If your resting heart rate is 100 to 105, you’d better read this article to find out what the bad news is.
The straight question is:
Can a resting heart rate of 100 to 105 beats per minute be harmful to the heart or in some way be tied to a future health ailment?
“Yes – there is emerging evidence that higher resting heart rates correlate with increased cardiovascular risk,” says Alvaro Waissbluth, MD, an Ohio-based heart surgeon board certified in interventional cardiology and cardiovascular diseases, and founder of Eat Tank, an educational nutrition initiative that provides simple tools and practical knowledge for better understanding food.
Dr. Waissbluth continues, “There are many risk factors that influence one’s risk of cardiovascular disease and they all have a cumulative effect.”
If your resting pulse tends to be between 100 and 105, there are things you can do to lower it, but you’ll probably need some patience; don’t expect the lowering to occur overnight.
First off, stop smoking if you smoke. Smoking accelerates resting pulse. This speeding up does NOT strengthen the heart.
Shutterstock/Bogdan Vija
However, the elevated heart rate that comes from structured exercise does improve the heart.
Aerobic exercise three times a week, and strength training on other days, will lower a fast resting pulse.
Tip: If you use a treadmill, do NOT hold on. Pump your arms.
Consistency in your exercise is crucial: three times a week, week after week, month after month — for the rest of your life.
Two of these three cardio workouts should be of the interval training type: alternating brief high exertion with casual recovery periods.
Interval training should be high intensity or medium/high intensity for best results.
Strength training should include many intense routines that get your heart rate up like heavy kettlebell swings, deadlifts and squats, but the interval cardio training will have the much greater impact on lowering a fast resting heart rate.
Another way to knock down that resting pulse of 100 to 105 is to eliminate excessive sitting throughout the day.
On TV commercial breaks, walk around. Always walk about when on the phone.
A resting pulse in the low 100s is nothing to sneeze at.
Dr. Waissbluth is affiliated with Atrium Medical Center and has been in practice for 25+ years. Visit Eat Tank.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: ©Lorra Garrick
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