Your heart's ability to recover during the first minute after aerobic exercise can reveal your current fitness level and provide insight for potential future health risks later on. Understanding your heart rate recovery time after exercise and how to make improvements can decrease your risk for certain cardiovascular health threats.
Heart Rate Recovery
Two phases make up the heart rate recovery process. In the first 60-second phase, your heart should experience a sharp decline in heart rate. In the final recovery phase, known as resting plateau, heart rate falls gradually over the period of an hour to normal resting levels. The 60-second recovery time frame is the more vital measure in determining fitness level.
Recovery Rate Links To Mortality
Your heart's inability to recover efficiently may be an early warning sign for future cardiovascular risks, according to an October 1999 article in the "New England Journal of Medicine." : concluded that a heart rate decline of 12 or fewer beats during the first minute after exercise posed a higher risk of heart-related death in the next six years.
Test Heart Rate Recovery
After performing a 30-minute workout, a reasonable one-minute recovery rate should be around 15 to 20 beats. Your heart rate is measured by pressing your forefinger and middle finger across the carotid artery in the neck, or the radial pulse in the wrist. Record your heart rates during your workout and measure your heart rate exactly one minute after the workout. Subtract your exercise heart rate by the recovery heart rate after one minute to determine your rate of decline.
Improve Recovery Rate
Improvements in resting and recovery heart rates can increase through exercise, even in a previously sedentary exerciser. During a 10-week exercise program, you can anticipate a reduction of approximately 10 beats per minute to resting heart rate, according to the Sports Fitness Advisor website. Recovery time will also decrease during the same 10-week regimen. Through consistent exercise, your heart rate recovery and overall cardiovascular health can improve.
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