Resting Heart rate Fluctuation?

[Chocobo9]

Hi,

It might be a stupid question but my resting heart rate has been fluctuating greatly in the last 2 weeks. 

It normally is around 60-63 but sometimes every couple of weeks it goes up. Right now it's around 69. 

I'm quite active: 6 hours of kickboxing + 4 hours of gym per week.

I always see the increase in resting heart rate when I reach a plateau and doesn't lose any weight for a while.

I'm not stressed out or anything else.

Does anyone ever get the same problems? Please share your experience!

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there @Chocobo9. Good to see you in the Fitbit Community Forums! 🙂

Resting heart rate refers to the heart rate measured when you’re awake, calm, comfortable, and have not recently exerted yourself. Fitbit uses your heart rate data from when you’re awake and asleep to estimate your resting heart rate. For best accuracy, I'd recommend wearing your tracker to sleep.

Now, keep in mind that your heart rate may be affected by any a number of factors at any given moment. Movement, temperature, humidity, stress level, physical body position, caffeine intake, and medication use are just a few things that can affect your heart rate. Different medical conditions and medications can impact your heart rate.

Any other question you may have, let me know!

[rldigby]

I have the same issue.  I first thought it was caused by my having a sinus infection, but it has continued long after my antibiotic treatment.  My resting heart rate was in the low 60's (60-63).  Now it reads around 67-70.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi @rldigby! Good to see you around! 🙂

How long ago was that your resting heart rate was n the low 60's? Do you think anything in your routine has changed since then that could have caused it to go up?

[jhbeck]

I always find that if I drink alcohol at night my resting heart rate is greatly increased during sleep.  Usually around 58-61, but in the 70's throughout the night after alcohol is consumed.  

[rldigby]

Nothing has really changed.  I have been training for a half marathon since January.   My weekly running mileage has increased slightly (about 2 miles per week).   My resting heart rate decreased from around 65 to around 60 from January to the last week of February when I came down with a sinus infection. since then, my resting heart rate has increased to 67-70.  If it was due to my illness, I assumed it would have come down by now.  I am symptom free for two weeks.

[rldigby]

I rareley drink alcohol.  My resting heart rate is up about three weeks straight.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there @jhbeck. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums and thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us!

@rldigby... I would say, give it some more time. A week maybe... Se if after this week it gets back to normal and if you wish, just to make sure, you can consult your doctor to have a professional opinion on this.

Let me know how it goes!

[rldigby]

I shut down and restarted my blaze and now my resting heart rate seems to be more in line with my history.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @rldigby and thanks for taking the time to let us know that it seems to be working better now!

If you need more help with this, don't hesitate to let me know and I'll be happy to help!

[Chocobo9 · Accepted solution]

Everything had been the same apart from two days ago where I slept less and was a little stressed out since I had to prepare for a conference.

But normally, I sleep the same amount of hours, not much stress, no medication and I do exercise regularly.

Though it could be the weight. Normally whilst I'm loosing weight my RHR is around 60-63 but when I start gaining weight due to water retention not following my diet properly I have a RHR of 68-72.

I'm 172cm tall (5.64 foot) and weigh 57-58 kg (9 stones 2 lbs - 8stones 13.6lbs). 

I was just interested if anyone else was going through the same as me. 

Since the sudden increase in resting heart rate happens quite often then goes back to normal after a couple of weeks and the cycle repeats. 

[Chocobo9]

@rldigby I might try that as well and see whether it helps me or not.

[FredFornicola]

My average RHR has been creeping up slightly as well with real no change in my health. I thought maybe I was over training so I took a week off and have kept exercise intensity lower than normal and my RHR shows me about 57-58 where it was 51-52 a couple months ago. I have been exercising for over 40 years and have a pretty good handle on knowing when I need a break and I'm well rested so it's confusing to see my RHR higher. Could there be something different in the latest update? 

[Colinm39]

Over the last 2 years I have found the RHR to reflect my health and the external environment and seasonal changes.,

This month we are a month away from winter and the image below reflects the changes. Even the one where I show stinging eyes could be the reaction of my shingles shot when my RHR was 50bpm. Now due for my flu and influenza shots in a couple of days so I will report on that as well. I have been blessed with a good generic system as confirmed by my doctors over the years. I was told to blame my parents..

When I had my hip replacement in 2015 my RHR shot up to 74 and took nearly 6 weeks to normalize to the current profile. The specialists weren't worried about it.. He said, "reaction to pain killers, anesthetic and the operation."

     

[mountaingal]

This feedback is very helpful. Although mine doesn't vary much, the fluctuation confused me.

[Colinm39]

@mountaingalHere is a weather induced RHR. In Melbourne we don't run aircon at night in our house because our weather is mild and our bodies react to the changing temperatures. Spring is now starting to get warmer.  My activity rate hasn't changed over that 30 days..

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@mountaingal wrote:

This feedback is very helpful. Although mine doesn't vary much, the fluctuation confused me.

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[Colinm39]

@mountaingalI should have added this image as well, the same 30 days and the fluctuations on the PC graph... I rely on the Phone App for my RHR because the PC Dashboard has 1 beat variations because of their rounding. I'm sure it is somewhere in Fitbit's list of programming adjustments.

[mountaingal]

Thanks Colin

[Lolabean]

That happens to me to and if I drink regularly it climbs into the  90s. Last year during the holidays my resting heart rate was as high as 91 because of the holiday parties. When I am not drinking at all it goes down to about 63... 

[robjb86]

I'm finding this same thing as yourself, on the 22 Dec i had a few more drinks as its the Christmas party from work and my heart rate shot up from 60/64 BPM to 78/82 BPM!

How long did yours (fitbit) take to come down and return to normal? 

Thanks