Stephen Andrews via Unsplash It turns out that blood pressure and your resting heart rate both often change over time ― average scores for both differ by age. The same goes for your physical fitness. There’s an “ideal” amount of push-ups each age group should be able to do; the amount of time you can stand on one leg by age seems to be a surprisingly good metric of your brain health too.
Advertisement So it should come as no surprise that the same rules apply to what’s known as your “heart rate recovery,” or how long it takes your heart rate to get back to normal after a workout. Speaking to Health Central, Dr Lindsay Bottoms, head of the Centre for Research in Psychology and Sport Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire, said: “Heart rate recovery is controlled by our autonomic nervous system, which can reflect the health of a person. “The quicker your heart rate returns to baseline after exercise can reflect how good your cardiovascular health is.
” How do you measure heart rate recovery? Your heart rate recovery is found by calculating your heart rate in beats per minute (BPM) right after the toughest part of your workout (your peak heart rate) minus your heart rate after 60 seconds of rest. Advertisement There’s even a formula for the calculation (peak HR – 60-second post-exercise HR = HRR). Some smartwatches will track this for you, but you can also find your peak heart rate on some gym machines.
You’ll be able to work our your post-recovery .
