How do I lower my heart rate and keep it low!?

Question

ok, so I am 21 years old and my resting heart rate ranges from 70-90 beats per minute, after being on the olyptical for 10 minutes on level one my heart rate shoots to about 160 and continues to climb I was finally told by an experienced work out lady my heart rate was too high when it reached 180 in less then 15 minutes..now I have been to the cariologist and she said my heart looked fine from the echo cardiogram even though my heart rate reached maximum heart rate (203) in 20 minutes of the tredmill ( anyone who has taken or seen th tredmill tests know they do not go fast at first) I was barely jogging BUT, when my follow up consultation came around I had a class to be at and because I forgot to call I can not get another appointment with her. I weigh about 157 lbs which is high for me I am also 5'7". This all started after I had my son a year ago when I gaines 65 lbs to pregnancy and lost 30 of them now I have 30 to go...I understand the weight is a contributing factor, I also had a very low platelet count and toxemia...any way My husband and I would like to have more children but I refuse until I believe I am healthy enough please help...

Answer 1

That sounds odd... I'd first get a second opinion from a another cardiologist. If you're 21, don't smoke and are healthy and you can get your BPM to 180 in 15 minutes, and idle at 70-90... That's usually where morbidly obese chain smokers sit at your age.



Maybe you have stress problems?



EDIT: ARHG! There's that acai berry spambot again! It's EVERYWHERE!



Anyway, I'll also wonder if maybe you're taking prescription drugs that may be causing it? I'd definitely keep looking for the culprit, whatever it is, because having a heart rate like that at your age is not healthy. I smoked 2 and a half packs a day when I was your age and was/am a sedentary computer guy and my heart rate was around 70BPM idle and it'd take me half an hour to get it to 160, maybe an hour to get to 180.

Answer 2

Yep...it's all about elite fitness that comes from your body's adaptations to frequent exercise. These guys are all at a level that most of us won't ever even try to reach. When you learn the little details like this, it sure does make it seem clear how amazingly fit these athletes are, doesn't it? Despite that, the general population still doesn't really recognize professional cycling as a true sport like they do the other big ones. When I was doing lots of road miles as a teenager, I rode from 25-60 miles a day, 4 or 5 times a week. My normal heart rate during the day was about 53bpm. A nurse was concerned that I had such a low heart rate until I told her how much riding I did. I never did any heart rate monitoring (I'm not even sure they were on the market at that time) so I don't know what my riding rates were. I'm not that fit anymore, so I woudln't be surprised if my heart is going 120bpm during a moderate pace ride. Sucks. :o)

Answer 3

If you have problems with weight do what I did - try acai berry. If you wish to lose weight its superfood qualities help a lot - nevertheless those same qualities also help those who are trying to bulk up. Great! There's a free trial happening currently at http://henant.easyslimmingregime.info , why not try it, how worse could it make things?