what is the absolute LOWEST resting heartrate that a runner can have? (2024)

• gizzler

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 11:32am EST

  re: adam and steve

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  Miguel Indurain (yeah not a runner, no sh*t) is lowest I've heard of. 28 bpm.
• hrrrrrrrrrrr r

  Anonymous Poster

  11 years ago 02/07/2013 7:46pm EST

  re: gizzler

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  I was hitting 38-39 as a 19 min 5k guy.
• ortho

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 7:53pm EST

  re: hrrrrrrrrrrr r

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  No you were not.
• Yanqui

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 8:05pm EST

  re: ortho

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  26 or 28 is about the lowest. 21, you're headed to your demise.
• 1955

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 8:06pm EST

  re: adam and steve

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  I was never close to being an elite runner, but when I was just out of college & running 60-70 mpw I had a resting pulse of 29, measured at the doctor's office. I was also very thin -- like African-type thin -- at the time, which probably contributed.
• please please help

  Anonymous Poster

  11 years ago 02/07/2013 8:08pm EST

  re: 1955

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  See Also

  How to Train Peak Performance like Kenyan Marathon Runner Eliud KipchogeAmazing stats from Kelvin Kiptum’s marathon world recordRunning Slower to Run Faster: How to Increase Your Running PaceWhy Easy “Zone 2” Workouts Became the Biggest Thing in Fitness

  4 if you are REALLY fit, but that's pretty rare

  16-19 if you are in decent shape
• harrrrrrrrrrr r

  Anonymous Poster

  11 years ago 02/07/2013 8:10pm EST

  re: ortho

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  ortho wrote:

  No you were not.

  I most certainly was.

  Now at sub 17 it's still around 37-38.

  I don't know why some of you are so ignorant when it comes to hr.

  It is GENETIC and has NOTHING to do with performance. Not a SINGLE thing.

  Educate yourself.
• jimfixx

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 8:11pm EST

  re: adam and steve

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  0 bpm is possible for a runner.
• word on the street

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 8:32pm EST

  re: adam and steve

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  Heard Salazar had 0 bpm for 14 minutes..

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  11 years ago 02/07/2013 10:55pm EST

  re: word on the street

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  Heart rate doesn't matter, mine is 39-41 and has been even when I was a 18 minute guy.
• yep yep

  Anonymous Poster

  11 years ago 02/07/2013 11:04pm EST

  re: coach bigfoot

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  Eliud Kipchoge's Physiology: Uncovering the Secrets Behind the INEOS 1:59 Marathon

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  coach bigfoot wrote:

  Heart rate doesn\'t matter, mine is 39-41 and has been even when I was a 18 minute guy.

  yep yep
• Strom jr.

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 2:18am EST

  re: adam and steve

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  Ron Clarke's RHR was 26-28....this is verified

  i assume many bicyclists are equally as low

  someone, i forgot who...a north african, was reported to be even lower than Clarke

  On the other hand Jim Ryan never had a resting heart rate lower than 45...

  so, don't make too much hay about this. Its better to be lower, but lots of slow people are under 40 bpm...
• randomcoach

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 5:24am EST

  re: harrrrrrrrrrr r

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  harrrrrrrrrrr r wrote:

  Now at sub 17 it's still around 37-38.

  I don't know why some of you are so ignorant when it comes to hr.

  It is GENETIC and has NOTHING to do with performance. Not a SINGLE thing.

  Educate yourself.

  Exactly this. At my best distance fitness, I could run 2 miles in 11 minutes. Typically I could probably do a 23min 5km. My resting heart rate seems to fluctuate between 37 and 45, depending on stress/weight/activity. I'm 6'2 and my lowest weight in the last 10 years is 175lbs. Typically 185.
• How is this a pissing contest

  Anonymous Poster

  11 years ago 02/08/2013 6:45am EST

  re: randomcoach

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  I like how everyone is lieing through their teeth.

  Maybe .1% of the population has a RHR under 40, yet 85% of this thread does?

  Sure.
• Nutella1

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 7:01am EST

  re: gizzler

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  Indurain was at 28, Armstrong at 30, Ullrich at 32, but all these measures were a result of HEAVY EPO usage, which obviously has one of the side effects of slowing down HR.

  It was reported that some cyclists hearts were beating so slow that they were attached to a machine monitoring their HR each night during their heavy "cycles". Yes, think about it for a moment.
• Beats by Dr. Dre

  Anonymous Poster

  11 years ago 02/08/2013 7:57am EST

  re: Nutella1

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  Unless I consciously and uncomfortably mess with my breathing, I'm like 60-65 in bed and 65-75 over the course of the day. Considering the fact that I'm young and fairly fit I'm finding it shocking that this many people could possibly be below 50.
• sub240

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 8:00am EST

  re: Beats by Dr. Dre

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  Beats by Dr. Dre wrote:

  Unless I consciously and uncomfortably mess with my breathing, I'm like 60-65 in bed and 65-75 over the course of the day. Considering the fact that I'm young and fairly fit I'm finding it shocking that this many people could possibly be below 50.

  FWIW, the lowest I got was low 40's. 43 or so. That was when I was in mid 15's 5k shape. Right now more in 17ish shape but RHR is not that different...

  I have no problems believing some very fit individuals would have mid to high 30's, everything below is kinda scary.
• Chilpotletetel

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 8:41am EST

  re: sub240

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  The resting heart rate of a blue whale is about 10 bpm, and that's without EPO.
• middle professor

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 8:51am EST

  re: Chilpotletetel

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  1. Blue whales have EPO

  (NoI haven't checked the phylogenetic distribution, but I'm confident enough to state this matter-of-factly on LRC)

  2. Lots of responses show incredulity that someone's HR could be something other than their own

  3. Training depresses resting HR and increases performance so there must be some correlation between resting HR and performance at least in a mixed population of trained and untrained. But maybe in a population of, say, college runners, there is no (or trivial) correlation)
• WD40

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  11 years ago 02/08/2013 9:06am EST

  re: middle professor

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  Instead of arguing whether RHR is relevant to performance, why not discuss something which really is relevant, i.e. 1-minute recovery rate. Elites typically recover 60-90 bpm a minute after finishing, say, an 800m rep. I find it depends on hydration, weather, how tapered I am and what I do during recovery phase.

  My RHR has been around 40 since I first started measuring it 3yrs ago - and I've taken around 5 mins off my 5K since then...

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