Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Assuming this device is anywhere near accurate... should I be worried 
> that I'm idling at about 75 BPM, it hit 101 BPM at one point, and I 
> haven't actually got out of my chair yet?? o_O

  You can always count your heart rate manually, without the aid of any
device. (Ok, that's not completely true. Of course you need a *clock* to
do that. But I mean that you don't need a device which specifically measures
your heart rate.)

  AFAIK a rest pulse of 75 BPM is normal, at least for a person who is not
in good shape. Can I assume that you are not in very good shape?

  Usually the better shape you are in, the lower your rest pulse. Someone
who exercises more or less regularly will usually have a rest pulse of
about 60-70, and someone who exercises very regularly (eg. an hour of
cardio each day) can have a rest pulse as low as 50. Rest pulse (on an
otherwise completely healthy person) is a relatively good indication of
how good of a shape you are in.

  (The reasons why being in good shape lowers your rest pulse are various
and complicated, but AFAIK the major reasons are that the heart is stronger
and hence can displace a larger amount of blood in one beat, thus needing
less beats to transfer the same amount of oxygen, as well as things like
the muscles needing less oxygen to perform the same amount of work, and
the oxygen transporting capacity of the blood, determined by the amount of
hemoglobin, all of which gets better with regular aerobic exercise.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message