Does anyone have suggestions for lowering one's heart rate?

I do 30-60 minutes of intense cardio a day, eat a healthy low salt diet, have lost 15 lbs in last few months, take anti-anxiety supplements, cut out caffeine, and reduced drinking to no more than 2 drinks a day and not every day.

My heart rate is now 75 BPM, up from 65 BPM which I was happy with. I am at a loss as to what else to do.

acp

acp,

A rate of 75 is just fine.

Of course a beta blocker will lower it dramatically.

75 is ok I think, yes, but i am a pretty rigorous exerciser, so shouldn't it be lower with all the cardio, and the weights? Or should I actually be doing even more cardio?

I get my heart rate up to 155 when I do cardio...should I try for higher for longer periods for conditioning then?

how drastically did you reduce your alcohol consumption? if you drank a good deal pretty regularly, it may be possible that the depressent nature of alcohol could be a cause of your recent increase in heart rate. Also, if you have become pretty fixed on taking your heart rate regularly, you simply may be trying too hard =). Thinking about having a low heart rate seems to increase my measured heart rate haha. Time of day could also affect it; for instance, just before bed may yield a different avg. rate as opposed to when just awoken or in the middle of the day. To answer your question about cardio, the longer you keep your heart rate in the cardio improvement range (within reason) will increase your cardiovascular health. 75 is a very acceptable heart rate though, so don't be discouraged.

Also, in complete supposition, it sounds like you've done a pretty drastic revamping of your lifestyle, diet, etc., so it may be possible that your body just needs time to adjust to it. How's your BP?

I think the heart may speed up in hot humid weather...the body is trying harder to lose heat to the skin.

After many months of cardio at 155 BPM for 30-60 min per day which is enough for anyone (kudos), I think your heart rate will decrease back into the 60's.

Also, in complete supposition, it sounds like you've done a pretty drastic revamping of your lifestyle, diet, etc., so it may be possible that your body just needs time to adjust to it. How's your BP?

BP varies, often wildly. Usually around 125/75, but the diastolic can swing like crazy from 60-78 (never higher), and the systolic can swing from 111-135 (and rarely into the 140s/150s. The systolic and diastolic are almost never in sync...I've had readings of 117/79, and 128/60, etc.

acp

HR is back to 65, but goes up to nearly 80 after a few drinks. Not good, esp. as I do like my wine.

Curiously, my PVCs seem to have increased as my HR has decreased. Any ideas? It seems the opposite should be true. I seem to get them most when my HR is toward the low end of my range vs. the high end.

acp