Low Resting Heart Rate

Poorer, Less Educated Youth More Prone to Hypertension

THURSDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- Young American adults with low incomes and less education are at increased risk for high blood pressure, a new study finds.

In the United States, nearly one in five young adults 24 to 32 years old has high blood pressure. To help determine why, Duke University Medical Center researchers examined data from more than 14,000 young adults participating in the 2008 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

"The rates of obesity and high blood pressure in this young adult population are striking, and our findings provide a clearer picture of who appears to be at highest risk," lead author Beverly Brummett, an associate research professor, said in a Duke news release. "Those with low education and income tended to be more overweight and exercised less, and in turn had higher blood pressure."

But, Brummett added, "it wasn't all good news for people with higher education and incomes. Young adults with higher income and education tended to have higher alcohol intake, which is strongly related to elevated blood pressure."

She and her colleagues said programs to encourage weight loss and exercise to reduce resting heart rate could reduce the effects of low income and less education among young adults, and these benefits would extend into middle and older adulthood.

Study co-author Dr. Redford Williams had some other advice.

"People in this age group should stop smoking, drink no more than two servings of alcohol per day, exercise regularly and get in the habit of monitoring their blood pressure," said Williams, who directs Duke's Behavioral Medicine Research Center, in the news release.

Routine monitoring of blood pressure should begin at a young age, Brummett advised. Although nearly 20 percent of young adults had high blood pressure, only 11 percent had been told that by a doctor.

"Waiting until middle age, as many people do, may be too late," she said.

The study appears in the July issue of the journal Hypertension .

More information

The American Heart Association has more about high blood pressure .

Copyright © 2011 HealthDay . All rights reserved.

How to Lower Average Resting Heart Rate

Age, Sex, Fitness Level, Genetics, Psychological state, Drugs, etc….

So what is my ideal heart rate for weight loss?

With that said I can’t tell you specifically what your heart rate will be when you are exercising, it depends on intensity, duration, and the frequency at which you train. I mean, are in you shape? Because someone who is fitter will have a lower average resting heart rate.

For example, someone who focuses on cardiac development will achieve a host of benefits, including better sleep, staying warmed up longer, and faster recovery between sets. Of course that individual is going to have a lower average resting heart rate, and recover faster from a previous training session than someone who ignores it!

What is a good average resting heart rate? Normal is about 70-75, poor is above 83ish. Anything below 55 is typically what you see in athletes, or people who are in-shape. In my best shape I am consistently in the low 40′s. Men usually have a lower normal resting pulse rate, but that is no excuse; I know many women with average resting heart rates below 55. The better shape your in, the lower your average resting heart rate. Age is a factor, typically speaking if you are over 35 years of age, then a great average resting heart rate would be under 61-62. This is just a general recommendation.

With that said, some athletes have freaky normal resting pulse rates! Look at Lance Armstrong. It is claimed that at his PEAK he had a resting heart rate of 32-34 beats per minute! Insane! Cyclist Miguel Indurain was rumored to have a resting heart rate of 29!

But why? Why does Lance Armstrong have a lower average resting heart rate?

Stroke volume. What is it? The volume of blood pumped per heart beat.

The fitter you are the higher stroke volume you have which means more oxygen is delivered to your blood per heartbeat. And guess what? Even at rest your muscle requires fuel, and because working out has increased the volume of oxygen your heart delivers per heartbeat, the heart is putting out less effort to complete the same task. Therefore your heart rate is lowered.

So…

Here is an in-depth chart on heart rate zones and what energy systems you are working. Again, this is a GENERAL chart as all systems are working at the start of the exercise , and anaerobic energy expenditure is difficult to assess. Duration and intensity among other factors plays heavily into the equation. Its not about which energy system is working, it is about which energy system is dominating. There are three energy systems, ATP-PC (phosphagen), Anaerobic (Lactic Acid), and Aerobic (Oxygen), but here I have also highlighted zones and their primary effect, as well as included an example of what type of workout you would be doing in each zone, of course you will need to constantly monitor your heart rate while exercising, as well to calculate your max heart rate (which I explain in a bit).

Advanced Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription

Crime and Public Policy

Fitness For Dummies

Backpacker

Exercise concepts, calculations, and computer applications