The impact that playing sports has on your active and resting heart rate depends on the particular sport. The frequency, intensity and duration of the sport, as well as any conditioning workouts you perform to get and stay fit, all play a role in your cardiovascular fitness. Playing sports may change your resting heart rate very little or may even lower your normal heart rate.
Factors
Occasional participation in recreational sports is not likely to raise or lower your resting heart rate. Your heart rate will go up during physical activity, including sports, but the response is only temporary. The higher the intensity of the sport, the more your heart rate is raised. Changes in your heart rate during activity reflect your body's short-term response to increased exertion. You need to engage in regular physical activity over an extended period of time to experience changes in your resting heart rate.
Identification
Although playing sports gets your heart rate up during activity, regular participation can have the opposite effect on your normal heart rate. When you condition your cardiovascular system for regular physical activity, you lower rather than raise your resting heart rate. The average resting heart rate for a non-athlete is 60 to 80 beats per minute, according to the American Heart Association. A well-conditioned athlete may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute.
Effects
Your heart rate changes to adapt to your body's oxygen demand. When you're engaged in intense physical activity, your muscles require more oxygen, triggering your heart to beat faster to deliver oxygen at a faster rate. Playing competitive sports requires you to condition your body for cardiovascular endurance. The result is that your heart gets stronger and your body learns to use oxygen more efficiently. A stronger heart beats fewer times per minute to pump blood throughout your body than an unconditioned heart, according to MayoClinic.com.
Considerations
Playing sports gets your heart rate up, burns calories and increases the efficiency of your heart and lungs. Your health and fitness benefit from the temporary elevated heart rate resulting from exercise as long as you keep your heart rate at a safe level. To determine your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. Your target heart rate during sports and sports conditioning should be 60 to 70 percent of your maximum.
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