Age: 38
RHR: low 40s
MHR: about 200
I measured my RHR at 37 BPM several times (ie repeatable) one night a few months ago, which I thought was surprisingly low. I knew it dropped under 50 (having been hooked up to a monitor in hospital once and repeatedly set the <50BPM alarm off), but that was lower than I had seen it.
I wore my HRM around a bit, watching what it did. Turns out I beat in the high 40s sitting at a desk, and can go under 50 just standing still. I just paused typing for half a minute and recorded 47 BPM (using a smartphone app). Proper resting drops lower - I guess lying prone puts less pressure demand on the heart, for starters.
I mentioned it to my doctor, and he just congratulated me
. In absence of any negative symptoms, said to not worry about it. He's a competitive runner, and his RHR is about 40, so he's not hung up on the 60-to-90-is-normal rule.
One contributing factor (and I hate to bring it up yet again lest I be accused of evangelising) is that I don't eat for ~16 hours a day. Other fasters have also reported very low RHR, so there appears to be a correlation even if it's not causal (maybe a low RHR causes irreparable brain dysfunction and makes us more likely to fast
). I suspect my RHR was a little higher before I started the fasting thing... although the hospital monitor alarm thing was before, so I've obviously always been on the low HR side.
I commute 12km a day (2x15 minute rides) and try to get out for one, sometimes two, ~1 hour bunch rides during the week and/or a ~2hr bunch ride on the weekend.
Now I have a recording HRM, I really should try recording a whole night's sleep. It would be interesting to see what my HR does in a true restful state.
tim