I'm laying down watching tv and pulse is 78. Should it be lower?
Full disclosure, I'm not a medical professional, just an anabolic monkey who is most likely retarded, but has family who are in the medical field who make it a bit easier to understand what's happening under the hood.
78 is within range for a healthy person, although it isn't ideal. A normal resting HR is between 60-100. A lower heart rate means a more efficient operation of your heart and cardiovascular system. If you follow the rhetoric that a heart is only good for 2-4 billion pumps, you're theoretically getting more mileage out of your pump, which is gooder.
A lot of factors play into it, such as age, diet, lifestyle, and training. Being ex smokers, it's "normal" we have higher heart rates. Our lungs suck and it takes time and work to get them working well again.
-Stimulant use also spikes HR. I was a regular energy drink consumer, and had a high caffeine intake for a long time, which lead me to have a resting hr of 110 a few years back. I made significant lifestyle changes since and try not to indulge in more than 2 cups a day.
- Being overweight plays a factor in it too. As Rich Piana once said, and I'm paraphrasing, "it doesn't matter if you're 300lbs of muscle or fat, it's additional strain on the heart regardless". You can either drop the weight, which is unlikely, since I think we're all aiming to rival Silverback gorillas here, or train up your cardio to handle your newly minted mass. A buddy of mine recently started dbol, and in week 4 of his cycle, was complaining he's going limp mid hump session. He was worried about estrogen sides, but when I asked him of his cardio work, he looked at me like a deer in headlights. His cardio system couldn't keep up pumping the 25lbs he put on, and when he started taking that seriously under my recommendation, isn't having that issue anymore.
To lower your HR, you don't have to do anything crazy, just regular LISS, and you'd be surprised how quickly it can make a big impact. I started power walking 3 weeks ago everyday for 45 minutes after seeing my HR at 95, and it clocked at 80 yesterday. I'm looking to see when I'll stall, then regularly incorporate HITT, as I'm hoping to maintain a resting HR in the 60s range.
I know this is getting long winded, so I'll just end with this. We're playing a very delicate balancing act and you have to determine what you're willing to sacrifice to achieve our goals. I know my blood pressure will never be incredible due to being tall, and 240lbs, so the least I can do is keep a healthy heart to make sure I keel over later rather than sooner.
If anything I posted is wrong, I welcome anyone to correct me, as I clearly mentioned I am retarded.