Expert: Brandon Briggs, MS - 7/14/2009

Question
I am 37years old and in decent shape (well, I thought I was).  I have started to get into cardio shape and have noticed that after I get done with exercise it takes awhile for my heart rate to go down.  After exercise if I'm walking around or standing it seems to stay around 120's, but if I sit down after exercise it will typically go down faster.  How long does it usually take to see progress in that area, and what is normal heart rate recovery time after exercise?  I try to do 30-45 minutes of cardio in my target heart rate zone 3-5 times a week.  I had a stress echo test done and everything was normal with heart.

Answer
Hi John,

Typically studies have shown that increased HR recovery time is linked to risk of heart disease. The longer to recover and return to normal the more at risk you are. However, if you are in poor to fair cardiovascular condition you will take longer to recovery. Being overweight can also pose a challenge for HR recovery. It can take anywhere from a month to 3 months to see progress in your recovery times. You should check your HR 2 min post exercise and subtract that from your ending HR. 12 beats or less is not so good, 15 - 25 beats is what you are looking for. 25 beats or more and you are Lance Armstrong.

Hope this helps.

Brandon