Have you ever noticed the difference between your resting and your moving around heart rate? Well, it is said that athletes almost always have a significantly lower resting heart rate compared to non-athletes. The average adult is supposed to rest around 60-80 beats per minute, and trained athletes commonly rest between 40 and 50 beats per minute; if they are trained elite, theirs may go even lower. The difference doesn't just have to do with fitness; it reflects on the adaptive changes happening to the cardiovascular and nervous system, and many other impacts that come with consistent training.
Regular endurance exercise strengthens the heart, which is why athletes tend to have lower resting heart rates. After awhile the heart undergoes physiological hypertrophy, which means the cardiac muscle increases in size and efficiency in a healthy way. The left ventricle, which we need to pump b oxygenated blood to the entire body, enlarges and becomes more powerful. So each heartbeat pumps a larger volume of blood known as stroke volume. Since one strong heartbeat can move more blood than before, the heart needs fewer beats per minute to supply the body with the oxygen it needs at rest.
With this change it also relates to the cardiac output, which is the total amount of blood the heart pumps in one minute. In athletes stroke volume increases so significantly that the heart rate can decrease and still maintain or even improve cardiac output. The heart in the end becomes better being able to do the same amount of work with fewer beats. It is important to see that low resting heart rates in athletes is actually considered a healthy form of bradycardia.
What sport or activity would theoretically lower a person's resting heart rate the most? Additionally, what aspects of a person determines the limit to how strong their heart can become and thus how slow their resting heart rate can be?
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