Sometimes it is a good idea to assess your fitness level. You don't need to spend a lot of dough and have a trainer put you through the wringer. There are some great tests you can do in the comfort of your own home. The test explained below you can do in the comfort of your own bed!
Resting Heart Rate Test
Assess: Level of Aerobic Fitness
The number of times your heart beats per minute, when you are at rest, indicates the strength and efficiency of your cardiovascular system. A strong heart is able to pump more blood with every beat, so you want a low resting heart heart (RHR). A lower RHR tends to correspond with a higher aerobic fitness level. Let's take seven time winner of the Tour de France Lance Armstrong as an example. Rumor has it that at the peak of his career Lance's RHR was only 32 beats per minute.
To see how to do the test just read more
- Take your pulse first thing in the morning, by placing two fingers on your wrist.
- Count the number of beats you feel in 60 seconds (or the number you feel for 15 seconds then multiply that number by four). When counting, do count the first beat as zero.
- The number of beats you count in 60 seconds is your RHR.
What the numbers mean:
- 60 or less = Good
- 61-80 = Average
- 81-100 = High, but acceptable
- 101 or more = Abnormally high and not good!
The great thing about this test is that as your RHR lowers you know you are getting more fit!
Vanessa Bruno
Virginie Monroe
Lacoste
I'll have to try this!
1Mine was 68
Pretty good!
2Mine was 60 exactly. Although I think I made it speed up because I was freaked out by feeling my blood pulsing through my vein. I guess I'll have to try it in the morning to get the actual RHR.
370
4mine's about 110 to 120, because of a medication I'm on.
5Oh snap! Lance Armstrong is 32?! That is amazing. It would make sense considering how much he has done (specially since he training for a marathon now)...I thought mine was low - 50.
658. Wahoo! Not bad especially considering that according to all the measurements - from BMI to waist measurement to body fat percentage - I'm half dead from obesity. But I'm also an athlete, and my RHR shows that. I power walked a half marathon in September!
7Mine is always around 50-55.
8mine's always around 52 ish
Woo.
9I have been VERY active for years (yes, I know, I'm only 19, but its the truth) and do at LEAST 30 minutes of cardio EVERY DAY. Mine is around 97. Crazy. I know. Every time I go to the doctor and the check it they say "honey, have you had caffeine today?" ummmm nooooooooo!!!! haha. It is just fast. It used to be faster (medication) but now I'm off of that, and it is still pretty quick.
10mine was 48...pretty good compared to lance armstrong!
11Keep in mind slower isn't ALWAYS better - if yours is slow & you're not an athlete, it can be a sign of hypothyroidism. For years I thought my slow (average 50) rate meant I was in good shape, turns out my thyroid was seriously underactive.
12I agree leahshade. These tests are NOT one size fits all. I'm hyperthyroid, and even on medication, in the hospital, having a nurse take it WHILE I'm sleeping, my RHR was close to 100.
But it's pretty good for all you normal people out there
13Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.