Low resting heart beat

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 16:02:22 GMT

I'm not a docotr and can't give medical advice, that's what you doctor already did! I was going to say I don't want to scare you but I do. Just went to a memorial service for someone who was in not that different a circumstance from you and kept swimming. Even if it is an ear infection you should stay out of the water until it resolves. Concentrate on simple stretches and maybe practicing form on land or catching up with friends or paperwork movies and books. In a few short weeks you'll have your answer and a plan its worth the wait! As a plus any small injuries or general exhastion from training will be gone and you'll be able to go hard and fast with no worries. It could be a good time to break bad habits. If it makes you more pyschosomatic I'm sorry!

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:35:11 GMT

Eion See a cardiologist. The advice here I must say is pretty shakey, I did not get your age, your cardiac or medical history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, episodes of sudden cardiac death in your family, EKG findings etc etc. Absent all of this information it is impossible to make any intelligent remarks Hi Tecumseh, Yeah, I plan to see a cardiologist. Unfortunately, as the system is free there is a fairly long waiting list. In my case I think it's a couple of weeks. I'm 43, no cardiac history in the family, no history of high blood pressure (it's usually 125/75), besides that one episode I have no history of collapsing/fainting etc. I'm 5'10" and weigh about 175 tops. I've had a low 40's resting pulse since I was a teen and competing. The 24 hour EKG came up with a 34 bpm while sleeping and 10 or so episodes of under 40 bpm while awake. My doctor thinks that it is probably an inner ear viral infection, but wants to rule out anything connected to the heart. I am also getting tired easily and have some headaches (which I rarely got before) but I think these might be from the cold as well as me being psychosomatic from me worrying about it. Thanks again Eóin

RE: Low resting heart beat

swimshark — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 01:50:50 GMT

Swim Shark, Thank goodness your father is doing well . But that is a scary story.Dom in AZ.:applaud: ;) Thanks Dom. I tell people that a heart rate monitor saved his life. Best investment anyone can buy. Alison

RE: Low resting heart beat

swimr4life — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 12:25:40 GMT

I collapsed at home. I had felt symptons similar to a cold, but I didn't loose conciousness, nor did I feel nauseous. My doctor thought it might be an inner ear viral infection, but took notice of my low heart rate and wanted to exclude arrythmia as a problem. I have a brother who cycles quite a lot, so I'll give him a call. Neither of my parents or their siblings have been sportive, so I can't go there. I haven't swam in two weeks and I'm not keen on going another 4 without, which is why I'm trying to get as much info as possible so I can make an informed decision. Thanks again for all your help! Cheers Eoin Wow....you definitely need to be checked out. Bradycardia (heart rate less than 60) can be very serious. Yes, athletes have normal low resting heart rates but not usually in the 30's. They also don't collapse. There are so many things that could be causing your bradycardia....some very serious and some benign. If I were you, I would not do anything very strenuous. Why do you have to wait a whole month to see a cardiologist? Thats crazy. With your history, they should get you in sooner!

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:39:51 GMT

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:07:24 GMT

I agree with your doctor. You need to go to a cardiologist to be evaluated. What symptoms are you having? Why did your doctor put you on a 24 hour heart monitor? I collapsed at home. I had felt symptons similar to a cold, but I didn't loose conciousness, nor did I feel nauseous. My doctor thought it might be an inner ear viral infection, but took notice of my low heart rate and wanted to exclude arrythmia as a problem. I have a brother who cycles quite a lot, so I'll give him a call. Neither of my parents or their siblings have been sportive, so I can't go there. I haven't swam in two weeks and I'm not keen on going another 4 without, which is why I'm trying to get as much info as possible so I can make an informed decision. Thanks again for all your help! Cheers Eoin

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:58:27 GMT

Swim Shark, Thank goodness your father is doing well . But that is a scary story.Dom in AZ.:applaud: ;)

RE: Low resting heart beat

swim4me — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 09:27:12 GMT

I collapsed at home. I had felt symptons similar to a cold, but I didn't loose conciousness, nor did I feel nauseous. My doctor thought it might be an inner ear viral infection, but took notice of my low heart rate and wanted to exclude arrythmia as a problem. Eoin Collapsing is not good ever!:shakeshead: You do need to see the doctor. My (again I'm not a doctor) opinion is that a normal low heart-rate does not involve collapsing. That is serious. Be careful and see your cardiologist ASAP. Good Luck! This does not sound sports related to me.

RE: Low resting heart beat

swimshark — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 03:32:05 GMT

I really hope it's nothing in your case but let me tell you my dad's story. Background: he was 64 at the time, had just swam at Nationals and runs and/or bikes every day. He swims about 3 times a week. Needless to say, he's in good shape! One day he was running with his heart rate monitor on and felt sluggish and like his legs were heavy. He went in to a cardiologist for a stress test. After 2 min on the treadmill his heart rate was still only 34. So they did a catheterization, stopped that and within a few hours he was in having triple bypass. I'm not telling you to scare you but he is a good example of a fit person with a heart problem that he picked up with his heart rate monitor. His heart problem is a genetic thing so I watch my heart rate as well. Fast forward over 2 years and he's fine now. He's swimming, biking and running like normal. Back to doing triathlons, too. THe only set back was tearing his quad tendon while mountain biking 4 months after his heart surgery. I'd say get in to a cardiologist and see what's going on. Let us know what happens. Alison

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 13:10:36 GMT

Eoin, You mentioned that you had the HR monitor on for 24 hours. Can you recall what you were doing when you were sub-40s? Perhaps was it while you were sleeping? Hi All, Thanks for all your replies. I'm in the UK, so seeing the cardiologist is free but won't happen for a month or so. My 34 bpm was when I was asleep, but the other 10 or so where with me sitting around taking it easy (I took the day off). I think the recommendation to see how I recover is a good one, many thanks. Others mentioned top level athletes, but as I only do less than an hour's cardio a day I don't think I'm near their levels. I'm fairly sure they trained a lot more than I do. FindingMyInnerFish and swim4me both mentioned having a low heart rate. Do ye train as little as I do? I'm fairly sure I'm fine, but as I had a few symptoms my doctor recommended I take it easy for a while, so I haven't been in the water for 2 whole weeks! If anybody could point me towards any studies they are aware of that might help. Again, many thanks for your time and knowledge. Eoin

RE: Low resting heart beat

swim4me — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 10:47:09 GMT

Hi All, FindingMyInnerFish and swim4me both mentioned having a low heart rate. Do ye train as little as I do? Eoin I work out pretty much every day, even if I do not swim. I always thought the low heart rate was because I have been active most of my life. However, my mom has never been an athlete and she also has a low heart rate. So maybe it is hereditary. It wouldn't hurt to have it checked out in your case, just to be safe, but I always heard that a low heart rate was a good thing. Good luck!

RE: Low resting heart beat

FindingMyInnerFish — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 04:28:08 GMT

If your heart rate was recorded at a time when you were either just waking up or sitting/relaxing, you probably just have a naturally low heart rate. Since you can see a cardiologist for free, I can't imagine it would hurt to have it checked out. FWIW, I run or swim or both about 5x/wk., and the amount of time per workout varies from 30 mins. to 2 hours when I'm healthy. (Recently had the flu so I'm just getting back to my regular workouts now.) I'm training for a long swim, but I also have run marathons so when training for them, my long runs have gone over 3 hours. Lately, though, most of my workouts that long are in the water. If I'm smart about it (sadly not always!) I can tell if I'm coming down with something b/c my resting heart rate goes up into the 40s or even 50s. If I catch that in time, I can take some extra rest days, extra fluids, vitamins, etc. My mom had a very low blood pressure when she was about my age and well into her sixties and seventies. Sometimes blood donor centers told her she was too low for them to take her blood. She exercised and in her sixties competed in ballroom dancing, also watched what she ate, didn't smoke. (Sadly, though, she passed away in 2004. Not without relishing life though.) So it could be that the hereditary factor was that our bodies responded quickly to exercise and healthy living. Some folks will do lots more than what I do and are a lot faster and won't have the kind of resting heart rate I have. My dr. last time we talked about it saw nothing to worry about. She said the rhythm was strong, and during the surgery I mentioned, the dr.'s said the same. Recently, I was surprised to find my bp was something like 99/47. I'm used to it being low normal but that was lower than it had been. Still, didn't worry me, as I felt fine. Plus, it was one of those freebie machines in a drug store, and it's hard to know how accurate those machines are.

RE: Low resting heart beat

swimr4life — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 04:15:50 GMT

I agree with your doctor. You need to go to a cardiologist to be evaluated. What symptoms are you having? Why did your doctor put you on a 24 hour heart monitor?

RE: Low resting heart beat

Allen Stark — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 04:03:47 GMT

Be careful of the cardiologist. Find one who knows about athletes(you may not think you are one,but you are probably in better shape than 99% of the population. An healthy athletes heart can look like a sick heart on first glance. A knowlegable cardiologist can tell the difference,unfortunately not all are.

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:53:20 GMT

I remember Borg's was mid 30's.....remember him?......tennis? i think bernard hinault had a resting pulse of 24.

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 14:44:01 GMT

My resting heart rate is about 46. I can get it below 40 with some deep meditative breathing, and did so before a physical exam (i thought lower would be better). The doctor sent me for an echocardiogram to check things out, doesn't hurt to check.

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:47:30 GMT

I have really low resting heart rate, and the doctors always ask about it when I go in. Not quite as low as yours but, low 50's-mid 40's. If you have the financial means to see a caridologist, a second opinion can't hurt.

RE: Low resting heart beat

Former Member — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:15:59 GMT

low is good but too low is bad

RE: Low resting heart beat

Muppet — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:09:46 GMT

Eoin, You mentioned that you had the HR monitor on for 24 hours. Can you recall what you were doing when you were sub-40s? Perhaps was it while you were sleeping?

RE: Low resting heart beat

FindingMyInnerFish — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:09:28 GMT

My waking pulse is usually in the mid- to high 30s. Yesterday morning, it was 35. When I had the worst of my flu, it was 70. That had me worried until it occurred to me that for most people that wouldn't be a "flu pulse," but an everyday one. Once when I had to have surgery, I made sure to reassure the anesthesiologist beforehand that my pulse ran low, so they wouldn't bring the crash cart to my bed. They told me later that it was in the low 40s. I attributed this higher figure to the stress of having surgery. ;)

RE: Low resting heart beat

rtodd — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:50:57 GMT

I don't think under 40 is too much to be concerned with for endurance athletes.....but it never hurts to get it checked out. There are other things you can look at as well. How high can you get it to go in a workout? From my limited knowledge, I would expect you to be able to get a good high number. Also take note of recovery rates and see how good they are. I remember Borg's was mid 30's.....remember him?......tennis?

RE: Low resting heart beat

swim4me — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:37:31 GMT

I also have a very low heart-rate. During Recovery from my Laproscopy, I woke up with the nurses screaming at me "Are you a runner?". I mumbled "yes-I work out", I then heard them say with worried voices "Her heart-rate is below 40". It has always been low and I just figured it was because I was in good shape.