Heart Rate Help

I have been fairly active for many years and do all sorts of exercise. I am 5' 10" and 212 lbs. I am trying to get down to a goal weight of 190 - 195 lbs. I have muscle mass (would say I am a large build) and do cardio (HIIT, Jogging and Biking) a few days a week. I also go to the gym for strength training 3 days a week. BF% around 28-30

I was wondering if an average low resting heart rate say 48 (it has been as low as 39) means you are fit? When I am up and moving around I am in the 60-75 range. When I get on the treadmill at a 3.5 -4.0 walk I am only up to 80 - 90. When I do a light jog 5.5mph I go to maybe 111. When I do HIIT up to 9.0mph I can get from 123 - 140. My average HR upon cardio runs about 123. IS THIS HIGH ENOUGH TO GET BENEFITS? I cannot keep the rate up in the 130-140 range for very long. Example - today I did strength training for an hour and then got on a bike at the gym - HR was at 96 and then I did HIIT on the bike and in 3 intervals got it up to about 145 - 150. Small bursts get it into a high range. Am I in that good of conditioned  shape?

I took a stress test at my Doctor recently and he actually had to stop the test, because I was out-doing the test. I was on a 25 % incline at a 5.7 jog and the highest my HR got was 156. Just curious if anyone keeps track of their HR often and what my readings might mean.

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I wish I could help especially seeing my resting rate is similar and I have a very hard time exceeding and sustaining 135.  I am seeing my doc in a few weeks and have this as one of my questions for him.

I wonder if anyone here has any insight.

I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but it sounds like you're doing great.  I would think your heart rate is very good and you must be very athletic and in very very good shape.

For comparison, my resting heart rate is in the 70s.  I get on the treadmill at 3.5 mph and it goets to about 100, and when I do my intervals (don't think I could call it HIIT, but I'm working up to it) I average 140-150, with my max in the 170-180 range.  I'm still about 20 pounds overweight though and I wouldn't say I'm in great shape.  It's definitely better than last year though and my mph average is definitely reflecting that. 

I haven't had a stress test yet.  My doctor was going to do one, but then I had shoulder surgery and couldn't jog for ~3months.  I just started back up again recently.

amanenti, i also have a resting heart rate of 48.  and yes, that means that it's much harder for you to get your heart rate up to the numbers others reach quite easily (often you'll hear ppl say that during hiit, their hr reaches 190--that will never be us!). 

i have a heart rate monitor that calculates calories burned based on my resting heart rate (and the vo2max it estimates based on a 5 minute test).  it says i'm burning calories, and i'm certainly not gaining weight, so i think it may be somewhat accurate.

actually, having a high vo2max means you burn more calories than the average bear, bec you're able to recruit/utilize/process more oxygen to perform your exercise.  so yes, you're definitely getting benefits from working out. 

If the stress test wasn't able to stress your heart and if the dr only stopped it because you are healthy vs having a heart attack I'd say you are in very good shape.  A low RHR means you are in good shape and from what you wrote I'd say thiat is why your rhr is 39 and I wouldn't worry about it.

When I was doing cardio regularly my RHR got to about 48 and it would be all I could do to get my heart rate up into a hard zone.  I use a heart rate monitor all times I workout.

Original Post by valsgoal:

I wish I could help especially seeing my resting rate is similar and I have a very hard time exceeding and sustaining 135.  I am seeing my doc in a few weeks and have this as one of my questions for him.

I wonder if anyone here has any insight.

 I would be interested to hear what your Doc has to say - Do come back and share!

Original Post by amanenti:

Original Post by valsgoal:

I wish I could help especially seeing my resting rate is similar and I have a very hard time exceeding and sustaining 135.  I am seeing my doc in a few weeks and have this as one of my questions for him.

I wonder if anyone here has any insight.

 I would be interested to hear what your Doc has to say - Do come back and share!

 I usually post a quick summary of my doc appts in my journal.  The doc I'm visiting is a cardiologist...who better to get the info from, right!?