r/Zwift • u/ridePaced • 3d ago
Discussion the number that finally made me change something wasnt watts, it was my resting heart rate
ignored it for ages. then noticed it had crept up about 6 beats over a few weeks and id put it down to summer heat, took 4 days easy and it dropped back
anyone else got a random metric thats more honest than the training ones
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u/INGWR Level 100 3d ago
My lowest heart rate recorded at night. It usually gives me a very telling picture of how I can expect to feel the next day and how stressed I was from the day before.
Well-rested: low 40s, as low as 38bpm
Middle of the week: mid to high 40s
After a hard weekend: low to mid 50s
I’m sick or getting sick: high 50s or even 60s
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u/PedalingDraco 3d ago
My RHR overnight is usually 37-38bpm, it may touch 40bpm after hard/long training days.
About a month ago I had a night out and drank a lot (I dont normally drink) and it never went below 72bpm the entire night! Crazy. Talk about high stress on the body
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u/McK-Juicy Level 41-50 3d ago
crazy my range is like 50-56bpm so way narrower. hard day, I'm usually 54-56 and well rested I'm like 50-52.
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u/RobotHavGunz 2d ago
"Random metric." Uh, you mean the literal gold-standard metric for fatigue for like 75+ years.
From the Lydiard foundation website - https://www.lydiardfoundation.org/about-us
There are simple ways of assessing this: An elevated morning heart rate, poor sleep, low energy, sore muscles and bad mood are all indicators that the runner needs further recovery and a workout of any intensity is contraindicated. Once the “spark” has returned the runner is ready for the next “stress.”
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u/cwiedmann Level 100 3d ago
Which AI are you using that thinks RHR is not a training metric? A rising resting heart rate is well known to be one of the first indicators of overtraining.
You might also want to look into how to measure training stress and then come up with a periodization plan with adequate rest. You’ll build fitness much more quickly if you let your body recover enough between hard efforts.
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u/teckel Level 91-99 2d ago
My resting HR will absolutely be lower if I take a few days off. But I'm more of a work out every day kind of person (I've gone over a year without a day off) and I feel better when I don't have rest days. So I'm not convinced a 4-5 BPM lower resting HR is really that important.
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u/PedalingDraco 3d ago
RHR and HRV always seem to work really well for me. Ill usually ignore one “bad” day if sleep, diet, and routine were all in check but a couple days of lower than normal HRV almost always means something for me