Resting Heart Rate

Ososlo

At what time in a 24 hour period is your heart rate at your true resting heart rate point? I always take it first thing in the morning like most people, but have discovered recently that it can be much lower last thing at night in bed just before sleep. Also, I've taken it in the middle of the night on a few occasions when I've woken up and it's lower again. So is it best to still measure it first thing in the morning? Is that my real true resting heart rate?

For instance, one night recently it was 48 going to bed. It was 46 in the middle of the night and the next morning it was 54. So which is it

menoscemo

Ososlo wrote: »

At what time in a 24 hour period is your heart rate at your true resting heart rate point? I always take it first thing in the morning like most people, but have discovered recently that it can be much lower last thing at night in bed just before sleep. Also, I've taken it in the middle of the night on a few occasions when I've woken up and it's lower again. So is it best to still measure it first thing in the morning? Is that my real true resting heart rate?

For instance, one night recently it was 48 going to bed. It was 46 in the middle of the night and the next morning it was 54. So which is it

It's whatever the lowest figure is.
Like yourself; mine is lower while chilling out on the sofa last thing at night than it is after waking up. Perhaps the 'shock' of waking up to an alarm actually elevates the HR a bit?

Ososlo

menoscemo wrote: »

It's whatever the lowest figure is.
Like yourself; mine is lower while chilling out on the sofa last thing at night than it is after waking up. Perhaps the 'shock' of waking up to an alarm actually elevates the HR a bit?

no don't normally wake to an alarm clock as work from home a lot with my own hours so wake naturally.
Always used the figure from first thing in the morning but the variety in numbers I've been receiving from different times of the day/night lately has me wondering.

ecoli

Remember dehydration is a factor with your HR so first thing in the morning you are going to be slightly dehydrated anyway

lgk

HR will be higher mornings after tough training days as well as the body works to recover.

belcarra

As Meno says the Resting HR should be the lowest value you get whether it be late at night/middle of night or first thing in the morning.
How do you measure it? Manually with a stop watch or by way of an app like Instant Heart Rate? I'd guess the old 60 second manual measurement would be the most accurate.

Ososlo

belcarra wrote: »

As Meno says the Resting HR should be the lowest value you get whether it be late at night/middle of night or first thing in the morning.
How do you measure it? Manually with a stop watch or by way of an app like Instant Heart Rate? I'd guess the old 60 second manual measurement would be the most accurate.

yes but see this confuses me! It's the lowest in the middle of the night. I'm going through a bout of insomnia :rolleyes: so I've been taking it in the middle of the night recently as i'm bored.. and it's consistently very low compared to the morning. Yes it's a phone app.
It's higher in the morning, like sometimes more than 10 beats.
But normally I'll only be taking it in the morning (when sleeping pattern improves) so it won't be my real rhr then if the "lowest" value i get is in the middle of the night.
Oh, I'm confused
I'll try the old-fashioned way for a change perhaps. Thanks!

wrstan

Maybe if you stopped worrying about your resting heart rate you would sort out your insomnia!

Jokes aside though, I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about being overly precise about resting HR anyway (but that's just MHO)

belcarra

Ososlo wrote: »

yes but see this confuses me! It's the lowest in the middle of the night. I'm going through a bout of insomnia :rolleyes: so I've been taking it in the middle of the night recently as i'm bored.. and it's consistently very low compared to the morning. Yes it's a phone app.
It's higher in the morning, like sometimes more than 10 beats.
But normally I'll only be taking it in the morning (when sleeping pattern improves) so it won't be my real rhr then if the "lowest" value i get is in the middle of the night.
Oh, I'm confused
I'll try the old-fashioned way for a change perhaps. Thanks!

I'd definitely try the old fashioned method so, as when I use the app on my phone it can vary in it's accuracy depending on the amount of background light in the room. So, perhaps the amount of light is different between the middle of the night and in the morning (Which I'd expect it is if relying on natural light!).

I'd do a recheck on your HR values again and would be surprised if the variance was still as high as 8bpm. Regardless I'd just go with the lowest figure available as it won't have a huge effect on your HR ranges if the difference is only a few bpm.

Ososlo

wrstan wrote: »

Maybe if you stopped worrying about your resting heart rate you would sort out your insomnia!

Jokes aside though, I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about being overly precise about resting HR anyway (but that's just MHO)

ha ha you might have a point:D