New resting heart rate: 46 bpm
Before this morning’s colonoscopy, they checked my resting heart rate. The nurse let me keep the tag they wrote it down on. There it is: “HR 46”.
Unlike earlier pulse measurements taken after treatment that included anesthetics and other medications that may have slowed my pulse, they took this one before anything else. I had just walked to the hospital.
It was actually lower
Actually, for a while the reading on the machine read 43 beats per minute. The anesthesiologist who connected me to that machine (before administering anything) noted it, but didn’t record it so I won’t report it, but I still saw it and a medical doctor acknowledged it.
Why I care about heart rate
I consider heart rate among the most important health indicators. Oddly, I don’t think it was this low when I ran marathons. I’ve concluded high intensity intervals strengthen the heart more than endurance training, though I’m no medical doctor. Still, it’s hard to argue with results like these.
I consider my twice daily burpee-based sidcha good intervals. My standard is 3 sets of 9 in the morning and again in the evening, though I vary it for days when I lift or do other cardio, but always more than 24 in the morning and 27 in the evening.
In other words, I haven’t spent a penny on burpees and take less time doing them than most gym-goers take commuting to or from the gym, or just changing. I prefer exercises accessible to the widest population.
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