Heart Rate Recovery: A Matter of Life or Death?
WHAT IS HRR: Heart rate recovery (HRR) is how quickly your heart rate normalizes following exertion.
WHY IS HRR IMPORTANT: According to an article published by the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine, “A delayed decrease in the heart rate during the first minute after graded exercise… is a powerful and independent predictor of the risk of death.” 1
HOW DO I CHECK MY HRR?:
Equipment:
Chest straps are the gold standard as they measure the electrical activity of your heart (ECG) whereas watches, rings, and arm bands use optical sensors. In my experience the optical sensors cannot accurately show wide and quick variations in heart rate so for this particular exercise I suggest a chest strap.
I have done hundreds of sprint sessions wearing a chest strap, my Oura Ring, my FitBit HR, and checked my HR using the piece of gym equipment that has a built-in handheld HR monitor. My chest strap and the handheld sensors on gym equipment are always within a couple of beats of each other and the other devices lag seriously behind for this type of work out session.
Method:
- Warm-up carefully (If you are not used to HIIT or sprint workouts, I cannot emphasize enough the need for a very thorough warm-up. Injuring yourself is not Health & Wellness).
- Choose your activity (sprinting outside, elliptical, treadmill, stationary bike, etc.)
- If I am using a piece of indoor exercise equipment (treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike), I will go all out for 30 seconds (after a very thorough warm-up). If I am sprinting outside, I find a distance where I can go all out for 10-15 seconds.
- After my first sprint, I check my device for my HR and make a note of that (lets say it is 160 BPM) and I start my stop watch.
- If I am outside running sprints I stop moving altogether. If I am on a piece of indoor equipment I go as slow as I can to keep the machine turned on.
- After 60 seconds, notate your current HR.
- Subtract the current heart rate from your post effort first HR the difference is your Heart Rate Recovery (ex. 160 – 120 = 40).
WHAT SHOULD I STRIVE FOR: According to Dr. Phil Maffetone2, any decrease of more than 30 bpm is good. If your HRR is between 25-30 bpm, Maffetone indicates this is indicates a moderate risk, and anything less than 25 bpm you should see your health practitioner.
HOW DO I IMPROVE MY HRR?: Practice, practice, practice. The Primal Health Institute recommends adding some sort of sprint routine once every 7-10 days as part of a regular Health and Wellness routine. All of my clients do some sort of sprint workout once per week. See my article on Spring 8 for more information on sprinting safely.
BOTTOM LINE: There is enough evidence from well respected sources that indicate that knowing your HRR and working on improving your HRR just may save your life!
- Cole, C. R., Blackstone, E. H., Pashkow, F. J., Snader, C. E., & Lauer, M. S. (1999). Heart-rate recovery immediately after exercise as a predictor of mortality. New England journal of medicine, 341(18), 1351-1357.
- Maffetone, Phil. “Heart Rate Check.” MAF, Dr. Phil Maffetone, 15 Apr. 2020, www.philmaffetone.com/heart-rate-check/.
