131/80

54bpm heart rate


this is after walking through the parking lot to the testing thing



kinda high, dont you think?

ill get blood work asap.

Did you have any coffee before hand or were you thinking of anything stressful?

That's not high at all. Don't worry about it :)

131/80

54bpm heart rate


this is after walking through the parking lot to the testing thing



kinda high, dont you think?

ill get blood work asap.

To calculate 65-80% of maximum heart rate you take 220 - your age. Assuming you're 20 years old. Thats 200 for MHR. 65% of that is 130 bpm. That's if you are working out at 65% of your MHR, which is on the low side of LISS. A resting heart rate of 54 bpm is about 27% MHR. So a relatively resting rate that you have is actually on the low side, typical of superior athletes.

i'm almost 25.

a couple months ago my resting heart rate was about ~48. my blood pressure was lower also, like 115/70 or so.

yeah, actually i had coffee earlier in the day and i think an energy drink or two.

Blood pressure changes all the time. Really, your readings are nothing to worry about.

BP is borderline high for your age, but I'm often in that same range and have been for years.

At one point when I was in pretty good shape after a WSP cut, I had it down to 105/69 or similar. So what I'm doing in the gym can affect it.

Lots of other things, stress, position you are in when they take it, activitiy immediately prior to the test, etc.

It will be lower if you lay down and take it after 10 minutes or so.

I wouldn't worry.

Heart rate is excellent, and can also vary a lot. Anything below 70 is above average I think.

131/80

54bpm heart rate

this is after walking through the parking lot to the testing thing


kinda high, dont you think?

ill get blood work asap.

The blood pressure is very slightly high, but it can be "white coat syndrome". Try testing it at home before you freak out. And, in any case, 130/80 is nothing to freak out about.

To calculate 65-80% of maximum heart rate you take 220 - your age. Assuming you're 20 years old. Thats 200 for MHR. 65% of that is 130 bpm. That's if you are working out at 65% of your MHR, which is on the low side of LISS. A resting heart rate of 54 bpm is about 27% MHR. So a relatively resting rate that you have is actually on the low side, typical of superior athletes.

The age formula is a load of crap for MHR. The 54 is good, but it's not great. Superior athletes are in the 30s and 40s.

Note that using the age formula for MHR introduces a strange effect where the same resting heart rate is less impressive as you get older. For example, I'm 48 with a resting heart rate of just under 50 bpm. If you use that age formula for maximum heart rate, you predict an MHR for me of 172. So my resting heart rate would be 29% of MHR.

Now suppose I had the same resting heart rate but I was 20. Then 50 is 25% of MHR. In actual fact, since older people tend to have higher weight than they did when they were 20, the same resting heart rate is more impressive at the older age.

In fact, even my lactate threshold is just a bit above 175 bpm, and my actual MHR is above 190 (haven't maxed that out for a while, so I use 190 these days). It's probably not much above 190, so let's say 190. Then my resting heart rate is 26% of MHR.

So I don't think there is a big value to considering the resting heart rate as a fraction of MHR; that boils down basically to the same as considering "heart rate reserve".

I think it's more useful to consider something like weight over resting heart rate, or lean body mass over heart rate, or basal metabolic rate over heart rate. Those things should be related with VO2max.

The age formula is a load of crap for MHR. The 54 is good, but it's not great. Superior athletes are in the 30s and 40s.

Note that using the age formula for MHR introduces a strange effect where the same resting heart rate is less impressive as you get older. For example, I'm 48 with a resting heart rate of just under 50 bpm. If you use that age formula for maximum heart rate, you predict an MHR for me of 172. So my resting heart rate would be 29% of MHR.

Now suppose I had the same resting heart rate but I was 20. Then 50 is 25% of MHR. In actual fact, since older people tend to have higher weight than they did when they were 20, the same resting heart rate is more impressive at the older age.

In fact, even my lactate threshold is just a bit above 175 bpm, and my actual MHR is above 190 (haven't maxed that out for a while, so I use 190 these days). It's probably not much above 190, so let's say 190. Then my resting heart rate is 26% of MHR.

So I don't think there is a big value to considering the resting heart rate as a fraction of MHR; that boils down basically to the same as considering "heart rate reserve".

I think it's more useful to consider something like weight over resting heart rate, or lean body mass over heart rate, or basal metabolic rate over heart rate. Those things should be related with VO2max.

Glad you could expand a bit on that subject. I was trying to give a contextual, if not wholly accurate, slant to the values. So 30s and 40s are good for superior athletes, I would think 54 is relatively good at his age, or any age.

Sorry, but I missed the blood pressure part of the OP. I don't know anything about BP. I was only commenting on the heart rate.

To calculate 65-80% of maximum heart rate you take 220 - your age. Assuming you're 20 years old. Thats 200 for MHR. 65% of that is 130 bpm. That's if you are working out at 65% of your MHR, which is on the low side of LISS. A resting heart rate of 54 bpm is about 27% MHR. So a relatively resting rate that you have is actually on the low side, typical of superior athletes.


both my moms and dads side of the family are known for having high blood presure and needing to take medications for it, as they get older. my mom and dad directly are fine, largely in part to the fact that they are very active. i'm more active than both of them, but of course i'm really into this whole thing.

i want my blood pressure to be 95/45 again the way it was six months ago. :(

i want my blood pressure to be 95/45 again the way it was six months ago. :(

That is too low. Low blood pressure can also compromise your health via reduced capacity to deliver oxygen and nutrients to your vital organ systems. Lower isn't always better .... shoot for 120/80, and you'll be fine.

Your current bp of 131/80 is fine. You mentioned that you had coffee and energy drinks earlier in the day, so that is enough alone to explain your slightly elevated systolic pressure.

No need to worry -- Your bp is perfectly fine.

That is too low. Low blood pressure can also compromise your health via reduced capacity to deliver oxygen and nutrients to your vital organ systems. Lower isn't always better .... shoot for 120/80, and you'll be fine..

Recently they have reduced the guideline for a desirable blood pressure to something like 110/70. (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7399/1104-a)

The blood pressure is very slightly high, but it can be "white coat syndrome". Try testing it at home before you freak out. And, in any case, 130/80 is nothing to freak out about.

He's right 130/80 is nothing to freak out about, nor is it anything a Dr. will even bother treating.
It is slightly elevated, but not considered Hypertension yet (that's 140/90).

Your current bp of 131/80 is fine. You mentioned that you had coffee and energy drinks earlier in the day, so that is enough alone to explain your slightly elevated systolic pressure.

So true! Not to mention other factors that can affect blood pressure, including how much water and salt you have in your body, and the levels of different body hormones. It wasn't until I actually started tracking BP on a weekly basis that I noticed mine will jump anywhere from 110/65 all the way up to 130/80 based on stress at work, how I ate that week and what kind of workouts I was doing. Heck, I even learned how to drop my BP almost 10 points in 5 mins (went from 127/78 to 118/69) by doing nothing more then a deep breathing exercise.


Recently they have reduced the guideline for a desirable blood pressure to something like 110/70. (http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7399/1104-a)

Actually it wasn't so much a reduction in the desirable range, as so much as doing away with the range completely. While Low blood pressure MAY be a sign of something else that could be wrong. Recent studies have shown that having a Blood pressure even as low as 90/60 still reduces the risk of heart attacks even further then someone say at 100/65, yet doesn't cause any additional problems. Basically the rule of thumb these days is to be under 120/80, but Drs will rarely do much of anything until you get over 140/90.