Submitted by CanGroundbreaking814 t3_ylgnyq in askscience
As people do more exercise the assumption is their resting heart rate and even their non-resting heart rate (BPM) lowers. Why is that?
Comments
Ipresi t1_iuztw8y wrote
Your circulatory system also gets more efficient so blood can travel with less resistance. You get a better pump and plumbing so to speak.
seamustheseagull t1_iv06ngy wrote
The muscles also gets more efficient at expressing energy and removing lactase, which is an exchange requiring oxygen.
When you're exercising, your oxygen requirements increase, so you breathe faster and your your heart beats faster. This also ensures waste products are dealt with faster.
An athlete's baseline oxygen requirement as a result of training is lower than someone untrained because their body makes better use of each breath. Thus, RHR and BRPM is lower.
This is why someone who is extremely unfit will breath heavier and faster, even when resting.
RocMaker t1_iv0cavi wrote
I took a college level Cardio Fitness class and this is correct, except it’s not limited to “young” athletes”.
A stronger heart needs to pump less often to move the same amount of blood.
Syncopat3d t1_iv0fzc6 wrote
Does a stronger heartbeat also require more elastic blood vessels so that they don't burst from the higher systolic blood pressure caused by a stronger heartbeat? Or does a stronger heartbeat just involve the same systolic blood pressure sustained over a longer time?
CardiOMG t1_iv0j9ej wrote
The amount of blood your heart pumps is called cardiac output, and it’s equal to the stroke volume (how much blood your heart pumps out with each beat) times your heart rate. A fit heart will be stronger so can produce a higher stroke volume, so a lower heart rate is required to meet your body’s demand for blood/oxygen. Fit people also have vasculature with lower resistance, so your heart doesn’t have to overcome as much resistance as well.
Caring_Cactus t1_iv15d78 wrote
So many good answers here, I've heard weak heart muscles are one of the biggest causes of death among super healthy old people (100+ years old).
NeverDryTowels t1_iv2vcep wrote
I run a lot and my resting heart rate is 48. My blood pressure has always been around 115/75
coffee_collection t1_iuzql54 wrote
An athlete’s resting heart rate may be considered low when compared to the general population. A young, healthy athlete may have a heart rate of 30 to 40 bpm.
That’s likely because exercise strengthens the heart muscle. It allows it to pump a greater amount of blood with each heartbeat. More oxygen is also going to the muscles.
This means the heart beats fewer times per minute than it would in a nonathlete.
https://www.healthline.com/health/athlete-heart-rate#resting-rate