I have a habit of taking my pulse at various times during the day. I've noticed it's been pretty low (good) since I've begun working out -- usually anywhere from 58-66. I know it's typical for active persons to have a low heart rate, but I guess I'm surprised it's that low since I'm quite obese at this point. I don't know if obesity makes a difference... I figured it would, but perhaps not?

Does anyone have a similar experience?

I had an EKG done recently and mine was 37 bpm....I run 30 - 40 miles per week or more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradycardia

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bradycardia/DS00947

Prior to exercise my resting rate was 90-100bpm. It was very uncomfortable especially when trying to sleep and I had boderline high blood pressure/cholesterol. Now it's 60-70bpm resting, and BP last time I checked was 124/68 which is awesome. I need to get my cholesterol checked again, I hope that's down too.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm curious if the max heart rate is affected by a lower than average RHR. So, say my personal max heart rate is 165 and I'm hitting 160 during my cardio... is that too high if my RHR is about 60 compared to if it was 70-80? Is there a way to calcuate max heart rate that takes the RHR into consideration?

165 max isn't too high, it's calculated by age/weight not your RHR.

I remember when I was in high school. We were in a health class, and everyone was having to take each other's pulse. Everybody made a big deal that mine was in the lower 60s. Mine was the lowest in the class, even though I was one of the biggest people, and people were acting like I was weird, like they never heard of a low heart-rate before.

A rough estimate of your max heart rate is 226 minus your age for women and 220 minus your age for men. But, a few years ago when I was running a lot, I was able to go several beats above the max heart rate from that calculation while really pushing myself on a hill repeat.