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Home > Forum > Triathlon Forum > Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms

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Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms
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ericlambi
May 3, 21 8:17
Post #1 of 7 (1037 views)
Hey Gang-

Over the past several months I've noticed that my heart rate while training is a full 10+ beats lower than it has been historically for same running paces or power outputs, maybe actually closer to 15bps. It's most notable during hard running or cycling. I can barely get my cycling HR over 150 or my running HR over 160, but more typical max HRs have been ~170 and ~175, respectively. I am not a newbie, so I would not expect a dramatic change like this in a relatively short period of time. I have increased my average volume this year from ~11hrs/wk to ~15hrs/wk, most of which has been added swimming. I've lost ~5lbs (from a base of ~130). My sustainable bike power and running paces are both currently on the higher end of my historic norms and I feel well. Just wanted to check and see if anyone has experienced anything similar? Thoughts on what could cause this?

Thanks,

Eric
Dimond Bikes Superfan
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Re: Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms [ericlambi] [ In reply to ]
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monty
May 3, 21 8:58
Post #2 of 7 (994 views)
You are either getting in shape, or overtraining. That or you aged 20 years in the past few months...

IF you are comparing the same power and paces, then the getting in better shape is most likely it. But then of course you just need to run and ride faster now. IF you are training a lot more(sounds like you are)and not recovering well, then you may be getting heart tired. Usually this happens in folks training long hours for ironman, but it can happen to anyone given enough negative stimulus. When this happens, you can still train as usual because your muscles are not fatigued, but your heart is. I've seen this maybe a 1/2 dozen times.

Other than what you are doing, will have to leave it to the heart docs like dtoce and others to give you any medical reasons.
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Re: Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms [monty] [ In reply to ]
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ericlambi
May 3, 21 16:07
Post #3 of 7 (872 views)
monty wrote:
You are either getting in shape, or overtraining. That or you aged 20 years in the past few months...

IF you are comparing the same power and paces, then the getting in better shape is most likely it. But then of course you just need to run and ride faster now. IF you are training a lot more(sounds like you are)and not recovering well, then you may be getting heart tired. Usually this happens in folks training long hours for ironman, but it can happen to anyone given enough negative stimulus. When this happens, you can still train as usual because your muscles are not fatigued, but your heart is. I've seen this maybe a 1/2 dozen times.

Other than what you are doing, will have to leave it to the heart docs like dtoce and others to give you any medical reasons.

I guess you couldn’t rule it out, but I don’t think there’s much evidence for overtraining. Bike powers and run paces are pretty good right now, and I’ve got two HRV monitors (a whoop and an eight pod mattress) that aren’t setting off any flags. I’ve been able to change my schedule with a WFH situation and am getting more sleep, my wife has even noted that I don’t seem like a zombie. I had a physical ~6wks ago, they tested my thyroid to be normal, but my HGB, HCT, and ferritin were relatively low (nothing dramatic). I began with some iron and increased my red meat consumption, have a follow-up test tomorrow.

I appreciate your thoughts, probably nothing to worry about, it just seems strange.
Dimond Bikes Superfan
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Re: Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms [ericlambi] [ In reply to ]
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dtoce
May 3, 21 17:14
Post #4 of 7 (845 views)
I’d vote for better trained and a normal response.
Quote Reply
Re: Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms [ericlambi] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
TIT
May 3, 21 18:20
Post #5 of 7 (792 views)
Have you moved from indoors to outdoors? My outdoor HR seems to be about 95% of my indoor HR.
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Re: Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms [dtoce] [ In reply to ]
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ericlambi
May 4, 21 6:56
Post #6 of 7 (698 views)
dtoce wrote:
I’d vote for better trained and a normal response.

Appreciate the response, thank you. I won't stress it then.

To answer the other question, this isn't an indoors vs outdoors issue. Just whatever my z2/z3/z4/max HR was last year (and for the years beforehand), it's currently ~.90 of that number.
Dimond Bikes Superfan
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Re: Heart Rate 10+ bps Lower than Historical Norms [ericlambi] [ In reply to ]
Quote | Reply
Warbird
May 4, 21 10:19
Post #7 of 7 (664 views)
ericlambi wrote:
monty wrote:
You are either getting in shape, or overtraining. That or you aged 20 years in the past few months...

IF you are comparing the same power and paces, then the getting in better shape is most likely it. But then of course you just need to run and ride faster now. IF you are training a lot more(sounds like you are)and not recovering well, then you may be getting heart tired. Usually this happens in folks training long hours for ironman, but it can happen to anyone given enough negative stimulus. When this happens, you can still train as usual because your muscles are not fatigued, but your heart is. I've seen this maybe a 1/2 dozen times.

Other than what you are doing, will have to leave it to the heart docs like dtoce and others to give you any medical reasons.


I guess you couldn’t rule it out, but I don’t think there’s much evidence for overtraining. Bike powers and run paces are pretty good right now, and I’ve got two HRV monitors (a whoop and an eight pod mattress) that aren’t setting off any flags. I’ve been able to change my schedule with a WFH situation and am getting more sleep, my wife has even noted that I don’t seem like a zombie. I had a physical ~6wks ago, they tested my thyroid to be normal, but my HGB, HCT, and ferritin were relatively low (nothing dramatic). I began with some iron and increased my red meat consumption, have a follow-up test tomorrow.

I appreciate your thoughts, probably nothing to worry about, it just seems strange.

I've had a few similar drops over the past few years, both coinciding with resolving health issues.

Through most of the previous decade, my average race HR was upper 160s (sprints, occasional Oly), maximum HR was mid 170s. This was in my mid-50s. A few years ago I developed afib, and once that got cleared up, my new "race effort" (although I haven't raced yet) was upper 150s, maximum effort mid 160s. So I lost about 10 BPM over that year, even though I came back stronger than I had been for a few years. Then last year I got treated for low HGB, HCT, and ferritin (levels were about half of they should've been), and I lost another 5bpm but performance improved again. At 60, my race effort and maximum HRs are now about 15bpm lower than 3 years ago, but my power numbers and times are now matching what I did in my early 50s...
"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"
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