Heart Rate

Heart Rate and Your State of Health

Last month. I was away on a trip with one of the International soccer teams I look after. It was a great trip made so much more enjoyable by the fantastic doctor we had with us, a lovely lady called Harriet. Anyway the point I wish to make is that one of the things we did on the trip is so very simple is a way of assessing in a couple of seconds your basic state of health on a given day.

When and How

All the players on the trip, on awakening every morning, had to measure their resting heart rate. They did this by feeling their pulse at the wrist and counting the number of beats for a minute. This figure is your HEART RATE.

Its Uses

This is an excellent indicator of your basic state of health. If, for example, you are suffering with a cold or a fever it is highly likely that your rate will be slightly raised compared to your normal level. If any player had a rate 5-10 beats per minute higher than their normal rate they would be assessed as to their ability to train on the day.

This simple test is not the be all and end all of health checks but it is something you, whether you are an athlete or not, can use to assess your state of well being on any particular day.

A couple of points though.

• You must obtain an average figure for yourself because everyone will be slightly different. You can do this by taking your pulse on three consecutive days under the same conditions and using the average figure. The three daily figures ought to be very similar if not the same. If you are unwell you need to wait until you are well again before obtaining your average heart rate.

• You must take your pulse on first wakening in the morning before you get up and even before you move around or sit up in bed. This is because you are after your RESTING HEART RATE and even moving around in bed is likely to increase the rate.

• The procedure is simply to place tha pads of your index and middle fingers gently over the radial or thumb side of the front of your wrist and feel for pulse.

Try it and use it regularly. It's a great and simple way of assessing your general state of well being and if you are feeling a little under the weather you can tailor your schedule or training acccordingly. There are no exact guidelines but an increase of ten beats per minute over uyour normal may indicate that you should seriously consider reducing or even avoiding activities involving any exertion.

See how you go and happy pulse taking.

Heart rate testing is one way of assessing your well being. See how international athletes address their hydration issues too