For decades, there has been talk in fitness science about something known as heart rate budget. This indicates that we have limited number of heart beatsfor example, when we are given an economic budget to implement a project. We decide how to allocate that money, just as we decide how we spend those heartbeats. Fortunately, today we know that this is not entirely true. If it was something that drastic, we wouldn’t even be able to pull it off because it forces us to spend some of that budget. However, a study was recently published in which A lighter version of the concept is explored.
The study was conducted by a group of Australian scientists and is described in Talk Professor at the University of Birmingham Tom Brownlee.
This is a small study that involved a few people who came from very small population group. The authors themselves admit this. However, they also note that this friendlier version of the pulse budget could have interesting applicationsalways remembering that this is not a number written in stone. Let’s see what they mean then.
Fortunately, there is no number of heartbeats after which it stops working.
For a long time it was believed that we were born with maximum budget 2.5 billion heartbeats. With such a sum, life would be impossible. This would initially make him dangerous. do physical exercises, as it greatly increases the heart rate and many heart beats are wasted in a short time. However, it is well known that people who exercise regularly tend to have lower resting heart rate. What is eaten is what is served, as they say. Even the balance will be positive.
In any case, today we know that there is no golden number of heartbeats. But what if there really is some kind of heart rate budget?
What the new study says
This new study was conducted with 147 people. 109 were athletes and 38 were healthy controls. That is, people who, without engaging in this sport, maintain good health and, therefore, can serve compare results and benefit from sports training.
The study authors analyzed fitness app data from elite athletes, comparing resting heart rate to the total number of heartbeats per day. Thus, they calculated that athletes who train with weights “save” about 11,500 heart beats per day compared to healthy, untrained adults due to lower resting frequency.
Although it should be noted that for elite athletes this is not a long-lasting savings. For example, one stage of the Tour de France can cost cyclists around 35,000 additional heartbeats. In daily calculation they receive pay.
However, leaving aside the excessive spending of elite athletes, these scientists believe that, in addition to the living budget, it is interesting to study this daily count. And the beat of our heart every day is a reflection of how it reacts to many situations. from exercise to stress, including sleep or caffeine consumption. Even ambient temperature They can change your heart rate. In any case, the important thing is that the reactions are not very sudden, or at least recover adequately after the stimulus that accelerated us has passed.
The study authors believe this could be analyzed if, for example, smart watch compared the total number of heart beats per day. Comparisons can be made on a day-by-day basis or even with averages for people in similar exercise situations.
What’s the point of knowing all this?
What these scientists have learned serves more as a demonstration of what to do and what not to do. For example, as explained in Talk Professor Brownlee can help elite athletes Plan your breaks better. “Exercising too intensely and too often can increase your resting heart rate, reduce heart rate variability and reduce performance—a classic sign overtraining“, he explains in his article. “Lower recovery sessions, called active recovery sessions, in which the heart rate is kept low, are known to speed up recovery, improve overall performance and stabilize mood.”
While this is well known, perhaps a heartbeat budget will help athletes see this more clearly.
Ultimately, none of this is an exact equation. It’s just a fun way to analyze how our heartbeats balance each other out throughout the day. Perhaps they are compensated not according to a fixed budget, but according to some unwritten standards. Standards that, logically, will be achieved in a much healthier way if we exercise. This is the only clear truth about all of this. If we play sports, our heart will thank you. Perhaps we should leave budgets to businessmen and economists.
Source: Hiper Textual
