To ask why my resting heart rate is so high??

[Sundayscaries]

I wouldn’t say I am SUPER fit but I at least go for about an hour long walk every day (would go more than once if we were allowed!!) and before gyms were closed I used to to to spin class a few times a week etc. I have a corporate job (now wfh!) so don’t move a lot while working but I make an effort to keep moving during the day. I’m also towards the lower end of healthy BMI (although don’t regularly weigh myself but know I haven’t put on weight since I last checked, if anything I’ve lost weight)

I am 32, generally healthy. I can run 5k and be tired but not totally dying.

Yet, my resting heart rate (according to my Fitbit) seems to remain between about 72 and 78BPM which seems really high?!?

The only time it was lower (about 68!) was when I didn’t move for about 2 weeks as I was ill with covid!

Is it just that my Fitbit is wrong? Or is that relatively normal??

I can’t help thinking for someone who’s probably fitter than a lot of people, that seems really high and I’m not sure what to do or if I should be worried.

Mine's 56 according to my fitbit. I used to be fit but not so much these days. It's always been low

That's fine, healthy. Walking doesn't really do much for the heart past being healthy, if you want a strong heart then you need to do intense stuff that brings your heart rate right up, your Fitbit will tell you what that rate is, think it's like 170 or thereabouts.
I got mine to 42 once which is like optimal athlete level. I was running (not jogging-felt like I was going to die) an hour every morning, then going boxing training every evening which consisted of another hours run. Skipping and then 2 hrs training.
Dont even want to know what it is now!

Your RH is perfectly normal.

Though it is shocking how many peoples RHRs are in their 70s despite being fit.

I'm not fit at all, and overweight and my RHR is usually between 54 and 58.

I initially thought that sounded pretty high as mine is usually between about 55-60 which I thought was normal. However having googled it can be anything between 60-100 so it is perfectly fine.

To be fair, I think the evidence suggests that a RHR between 80 and 100 is not actually very healthy, even though the normal rate is generally quoted as being 60-100.

Mine is about the same and my samsung watch tells me that is normal range. I could be fitter but I am in no way unfit if that makes sense. On a night it goes down to about 60 but through the day is usually around 72. I honestly wouldnt be concerned

I’m obese and mine is currently 58 resting. It’s always in the 50s early 60s.

My husbands resting is 107.

Healthy resting pulse is 80 - 85.
Athletes with much lower pulse are fit, but not healthy

Mine's really high. Really high. Relatively Low blood pressure usually, though...

I’m fit and healthy and mine is mid eighties and always has been. It was 84 when I was marathon training! It’s been commented on many times by doctors and I’ve had to tell them that it’s normal for me. It annoys me though for some reason, I feel like it should be lower!

@wheelywheelynice where on earth do you get the assumption athletes aren't healthy from? 😂

Healthy resting pulse is 80 - 85. Athletes with much lower pulse are fit, but not healthy

Where did you read that?

mine's high - around 80 - and always has been.
I'm no Mo Farah but I'm not obese and slowly run 5k a couple of times a weeks.

@TheStoic
Lots of pro-metabolic experts/bloggers talk about it: Keith Littlewood, Kate Deering, Jessica Ash, Josh Ruben, Jay Feldman, Kitty Blomfield, Georgi Dinkov etc.

Mines always in the high 90s. I had an ecg and nothing abnormal there, just always been high 🤔 they said I have tachycardia but I think that just means fast heart

I exercise daily and am fit but not really fit. I am three stone overweight.

My resting HR is 48. I think it must be genetic!

Mine is high, but it's compensating for low blood pressure.

Covid does that. It should settle.

Lots of pro-metabolic experts/bloggers talk about it: Keith Littlewood, Kate Deering, Jessica Ash, Josh Ruben, Jay Feldman, Kitty Blomfield, Georgi Dinkov etc

OP, if you’re concerned, see your GP and get some professional advice. The amount of health misinformation spread around as fact on MN is worrying.

60-100 bpm is normal at rest.

Take your pulse occasionally as that will be more accurate than a fitbit.

Thanks for the comments!

I had googled and I know in theory up to 100 is normal but I know a lot of people whose RHR are in the 50s and low 60s so I was puzzled as to why mine is so different.

To respond to some questions;

• I do walk briskly but not so much to get a sweat on! So maybe need to up my pace a bit more. I don’t always like running as it sometimes gives me a migraine if I do strenuous exercise early in the morning and at the moment that tends to be when I get out, due to work!

• I don’t smoke, never have, and rarely drink (like a drink a week maybe) but I drink a few cups of coffee a day.....hadn’t thought about caffeine!

• my blood pressure is usually on the low end and doesn’t take much for me to feel light headed (baths etc) so again, hadn’t thought that that’s maybe over compensating

I think generally I need to get my heart a bit stronger but it is good to know I’m not alone.

@picklemewalnuts

Mine's really high. Really high. Relatively Low blood pressure usually, though...

Same here, mine’s very close to the top of the normal range yet my blood pressure is the envy of my GP. I think we’re all too obsessed with our bodies’ functions these days. As long as we feel well and have no symptoms of anything being wrong, it’s best to let your body just get on with it.

Just measured mine, 62 at rest, I'm 55, overweight, asthmatic and do little exercise ... I wouldn't take too much notice of these numbers tbh

Seems quite normal. It might be a problem if it's changed but otherwise it's OK.

I went to docs with the opposite issue, mine reads 37. I was practically laughed out of the surgery.

Many people have said it is within the normal range and I think it is but still on the high side. I am 50, quite overweight (but fairly fit) and my resting heart rate (according to my apple watch) is 55-60 - although it does jump up if I have been drinking. It never goes much higher than about 66-67 - when I was younger - about 35 ish my RHR used to be late 30's - according to my gp I should have been dead whilst I was standing in front of her!