Thanks to my moonlighting gig at REI, I have (among other things I don’t need or use very often) a heart rate monitor… or “HRM” for those of us in “the biz”.
What does a fat slob like me need an HRM for? Nothin’. But I’m also a curious fat slob, and have a bit of a nerdy streak. I like numbers. I’ve worn it the last couple times I’ve gone running, and I even ran a mini-fitness test this morning. I was curious what my resting heart rate is. Why? I don’t know… I guess it’s an indicator of fitness. You know, other than indicators I’m already getting like “hey dan, none of your pants fit” or “your belly shakes uncontrollably when you brush your teeth… and you have a sonicare”… you know, complicated scientific stuff like that.
Anyway, my findings were interesting. I measured heart rate right after I woke up, and it was hovering right around 55, sometimes moving up into the high 50s, but staying around that point. Is that good, you ask? Well, according to the extensive research I’ve done (clicking on the first google link after typing something to the effect of “what’s a good resting heart rate?”), yes, actually it is.
for a 26-35 year old male, 36-53 is considered excellent, 54-63 is good, 65-67 average, 69-71 below average, 72+ poor… so yeah, I’m doing okay. Since I’ve been haphazardly throwing around a several unfounded and seemingly random goals lately, I might as well add to the list. Let’s get a resting heart rate below 50… you know, just for kicks. It should be noted here, just for comparison’s sake for someone who is really in shape, that my friend Jeff Purdom has a resting heart rate of 12. Also, my friend Matt Browning, through concentration, can raise and lower his cholesterol at will.
I’ve discovered one other physiological factoid using my HRM this week… on Wednesday, I ALMOST DIED! More extensive scientific research has informed me that my max heart rate should be somewhere around 192. Keep that in mind as you view a graph of my heart rate during my 5k run on Wednesday:
You might first notice that my time, while undisclosed, was “pretty fast”… and also that my heart was doing some nice steady work. But you’ll also notice a slight trend… a gradual rise in my rate. If I had run another few minutes, my heart rate would have gradually increased to what I’ve dubbed “my death number” (noted above in green, much to the silent appreciation of all my readers who are Harry Potter fans.) Now, I’m no scientist, but I think that critical number… 192 beats per minute… is when my heart would explode… and not in a good Grinch way. Sudden Death.
Thankfully, having narrowly escaped death’s clutches, I took advantage of another day by running 5k today. I was going to go a little longer, but I don’t want to pile too much on too early, or so I’ve been told. (and when I say “don’t want to pile too much on” I mean “don’t want to pile too much fat-impact on my poor brittle knees, ankles, feet, and generally underdeveloped muscle tissue”). Distance: 5k
Had a small fruit smoothie for breakfast, with a half of a home-made granola (and more!) bar from my lovely, beautiful, and immensely talented wife Kelly. For lunch, we took advantage of the Chipotle two-for-one coupon you get on facebook for watching that commercial for that show that looks awesome (yup, your trick worked, Chipotle/NBC, congrats). I went with my typical “light” option… no extras, really. Still for half off… it’s a steal. A delicious delicious steal. Dinner was a heavier, slightly more protein-y smoothie that what I had for breakfast, with some veggies thrown in. (more on this later, the vita-mix deserves its own post). Food: B (two smoothies for meals? And I had a couple chips with my burrito bowl… cheater)
Weight = 238.4 lbs … Fridays, henceforth on this blog, will be known as Fat Fridays (which is not at all a nod to Fat Tuesday, but rather my appreciation for additional astoundingly awesome alliteration). This will be my week-to-week measurement. Also, I’ll check resting heart rate on Fat Friday mornings to see how that is going…
dan vs fat 