Is it true after regular aerobic training for several weeks your resting heart rate will decrease?

Life in Motion

Cardiovascular (heart) disease is the nation’s number one killer of both men and women. However, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. Dr. Frederick Basilico, Physician in Chief of Medicine and Chief of Cardiology at NEBH, notes that one of these steps includes exercise, which can improve heart health, reverse some of the risk factors of heart disease and help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

How does exercise affect your Heart?

The heart is a muscle which becomes more efficient with exercise.  When you exercise, your muscles help to circulate blood through the body taking some of the strain and effort off the heart. Not as much work is needed to pump blood and the heart becomes stronger over a period of time

As you begin to exercise, your heart will contract faster and circulation will increase, which gets oxygenated blood to your muscles quicker. As the demand for blood increases, the heart is going to try to meet the demand by increasing the heart rate and also by increasing the force at which it contracts. The increase in oxygen delivery is twofold: your heart will have more beats per minute, and a more forceful contraction each time it beats so it can pump a greater amount of blood throughout the body.

What are some benefits?

Exercise has long-term cardiovascular benefits. These include decreased resting heart rate, improved ability to draw in deeper breaths, reduced resting blood pressure, increased calories burned to aid weight loss and reduced risk of heart disease.  These cardiovascular benefits help manage cholesterol; exercise can l raise HDL (good) cholesterol.  Exercise and diet can lead to weight loss which will help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. Exercise can help you sustain a healthy weight because it burns calories and raises your heart rate.   Maintaining a healthy weight through diet, avoiding high- fat foods and making physical activity a part of your lifestyle are important steps to keeping a healthy heart.  In addition, exercising regularly can help ensure normal blood pressure and blood flow.

How much exercise?

Even if physical activity has not been a part of your routine, everyone has to start somewhere. Walking, jogging, and swimming are examples of aerobic exercises that benefit your heart. Perform light exercise such as walking for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week.  Alternatively, perform moderate exercise such as running or bicycling for at least 30 minutes 3 days a week.

Be sure to talk to your doctor before starting any new exercise program to make sure it is safe to do so. 

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Is it true after regular aerobic training for several weeks your resting heart rate will decrease?

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Your heart rate can tell you a lot about your fitness level. How quickly your heart rate returns to normal after activity may be an indicator of your heart fitness.

Normal resting heart rate

According to the National Institute of Health, average resting heart rate should be:

  • 60–100 beats per minutes for children 10 years and older, as well as adults/seniors

  • 40-60 beats per minute for well-trained athletes

Target heart rate during exercise

For moderate intensity activities, your target heart rate is 50–69 percent maximum heart rate. For vigorous activity levels your target heart rate is 70-85 percent maximum heart rate.

To calculate your target heart rate subtract your age from 220. This gives you your maximum heart rate. Now, multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.5 and 0.69 to obtain your target heart rate range for moderate intensity activities. Multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.7 and 0.85 to obtain your target heart rate range for vigorous activities.

Depending on your goal intensity -- moderate vs. vigorous -- your heart rate should fall within your target heart rate range during activities.

If you are typically inactive, set your goal for the lower end (50-60 percent maximum heart rate) and work your way up over time.

Some blood pressure medications lower maximum heart rates. Discuss with your doctor if you currently take blood pressure medications. Your target heart rate zone may need to be adjusted.

How to measure heart rate

The easiest and most accessible location for measuring heart rate during exercise is your wrist. Please your index and middle fingers over the underside of your opposite wrist and press until your feel your pulse.

Once you locate your pulse, count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by 2 to obtain beats per minute. Alternate time lengths for measuring:

  • Count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4

  • Count the beats for 10 seconds and multiply by 6

If you want to check your resting heart rate, rest for at least 10 minutes period to measuring.

When exercising, if your heart rate is too high, you’re working too hard and need to slow down. The opposite is also true. If your heart rate is too slow, you need to increase your intensity.

Once you have a feel for where your heart rate is when you’re working out, you can also estimate your heart rate while exercising by using the talk test.

  • If you can talk with no trouble, pick up the pace.

  • If you can talk, but need to take a breath every 4-5 words, you’re right on track.

  • If you’re gasping for breath after every word, slow downPost exercise heart rate

The better your heart fitness, the more quickly your heart rate returns to normal after exercise.

Typically, heart rate drops quickly within the first minute after exercise. After this initial drop, it should then continue to return to normal at a rate of ~20 beats per minute.

Heart rate benefits of exercising

Aerobic exercise, such as jogging, enlarges and strengths the heart muscle, allowing the heart to circulate more blood with each beat. This means as the heart is strengthened it can beat more slowly during activity (and at rest).

A high resting heart rate has been associated with increased risk of heart disease independent of other cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

A low resting heart rate is generally an indicator of better heart health.

If you are working to increase your activity level but struggle sticking with it week after week access How to Make Heart Healthy Changes into Lifelong Habits


_Lisa Nelson is a dietitian/nutritionist with a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and heart disease. She guides clients to lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels through practical diet and lifestyle changes.

Is it true after regular aerobic training for several weeks your resting heart rate will decrease?

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Lisa Nelson, RD, LN

Lisa Nelson RD, a registered dietitian since 1999, provides step-by-step guidance to lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, so you can live life and enjoy your family for years to come. Lisa's passion for health comes from

Does aerobic training decrease resting heart rate?

Studies have found that if an aerobic exercise is performed for a long time, it will affect the parasympathetic nerve, thus increasing stroke volume and lowering the resting heart rate.

Does your heart rate decrease after exercise?

The rise in heart rate during exercise is considered to be due to the combination of parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic activation. The fall in heart rate immediately after exercise is considered to be a function of the reactivation of the parasympathetic nervous system.

Does heart rate increase after aerobic training?

This prolonged elevation of heart rate post exercise is known as 'EPOC' (excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption). Heart rates essentially stay elevated for longer after these types of training in order to metabolise the lactate that has accumulated and return the body to homeostasis.

How long does it take to reduce resting heart rate?

Heart rate – changes within a couple of weeks Resting heart rate can decrease by up to 1 beat/min in sedentary individuals with each week of aerobic training, at least for a few weeks. Other studies have shown smaller reductions with fewer than 5 beats following up to 20 weeks of aerobic training.