Heart Rate Changes

[rickb]

I was wondering if any long distance hikers found that their resting heart rates dropped much from the begining of thier thru hike to the end.

Mine did, but not all that much. What improvements I did realize went away rather quickly.

Rick B

[Speer Carrier]

Back when I was running 60 miles per week, and running in marathons, my resting heart rate dropped to about 50. I believe only arobic exercise will produce this effect. The heart becomes more efficient, and pumps a larger volume of blood with less effort.

Hiking under most circumstances is not real arobic, and would not have much effect on heart rate. Maybe, if the whole trail was uphill one could get that kind of work out.

Skink

[orangebug]

Ditto. I'd expect that a thru hiker would have quicker recovery to resting heart rate rather than a very significant drop in heart rate.

[weary]

I was wondering if any long distance hikers found that their resting heart rates dropped much from the begining of thier thru hike to the end.
Mine did, but not all that much. What improvements I did realize went away rather quickly.
Rick B

I forget the figures, but my resting heart rate dropped significantly during my six months on the trail in 1993, despite my relatively slow pace. It remains in the low sixties.

Weary

[Doc]

Do you mean that the whole trail isn't really all up hill? Sure felt that way at times.

Doc

[gravityman]

Back when I was running 60 miles per week, and running in marathons, my resting heart rate dropped to about 50. I believe only arobic exercise will produce this effect. The heart becomes more efficient, and pumps a larger volume of blood with less effort.

Hiking under most circumstances is not real arobic, and would not have much effect on heart rate. Maybe, if the whole trail was uphill one could get that kind of work out.

Skink

Say what?! Hiking I am always at about 65% my max heart rate, even going down hill. Going uphill, I am often pushing over 85% to 90% or above. As with most people, I tend to underestimate the actual precentage of my max heart rate I am at. I found that I need to slow WAY down to stay in the 65-85% range. It is this range at which you get the most aerobic benefit. Above it and you are pushing yourself too hard and recovery will take a lot longer.

It is very interesting to hike with a heart rate monitor on. Really helps with pacing too. But once you learn you can tell pretty well how hard you are working by your breathing. If you can't talk without effort you are going above 80% or so. If you have to stop and catch your breath, you are going WAY too fast!

Gravity

[Drum Stick]

Hello neighbors!
Shortly after my thru hike I landed a job with an implantable blood pump research group. I do not claim to be an expert in physiologics but I did learn a great deal. Some patient feed back that struck me was that patients could sense that they were dehydrated because of the change in the 'whirring' sound of the pump in their body. Blood viscosity varies with hydration level and so too does blood flow rates and the work load of the heart and the implantable blood pump (which is easy to see in the power consumption of the device).

Stay well hydrated for maximum blood flow and reduced loading on the heart. As soon as the body gets what it needs the heart rate falls.
I hope I am making sense here?
Just thougt you might find this intereting.
Drum Stick

[The Hog]

My resting heart rate was 48 bpm post thru hike. Not sure what it was before, probably 55-60 bpm. My guess is that most people will experience a significant drop in resting heart rate after many months on the Trail (except those who are already in superior condition to start with). After all, one way to look at a thru hike is that it's a full body workout ALL DAY, EVERYDAY, for an extended period. The ones who say that hiking the Trail is easy (and that their heart rates are unaffected) are usually trained runners, I would guess.