All you need to know about treating foot arch pain published in the, All you need to know about treating foot arch pain All you need to know about this underrated fitness metric and what you can do to improve yours. But there’s another, often undervalued data point worth keeping tabs on: cardio recovery rate.
According to Fabio Comana, faculty lecturer at San Diego State University and master instructor for the National Academy of Sports Medicine, cardio recovery rate – also known as heart rate recovery – is 'an important measure that a lot of people don’t pay attention to'. Why? Because cardio recovery rate provide clues about your fitness and can even indicate the presence of heart disease.
To help you get up to speed on cardio recovery rate, we explain what it is, why it deserves a place in your data set and how you can improve your current level.
What is cardio recovery rate?
Cardio recovery rate is the difference between your peak heart rate as soon as you stop exercising and your heart rate a little later on after you've finished your exercise. Tamanna Singh, sports cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, states that this interval of time is typically 30 seconds, one minute or two minutes.
A runners guide to heart rate training Apple Watch measures cardio recovery rate one minute post-exercise, while some Garmin watches, like the Forerunner 935 and Forerunner 955, tally it at two minutes post-exercise, according to the company websites.
As such, cardio recovery rate measures your ability to return to your baseline heart rate post-exercise. Comana says that this number signifies how quickly your body can switch from being under the influence of the sympathetic nervous system (the 'fight-or-flight' response which is activated when you exercise), to being under the influence of the parasympathetic nervous system (the 'rest and digest' state).
In short, the higher your cardio recovery rate, the quicker your body can shift into rest mode – and the better your cardiovascular fitness.
What is a good cardio recovery rate?
While there’s no single, agreed-upon standard for what qualifies as a 'good' cardio recovery rate, research does provide insight.
A 2017 study of elite athletes, for example, found that after one minute of rest, their heart rates dipped by an average of 23 beats per minute (bpm). According to Comana’s understanding of the research, having any drop in your heart rate within the first 10 seconds is 'phenomenal', and any noticeable dip within the first 30 seconds is 'damn good as well'.
If your heart rate has dropped by 15 to 25 bpm a minute after you've stopped exercising, Comana says you also likely have a healthy heart. And if your recovery rate is greater than 50 bpm two minutes after finishing exercise, continues Singh, this is 'probably an indicator of pretty good cardiorespiratory fitness'.
Why should runners care about cardio recovery rate?
Your cardio recovery rate can provide good intelligence on your current fitness level, says Comana, as it essentially demonstrates the efficiency of your cardiopulmonary system – your heart, blood vessels, and lungs. The greater the drop you have, and the sooner that drop starts to happen, he explains, 'the better physical state you’re in'.
What's more, your cardio recovery rate can provide clues on your heart health. As Comana says, that’s because there’s a correlation between heart rate recovery and cardiovascular disease.
A 2017 meta-analysis Runners World US To boost your cardio recovery rate, Comana suggests taking deep, controlled concluded that reduced heart rate recovery among the general population is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events and death from any cause. A 2018 study, Runners World, Part of the Hearst UK Wellbeing Network To boost your cardio recovery rate, Comana suggests taking deep, controlled, dived a little deeper, and found that your cardio recovery rate at 10 seconds post-exercise is a better predictor of death from any cause than your cardio recovery rate at one minute.
Now, before you potentially start to panic, a low heart rate recovery doesn’t mean you’re automatically out of shape or destined for heart disease. Comana notes that numerous factors can influence cardio recovery rate, including your age, how intensely you exercised, how rested you were going into the workout, and whether you took any stimulants that elevate heart rate, like caffeine.
What you did during the rest period also plays a role, says Singh. For example, laying down immediately after exercise would likely yield a higher cardio recovery rate than doing a cool down activity like walking.
How do you improve your cardio recovery rate?
The important caveat is that having a low cardio recovery rate is breaths when finish exercising, like as a soon as you're back from a run. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth to allow more oxygen to reach the cells in your muscle – this will help you to quickly transition into recovery mode.
You can also induce a faster switchover to the parasympathetic state by mentally relaxing, adds Comana. Perhaps imagine soothing imagery, or repeat a calming mantra.
To see long term gains in your cardio recovery rate, though, it's worth upping your fitness. Both high-intensity training and more Back pain from running? This could be why can help on this front, says Singh, so be sure to add some variety to your running and stay consistent to your training plan.
That said, ramp up your workouts at a safe pace and schedule ample rest and recovery periods in between your sessions. Otherwise, you’re you're more likely to harm your cardio recovery rate through overtraining, Singh explains.
When should you be concerned about cardio recovery rate?
If you've stopped exercising, rested completely for five to 10 minutes and noticed that your heart rate hasn’t dropped much from its peak, then something concerning might be going on, says Singh. It may be as simple as the fact that you’re low on sleep, overtrained, dehydrated, or have had too much caffeine. But, it could also signal an abnormality in your cardiovascular or autonomic nervous systems, Singh explains, which is why it’s worth flagging to your doctor.
If your cardio recovery rate drops by less than 12 bpm one minute after finishing exercise, Comana suggests that you flag this with your doctor, as research defines that level as abnormal. With a level that low, he says, 'you could be very out of shape – or, you could be someone who potentially has some evidence of coronary artery disease.'
also Runners World US not also Runners World US published in the, Comana explains that 'it’s just another layer of paying attention to how your heart responds to stress'. You don’t need to run straight to the doctor if you see your cardio recovery rate is low on a given day – so long as you feel fine, it's probably safe for you to just monitor that metric the next few times you do exercise at near-maximum effort, says Comana. If the low cardio recovery rate seems to be a pattern, bring that up with your doctor the next time you have an appointment, he continues.
