How long does it take for your heart rate to return to normal after exercise? (Heart Rate Recovery)

When you finish a good workout, or when you wake up after a quick run in the morning, there's something you always feel, right? It's your heart beating very fast. But after a while, that speed gradually slows down and returns to normal. Have you ever thought that the time it takes for your heart rate to return to normal can tell you something very important about your heart health? That's what we call heart rate recovery (HRR) in medicine.

Simply put, what is Heart Rate Recovery (HRR)?

Imagine you are a car speeding down the road. When you want to stop, you can't stop all at once. When you hit the brakes, it slows down gradually to stop. Our heart is like that. When we exercise, our muscles need more blood and oxygen, so our heart starts pumping faster. When we stop exercising, our heart has to slow down again and return to its normal resting rate.

Heart Rate Recovery (HRR) is a measure of how quickly your heart rate returns to its normal, resting rate after you finish exercising. Simply put, it's the difference between your heart rate at the peak of your exercise and your heart rate after a minute or two of rest. It's measured in beats per minute (bpm).

Doctors use this HRR value to understand how healthy your heart is. This value is usually measured when you undergo a test such as an ``exercise stress test``. Some people also measure this value alone to know about their physical fitness.

Okay, so how do I calculate my HRR myself?

This is very easy. All you need is a device that can accurately measure your heart rate (like a reliable heart rate monitor, fitness watch) and a little math. You need to find two numbers:

1. Your maximum heart rate during exercise: This is your heart rate when you are done with the hardest part of your exercise. Remember, this should be measured before your cool-down, which is when you walk around and cool down.

2. Heart rate one minute after stopping exercise: Once you've stopped the hardest part of the exercise, rest for exactly one minute. Then measure your heart rate again.

Now all that's left to do is make a small reduction.

Imagine, a person named Nimal, after finishing a good run, checked his heart rate and it was 170 beats per minute (170 bpm). He then stood still for exactly one minute. When he checked again a minute later, his heart rate had dropped to 145 beats per minute (145 bpm).

Then Nimal's HRR will be: 170 - 145 = 25 bpm .

There are usually two phases to this HRR:

• Fast phase (HRR fast phase): The rate at which the heart rate decreases within 30 seconds or a minute after stopping exercise.
• Slow phase (HRR slow phase): The amount of time the heart rate slows down after two minutes or so (usually up to 5 minutes).

The one-minute method we talked about above is what most people use. It gives us a good idea of ​​the "fast phase." Research has found that even this small measurement can tell you a lot about your heart health.

What is a good HRR value?

You're probably wondering, "How quickly should my heart rate go down?" In general, the sooner your heart rate returns to normal after exercise, the better. If it takes longer to go down, it could be a sign of a problem.

Generally, a good HRR value after one minute of rest is considered to be:

But this is not a "magic number" that applies to everyone. There are many other factors that go into determining whether your HRR is good or not.

• Whether or not you have cardiovascular disease.
• your age.
• The type of exercise you do and what you do during your rest periods.
• How long did you rest before measuring your heart rate again?

Let me explain this. When a doctor subjects you to an ``exercise stress test,'' the way you rest may also change.

• If you have heart disease: Your doctor may tell you to take a brisk walk or bike ride after the hardest part of your workout, rather than stopping immediately. This is called active rest .
• If you don't have heart disease: Your doctor will probably tell you to lie in bed and do nothing. This is called passive rest .

Therefore, if you measure your HRR value yourself, it is very important to discuss it with your doctor so that he or she can explain exactly what it means to you.

Why is this HRR value so important?

The HRR value is not just a number. It can tell you how well your heart is working and predict future heart disease.

A low HRR could mean that your autonomic nervous system is not working properly. This is the system that controls things in our body that happen automatically (e.g. breathing, heart rate). It's like our body's "auto-pilot" system. It controls how fast our heart rate increases when we exercise and slows it down when we stop.

If there is any weakness in this system, it increases the risk of heart disease. Research has found that people with low HRR are more likely to develop the following conditions:

• Coronary artery disease
• Diabetes `(Diabetes mellitus)`
• Heart failure
• High blood pressure (Hypertension)

Now, after reading this, you may be scared, "Oh my, what if my HRR goes down..." Don't be scared. This is like a warning light on the dashboard of a car. It tells us to be careful and to get our car serviced before an accident happens. Also, when you know that your HRR is low, you and your doctor can take the necessary steps to strengthen your heart. So it's in your best interest to know this in advance.

What can I do to improve my Heart Rate Recovery score?

The best and simplest answer to this is to exercise regularly . If you already exercise, talk to your doctor about how you can improve your exercise routine.

If you have had a heart attack or heart surgery, participating in cardiac rehabilitation programs can help improve your HRR and stay healthy in the long term.

Nowadays, everyone has fitness watches and activity trackers on their hands. Most of the time, we only look at how many calories we burned and how far we ran during exercise. But we forget that how our body recovers after exercise is just as important.

So, the next time you're doing a good workout and reaching for a bottle of water, take a moment to measure your heart rate. See how quickly it drops. Talk about this when you see your doctor. No matter how old you are, or if you don't currently have any risk factors for heart disease, it's never too early to start thinking about your heart.

Heart Rate Recovery, exercise, heart health, HRR