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Let’s start with the basics: resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats per minute when you’re completely at rest, ideally, first thing in the morning before you even get out of bed.

For most adults, RHR ranges from 60 to 100 bpm.
For runners and endurance athletes, it's often in the 50s or 40s; for elite athletes, it's even lower. Sometimes as low as the 30s.

So what does a lower resting heart rate mean?

It means your heart is strong. It can pump more blood with each beat, so it doesn’t have to work as hard when you're resting.

It’s linked to:

• Better cardiovascular efficiency
• Improved recovery
• Lower stress levels
• And even reduced risk of heart disease and early death

In short, the lower your resting heart rate (to a healthy point), the more aerobically fit you are.

Now, before we dive into how to lower it, let’s clear something up:

Lower isn’t always better if it’s forced.

Your resting heart rate can fluctuate from:

• Stress
• Poor sleep
• Dehydration
• Overtraining
• Or even just caffeine

Instead of chasing a specific number, look for trends. Is your RHR generally lowering over time? Or is it spiking?

How do you lower your resting heart rate in a healthy, sustainable way as a runner?

Here are the big ones:

1. Build a Strong Aerobic Base

This is the foundation. Easy, conversational-pace runs done consistently are your secret weapon. Think 60–90 seconds per mile slower than race pace. This strengthens your heart and teaches your body to use oxygen efficiently.

2. Avoid Overtraining

Counterintuitive, I know. But constantly smashing yourself with HIIT and tempo runs without recovery can spike your RHR. Balance hard sessions with easy ones. Rest days matter.

3. Improve Sleep Quality

Poor sleep = elevated stress hormones = higher heart rate. Aim for 7–9 hours. Consistent bedtime. Wind-down routine. The usual suspects—but they work.

4. Manage Stress

Easier said than done, but meditation, breathwork, even walks in nature—all help reduce cortisol, which brings your heart rate down. Chronic life stress raises your baseline.

5. Hydration & Nutrition

Dehydration makes your heart work harder to pump blood. Eat whole foods, stay hydrated, especially after long runs or in the heat.

6. Cross-Training & Strength Work

Non-impact activities like cycling, swimming, or even yoga can improve heart health without overloading your running muscles.

And one more bonus one…

7. Breathing Work

Slow nasal breathing, especially at rest or during recovery runs, can activate your parasympathetic nervous system and lower your RHR over time."

You don’t need a lab to measure your resting heart rate.

You can use:

• Your watch or fitness tracker (first thing in the morning)
• A chest strap with a sleep mode
• Or go old school—finger on the wrist, count for 60 seconds when you wake up

What’s more important than the number is the trend.
Is it gradually coming down over weeks or months as you build fitness?

Or is it climbing, which could be a sign you’re under-recovered or overreaching?

Use it as one data point—not the full story.

Lowering your resting heart rate isn’t about bragging rights—it’s about building a stronger, more efficient engine that helps you run longer, recover faster, and stay healthier for life.

Remember to follow me on Instagram for all your running content

https://www.instagram.com/12monthstomarathon

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Why Sleep Matters

Let’s start with the basics: sleep is when your body repairs, rebuilds, and recharges.

It’s not just 'rest' it’s active recovery.
When you sleep:

• Your muscles repair microscopic damage from training
• Your immune system strengthens
• Your nervous system resets
• Your brain processes motor learning and stores movement patterns

In other words, sleep is when you become a better runner.

Studies show that sleep deprivation can:

• Reduce time to exhaustion
• Increase perceived effort
• Decrease glucose metabolism in the brain (which affects focus)
• And even lower pain tolerance—making that long run feel way harder than it should

And here’s the thing: even just one bad night of sleep can affect your next session. So imagine what happens when it’s three… five… a week?"

Personal Reflections & The Data Trap

Let me be honest, I’ve had nights where I’ve slept well, but my watch tells me otherwise. Or vice versa. It’s tempting to let that sleep score dictate how you feel that day. But sleep quality isn’t always captured perfectly by a device.

You’ve got to check in with how your body actually feels.

But that said, I’ve also had times where I knew I was short-changing myself on sleep. Trying to squeeze in early runs with late nights, and then wondering why I felt flat, moody, or unmotivated. It wasn’t overtraining. It was under-recovering.

Sleep isn’t a luxury. It’s training.

How Much Do Runners Actually Need?

So how much sleep do you actually need?

Most adults need 7–9 hours. But for runners, especially when you’re building mileage, training hard, or tapering for a race—you might need more.

Elite athletes often sleep 9–10 hours a night. Some even nap during the day.

You might not have that kind of schedule, but here are signs you’re not getting enough:

• You wake up feeling groggy even after a full night
• You crash mid-afternoon
• You have trouble focusing on runs
• You’re more irritable than usual
• Your heart rate variability drops or resting heart rate spikes

If you’re stacking great workouts but still feeling off—look at your sleep.

Tips to Improve Sleep Quality

Let’s get practical. Here are a few things that have helped me, and many other runners, sleep better:

1. Regular Bedtime & Wake Time
   Your body loves rhythm. Try to keep your sleep schedule consistent, even on weekends.
2. Cut Caffeine Early
   Caffeine has a half-life of 5–6 hours. If you’re training in the afternoon and still wired at night, it could be the coffee.
3. Digital Detox
   Blue light from screens suppresses melatonin. Try to shut down phones and laptops at least 30–60 minutes before bed.
4. Cool, Dark Room
   Sleep thrives in a cool (around 18°C or 65°F), dark environment. Blackout curtains, white noise—whatever helps you settle.
5. Wind-Down Routine
   Reading, stretching, journaling, deep breathing—do something that signals to your body that it’s time to shift gears.

And one more thing: don’t panic about one bad night. It happens. It’s the pattern that matters."

So here’s the takeaway:

Sleep isn’t just recovery—it’s part of your training plan. It’s where you lock in the gains, sharpen your focus, and protect yourself from burnout and injury.

So if you’re serious about running—be serious about sleep.

Remember to follow me on Instagram for all your running content

https://www.instagram.com/12monthstomarathon

JH

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Let’s be honest, these devices are amazing. I love my Garmin. Heart rate zones, VO2 max estimates, sleep tracking, HRV, race predictions, it’s all powerful stuff. And it can help guide our training in meaningful ways.

But there’s a fine line between using the data and being used by it.

When you start planning your day based on whether your watch says you slept well… or skipping a session because your 'body battery' says you're tired, even though you feel great, you’re crossing into dangerous territory.

These devices are tools, not truth.

Let’s go back to last night. My watch missed a full hour of sleep. Just glitched out. But my body didn’t glitch, I had that hour. I woke up feeling fine. Yet my watch told a completely different story. So what do I believe? The tech? Or my own experience?

Here’s the danger:

• You start second-guessing yourself.
• You become reactive instead of intuitive.
• You override your own internal signals.

That’s when the numbers start driving the narrative. And you stop listening to your own body, which, by the way, is the only system that actually matters on race day."

Real Training Happens in the Body, Not the Watch

"You don’t race with your Garmin telling you when to push or when to ease off. You race with your lungs, your legs, your grit"

Data can’t account for everything:

• The quality of your nutrition
• Your stress levels
• A fight with your partner
• A bad night’s sleep followed by a surprisingly good run

We’ve all had days where the numbers said we should feel awful, but we crushed the workout. And the opposite—when the metrics look great but the run feels like molasses.

So what gives?

The data is a snapshot—but it’s not the whole picture. That’s why we need to anchor ourselves back to one key question:
How do I feel today?"

Using Data Without Becoming a Slave to It

Look, I’m not saying throw your watch in the bin. I’m still using mine. I love training zones and long-term trends. But I’m starting to put the numbers in their proper place, as a guide, not a gospel.

Here’s what I try to do now:

• Start the run by checking in with my body—not my watch.
• Let heart rate confirm effort—not dictate it.
• Use sleep data to notice trends—not determine mood.
• Be okay with 'off' data days.

One dodgy night of sleep tracking doesn’t mean your body is broken. Just means the watch had a hiccup.

So if you take one thing from today

Don’t let data override your instincts.

Remember to follow me on Instagram for all your running content

https://www.instagram.com/12monthstomarathon

JH

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