Resting Heart Rate Trend Checker

Some athletes notice a rising morning heart rate when recovery falls behind; it can be an early clue but is not a reliable marker on its own.1,7 A single morning says little, because day-to-day variation can be as large as the changes linked with training overload.1 This tool compares your most recent mornings with your own earlier baseline.

Morning resting heart rates, oldest first (7–14 values)

Separate with commas or spaces. Measure the same way each morning, for example lying down right after waking.

How the comparison works

The tool takes up to your 14 most recent values, uses all but the last three as your personal baseline and compares the average of the last three mornings with it. Tracking changes from your own resting heart rate baseline can help interpret trends; resting heart rates below 60 bpm are common in trained athletes.1,6

Measuring consistently

Day-to-day differences of a few bpm can come from sleep quality, hydration, ambient temperature and caffeine.1 Measure at the same time and in the same position each morning.

References

Every figure and statement in this tool is linked to a source: the original study where my article cites one, otherwise my own article on the topic. The small numbers in the text refer to this list.

  1. Dr. Antti Rintanen: Resting Heart Rate Changes in Overtrained Athletes: What Your Morning Pulse Is (and Isn’t) Telling You
  2. Kreher and Schwartz 2012. Overtraining syndrome: a practical guide. Sports Health.
  3. Armstrong et al. 2021. Overtraining Syndrome as a Complex Systems Phenomenon. Front Netw Physiol.
  4. Pietilä et al. 2018. Acute Effect of Alcohol Intake on Cardiovascular Autonomic Regulation During the First Hours of Sleep in a Large Real-World Sample of Finnish Employees: Observational Study. JMIR Mental Health.
  5. van Leeuwen et al. 2017. Physiological and autonomic stress responses after prolonged sleep restriction and subsequent recovery sleep in healthy young men. Sleep and Biological Rhythms.
  6. Drezner et al. 2017. International criteria for electrocardiographic interpretation in athletes: Consensus statement. British Journal of Sports Medicine.
  7. Gleeson 2002. Biochemical and immunological markers of over-training. J Sports Sci Med.

Sources

This tool is based on the articles below and the studies cited in them:

This tool is for general education. It does not interpret your own results, give personal recommendations or replace an assessment by your doctor.