Recovery heart rate ?

[-Chris-]

How do you view your recovery heart rate on your Fitbit please?  

[WavyDavey]

Hi @-Chris-,

If you mean HRR, then Fitbit doesn't track that automatically, as it does with resting heart rate.

[-Chris-]

Yep, the recovery heart rate.  How are others here checking it.

[WavyDavey]

At the end of a workout, I start a new activity, let it run until HR recovers. That way I can see a distinct chart for the recovery portion.

[-Chris-]

That's interesting, so you don't see what it is after 2 minutes from the end of the exercise?

[tractorlegs]

The Fitbit tracker is constantly monitoring heart rate, so what I do is simply sit and watch my HR immediately after exercise to watch how quickly it goes down. You can watch it on your wrist, or alternately open your app and monitor it there. Mine generally goes from exercise HR (usually 110 to 120) to the mid 50s in about 2 or 3 minutes. If recovery HR takes significantly longer, then I take a day off from exercise. 

[-Chris-]

Thank you, these replies are useful.  Just trying to get a handle on all of this.  I've been into fitness all my life, but only recently have taken an interest in how my heart is functioning coupled with the running I do.

@TL  If it's taken longer than 2 mins for your exercise rate to get to your resting rate, shouldn't more exercise be taken, not less?

Just come back from a quick 2k run, took 12 minutes, 150 average bpm, highest 164, in 2 mins it came down to 187.  I haven't done any fitness, (apart from walking the dog), for about 3 weeks!

It would be really handy if there was an auto recovery setting as well.  

[-Chris-]

"At the end of a workout, I start a new activity, let it run until HR recovers. That way I can see a distinct chart for the recovery portion."

I think how I meant to reply, was, that if you let it run until it finally reaches the resting heart rate, you could be there a while, whereas I thought the usual practice was to see what it was after 2 minutes?


I'm going to try that method you mention though, it's probably quite a quick thing to do within a few seconds after finishing the exercise.  

[tractorlegs]

---

@-Chris- wrote:

@TL  If it's taken longer than 2 mins for your exercise rate to get to your resting rate, shouldn't more exercise be taken, not less?

 

---

No, the opposite is true. If HR drops quickly, it means the body is recovering quickly (and rested); if HR drops slowly, recovery is slower and the body needs rest, and a day off (or a day of lighter intensity) is warranted. This is important to guard against overtraining. 

[tractorlegs]

@-Chris- -- Also, 2 minutes is my own benchmark, not a figure used generally.

[-Chris-]

Thanks TL.  I've seen the 2 min thing quite a bit on the net.

[Shane17]

It’s surprising that the Fitbit doesn’t have a spot to see the statistics on this. The fit bit generally gives us A disappointing level of analysis that I would expect of a device that is collecting so much data. 

[BobSaccamenco]

Still looking for this feature in 2023. Now I need to pay for an external app to view the data that Fitbit already has...for a fitness tracker this is a joke.