Heart rate recovery is something athletes keep a close eye on. It is a vital indicator of their athletic potential and can help determine if they are optimizing their performance. A heart rate that does not recover fast enough could signal a lack of fitness. Factors off the field can also play a role in how effectively an athlete's heart rate recovers.
Heart Rate Recovery
The rate at which your heart returns to a normal resting rate after physical activity is known as the recovery rate. The rate is usually a reliable indicator of your cardiovascular fitness. Typically, athletes have a faster recovery rate than non-athletes because their hearts are trained and accustomed to intense physical exertion. An athlete's normal resting rate may hover around 40 beats per minute once he has recovered from exercise.
Type of Athletes
The type of sport or physical activity an athlete performs has no bearing on how fast the heart rate recovers. A research team at the Center for Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance at the University of Tsukuba in Japan found that the heart rate recovery in strength-trained athletes accelerates at a similar pace as that of endurance-trained athletes. This is good news if you participate in only one of the two training methods. No matter if you are a runner or strictly lift weights, your heart rate recovery will improve as long as you remain active.
Life Expectancy
Athletes can expect to live longer based on study results from research conducted at the Cleveland Clinic. According to Dr. Michael Lauer at the clinic's cardiology department, the rate at which your heart recovers during one minute post-exercise is a strong mortality indicator. The study tracked the recovery rates of 2,400 patients over a six-year span. The rates were calculated by taking heart rate readings immediately after eight to 12 minutes of maximal exhaustion and after one minute of rest. An average drop of 20 beats per minute indicates a healthy recovery rate.
Importance of Sleep
Sleep plays a vital role in how athletes perform. Too little sleep not only can adversely affect an athlete's physical capabilities but also his mental stability and attitude. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that college football players performed better on the field after sleeping for at least 10 hours per night. After a seven- to eight week-period of getting 10 hours of sleep nightly, players' alertness and mood improved, while fatigue and daytime sleepiness decreased. The increase in hours of nightly sleep allows the heart rate to stabilize itself long-term before intense physical activity.
References
- MayoClinic.com: What's A Normal Resting Heart Rate?
- National Center for Biotechnology Information: Postexercise Heart Rate Recovery Accelerates In Strength-Trained Athletes
- "The New England Journal of Medicine": Heart-Rate Recovery Immediately After Exercise As A Predictor Of Mortality
- American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Getting Extra Sleep Improves the Athletic Performance of Collegiate Football Players
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