How well do you recover? Monitoring metabolic health through heart rate recovery and resting heart rate.
We talk about recovery a lot here at Studio ME and for good reason. I know some adrenaline junkies out there may not want to hear this but more is not always better, especially when it comes to fitness.
Overtraining
We’ve talked before about how consistently exercising at too high of an intensity (think yellow and red MEPs all the time) can create metabolic damage. One type of metabolic damage we see quite often is overtraining.
Yes, overtraining is a real thing. According to the American Council on Exercise, overtraining results from excessive exposure to high intensity exercise without sufficient recovery. Not sure what high intensity exercise looks like? Think sprints or intervals of all out effort.
Do ALL your workouts look like this? You might be overtraining.
What are the signs of overtraining?
Reduced immune function leading to constant or lingering colds
Elevated resting heart rate
Sleeplessness
Increased irritability
Weight gain
Decrease in physical performance
Overtraining not only decreases our ability to meet our fitness goals–say ‘bye bye’ to that squat PR–it can also have detrimental effects on our overall health.
Fun fact: “It can take anywhere from 24 to 96 hours to fully recover from a metabolically demanding high intensity exercise session” (ACE Fitness).
So how can we prevent overtraining?
At the risk of sounding repetitive… WEAR YOUR HEART RATE MONITOR.
Yes, it can be awkward. Yes, it sometimes gets in the way. But the benefits outweigh the annoyances.
Also, I promise you that your fellow members are not looking at your tile on the TV. They are too concerned with their own tile to notice what’s going on in yours.
How wearing your HR monitor helps prevent overtraining:
Wearing your heart rate monitor can help you determine intensity in the moment. No more guessing about whether you are taking it too easy or working way too hard.
Looking at your workouts over the course of a week can also clue you into whether you are doing too much high intensity exercise. Is every workout a sea of yellow and red? Then we may need to dial it back a bit.
Wearing your HR monitor provides insights into your metabolic health. It can determine your heart rate recovery and resting heart rate. Both are important indicators of cardiovascular health.
Okay, so what do those terms even mean and why should you care?
Heart rate recovery refers to the speed at which our heart rate decreases after a bout of exercise. It's usually measured in the minute following exercise. A faster decrease is linked to better cardiovascular health. I won’t go into the physiological details here, but if you’re interested, check out this article from MyZone.
Here’s the bottom line according to My Zone:
Think of a ‘healthy’ or ‘fit" heart as a heart that is highly efficient. It does just the right amount of work – no more than is needed – in order to avoid undue stress. The more quickly our heart rate can decrease after exercise, the less stress on our heart. Since we need our heart to work for quite a while (our entire life), a more efficient heart is ultimately better for our health and longevity.
Much like heart rate recovery, your resting heart rate is an indicator of heart function and cardiovascular fitness. A “normal” can vary between 60-100 beats per minute and depends on several factors like age, pre-existing health conditions, and medications. However, an unusually high or low heart rate may indicate an underlying problem. See a doctor ASAP if your resting HR is consistently above 100 bpm or under 40 bpm.
Outside of an actual medical issue, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness. So for those of us who exercise regularly, we should have a lower resting heart rate… if your resting heart rate is on the higher side, this may be an indication of overtraining.
As you continue your fitness journey, you should start to see that your heart rate recovery increases—meaning your heart rate recovers more within the minute after exercise—and your resting heart rate decreases.
Don’t waste all your hard work by overtraining. Utilize your heart rate monitor to determine appropriate intensities and track the progress of your cardiovascular health.
