Wesley Clark]

My resting heart rate is about 75-90. I know anything from 50-100 is considered ok but I sell plasma for college money and if your heart rate is above 100 they won't let you donate. Lately my heart rate has been getting high and I want to bring it down.

I used to not exercise, and my RHR was about 100 bpm. Walking brought it up to 150 and real exercise like biking brought it to 170-180. I started 2-3 hours a week of exercise and now my RHR is 75-90, my walking HR is about 120-130 and my biking HR is about 140-150.

I have noticed that some things get my heart rate high, like 180-200. Running, jumping rope, one on one basketball and HIIT on an elliptical. I can't run or jump rope because I have calf problems but I can do HIIT and basketball. So what I was thinking of doing is adding 15 minutes a day, 3x a week of either HIIT or one on one basketball to my routine. Is 45 minutes a week of high intensity aerobics enough to build stamina and get my heart rate down? I don't think I can do more than 15 minutes of a time at each so I'd need to get my stamina up to move to 20 or 25 minutes at a time.

[treis]

Hiit?

[Wesley Clark]

Hiit?

High Intensity Interval Training. I do 30 seconds of high intensity aerobics followed by 60 seconds of low intensity, that is one cycle. I do 10 cycles total for 15 minutes.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/draper45.htm

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0675/is_n4_v15/ai_19575697

[BobT]

Have you ever had other factors checked by a doctor? They always want to check my thyroid and such when I go to the doctor although I just have an affinity for caffeine combined with anxiety.

[Call me Frank]

Hiit?
High intensity interval training

[Hombre]

Hitting balls won't do it.

Assuming you don't smoke or over-drink, vigorous sustained exercise is really the only way. I used to bike a lot and mine dropped to about 55 BBM.

A basic rule is about 70% of you MHR for 20 minutes.

[CookingWithGas]

Agree with Hombre on this. 45 mins a week isn't going to cut it; you need to do at least 20 minutes 3 times a week (30 minutes would be better).

Your max heart rate sounds really high. My rest rate is 52 and I cannot sustain activity that puts me up to 150 for more than a few seconds (I'm 48 years old). I can go at 135 for a couple of hours, though.

[mazinger_z]

I agree with the posters who say to do sustained exercise. HIIT is good for burning fat and looking good, but it doesn't do much for your aerobic activity. My RHR is around 50-53, and I can sustain a run at 178 bpm for an hour. HIIT won't get you there.

[Wesley Clark]

I already do sustained exercise though. I bike but my heart rate only goes to 120-140 when I'm doing it. I figure I may have to do 20-25 minutes at a time 3x a week of exercise that puts my heart rate in the 170-190 range on top of the 3 hours or so a week of biking that I do.

[Hombre]

I used to be a personal trainer (ACE) and I can tell you that this is not a hit or miss thing.

You say "I bike but my heart rate only goes to 120-140 when I'm doing it.", well, this is part of the problem. You need to get it up there.

I would suggest a heart rate monitor. Get your max HR tested, find a good target rate the make yourself achieve it.

The difference between 120 and 135 (for example) is significant.

[Teter]

i am a sport physiologist and just couldn't pass this topic up. you are on the right track with hiit. the idea is that you achieve a high heart rate during your "work" interval. then during your "recovery" interval your heart rate will slow. the goal is to train your heart to recover faster.

what is happening

during the work interval your heart is meeting the delivery needs of your body. from here i'm going to mention a term a few times "cardiac output". cardiac output (abbrieviated "Q") is the product of heart rate (HR) and stroke volume (SV). Q is the volume of blood pumped per minute. SV is the amount of blood ejected from the heart (left ventricle) each contraction. so, SV * HR = Q simply means that the volume pumped per beat multiplied by the number of beats results in the volume pumped per minute.

so, Q is what your body needs to meet the demands of any activity. as your heart becomes more fit SV increases. as a result Q can be met with a reduction in HR.

SV is increased several ways but during exercise the muscles of your legs in particular cyclically squeeze the viens to improve the return of blood to the heart. that is to say that there is generally low pressure in the vessels returning blood to the heart. during strenuous exercise there is real pressure filling the heart resulting in a more complete filling of the ventricles and a more forcefull contraction which strengthens the heart muscle.

high intensity training is good for the muscle pump returning blood to the heart and the resulting training effects. the problem is that there are just so many variable in interval training. you are probably not getting all you can out of it.

i would recommend long moderate intensity exercise. 60-90 minutes of good steady activity without breaks. this should be done 4-5 times per week. or try 3 times a week with a session or two of hiit. if you want to know why this is what i recommend i'll find the time to type another essay.


in the meantime...

just for thought, use the formula: Q = SV * HR

assume that activity and Q remain constant. what happens to this equation when plasma is donated?

[mazinger_z]

I already do sustained exercise though. I bike but my heart rate only goes to 120-140 when I'm doing it. I figure I may have to do 20-25 minutes at a time 3x a week of exercise that puts my heart rate in the 170-190 range on top of the 3 hours or so a week of biking that I do.In my spin class, we are told to hit 90 rpm, which, according to their formula, is to hold your hand above your knee has you peddle. It should hit 15 times in 10 secs. Keep this pace and increase resistance to up your HR.

Note: For some reason, my HR doesn't move unless I increase my resistance AND increase my speed. Well, my HR will eventually move, just not much and not until the hour class is almost over.