I have been going to gym regular now for about 7 weeks now, and have just got myself a polar watch and strap which measures your heart rate. for a
test last night i tried it out to see my resting heart rate in a quite room doing nothing. and it was round about 38-42 bpm 
. does this sound
normal.
the watch is correct as far as i can tell as it reads the same as the gym machines.
a typical week in the gym is
monday- 20mile bike ride
tuesday - weights
wednesday - 10k row level 10
thursday weights
friday - 5 mile run.
Only top top sporters have that rate...
If i was you, i would screw up the revs a bit!
Tks
p.d. anyway your program looks if you train for liveing!!
Sounds about right for a fit person.
Bet its quicker than that when you are out driving 
David
The level you are training at has made you fitter which will reduce your resting heart rate.
I Rowed for 14 years and my resting pulse rate was usually below 45 bpm. However you did'nt tell us your age which has an impact on what your
resting rate should be. I'm no expert and perhaps you should go and have a quick chat with the doctor. Also its worth checking out some websites
that might be able to advise you.
For maximum heart rates you generally take your age away from 220 bpm, but this is very general, but gives you an idea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate
I just checked my heart rate at 66 / min which is "normal"
45 is the signature of a very fit person IMHO. Id expect top athletes to be that low, are you sure you hadnt fallen asleep?!
That said, if you can run 5 miles you are pretty fit anyway, so its the correct ball park. I run 2 miles and count it as quite good!
I would be surprised if that was accurate. have you checked manually?
16 years in the Army I was (at times) very fit (sadly no more!) and NEVER had (or heard of) a resting pulse below 45....
If it is that low, how high does it get whilst working hard?
the best measure of fitness is how long it takes for your heart rate to return to normal after strenuous exercise.
[Edited on 10/10/06 by DaveFJ]
Also what do u think your own fitness level is. That is silly low. Looking at your gym routine for an unfit new gym person i would say u are doing way
to much.
I do abit of rowing, 10k is alot and IMHO is the hardest cardio u can do. How do u cope with it and what time are u doing it in?
what are you aims? if its fitness i would do a mixed cardio night at lower distances than u do at the moment.
If you want size u need to stop ALL cardio and just go into the weights room.
i know the 220 - age guide to, but i was shocked when i could get over 200 BPM on the bike (after 5k rowing) and im 28!
thanks for the replys.
my age is 37.
my max heart rate goes up to about 170.
i try to keep my rate about 120-150 whilst at the gym(but lower whilst on weights)
i have only seen my doctor once in about 6 years and that was because i got gladder fever about 3 years ago and the works insisted i go on sick leave
(which i only took a week off) , in fact he left over a year ago and i have no idea what my new doctor is called.
my fitness level 7 weeks ago was not that good, but is better now.
my 10k row takes me 47 min (2.30/500m ish pace) 35 spm level 10 concept 2 rower.
When are you measuring you resting heart rate? Typically I would measure mine first thing in the morning, before I have got up and moved around.
average the reading over a couple fo weeks to get a good estimation of your resting heartrate.
It does sound quite low though.
Oh, and are you using a concept 2 rowing machine? If so level ten is for nutcases who want to fcuk up their lower back 
far better to lower the
settings, and increase the stroke rate (ahem) if you are wanting to get fit, and not build up strength. I tend to train three times a week, sometimes
more on a Concept 2 rower, and use a setting between 3 and 8 depending on what level of training I am doing. Most stuff is around UT1 (75% of my
heartrate resrve). The slider thing on the side of the concpet two rowers is rather inaccurate though, far better to use drag factor...
Cheers!
Andy
I normally use level 10 on the Concept 2 however I use it for 'fartlek' type training. I row for 2000m doing 100m as fast as possible then idle for 100m and repeat.... you get some bloody weird looks in the gym and it's hard work.
I drink IPA for 'fartlek' type training - works for me! 
i'd say its fine, the misses was a very competitive swimmer, she also trained for submerged breathhold for a while and her resting heart rate was
at or below that level for a number of years.
on the other end of the scale when I was swimming my heart rate would regularly go above 210-215 bpm
I certainly wouldn't be worried about heart rate alone you want to check pressure as well.
I usually do regular excercise and maintain a reasonable fitness level. Using one of those heart rate, pressure thingys I'm usually around mid to
high 40s at rest. My mate who uses the machine at home because he has defective kidneys is always around 80 at rest!
if that is correct you must have been pretty fit before all the gym stuff, getting it down that far in 7 weeks (from say 50-60[average is 60-80]) is
pretty damn good gowing. as a gauge, lance armstrong's resting rate was 32-34 bpm, when he was one of the fittest people in the world.......
if the reading is right, very good gowing, i know the effort that has to be put in and highly credit you for doing it.
quote:
Originally posted by Aboardman
i have only seen my doctor once in about 6 years and that was because i got gladder fever about 3 years ago
as a guide to how to use a rowing machine and for general fitness and training advice, go to the concept2 website............By the way level 10 is for people who don't know what they are doing on the rower. You need to be at level 5/6.
i do use the concept 2 site as i log my times on there, i did my 10k row this morning at level 8. i am not looking to be a speed freak as i know i will never be able to do that. my average heart rate for 10k was 138. i did peak at 175 but then again i did the last 200m at a 350 watt pace.