My heart rate has been a crazy 44-46 at rest lately. It amuses me and worries my husband. I told him athletes can have safe heart rates anywhere from 35-60. He said, "But you're not an athlete." Gah!! Knife to the heart! After the look on my face, he was really, really sorry he'd said it, so don't be too hard him.

It got me thinking about the definition of an athlete. We looked it up together in the dictionary, and I proved to him that I AM indeed an athlete. To me, regardless of Webster's definition, an athlete is a person who works to their full potential in exercise. It's someone who has good endurance and stamina for lifting and cardio, be it the treadmill and weights or basketball.

Just the fact that my heart rate is so ridiculously low, when six months ago it averaged 95...well isn't that proof right there?

I am proud to say I am an athlete. I never knew I could be one!! I have the heart of an athlete...literally and figuratively.

So what is your definition of an athlete? Are you one?

not to burst your low HR bubble, but you also have to look at the slowing of your metabolism if youve been dieting for a long time....lower HR is a symptom, and is BOUND TO HAPPEN to anyone who has been eating in a caloric deficit for more than a month or two.....
I have no doubt however, that your HR is also lower because you ARE getting fitter....so congrats on that!

Hmmm...could it be a symptom of not eating enough? I do crazy things on 1200 calories. But I'm not hungry!

i believe it is priobably BOTh a symptom of not eating enough/slowed metabolism/overtraining, AND a symptom if being in better shape.

My calorie intake is pretty even, has been for years, and I workout pretty regularly, my heart rate is also really low... Every time I give blood, they just look at me and say '' You workout a LOT? It shows ! '' I nod and they write on my form ''very athletic'', because my heart rate is so low... ...

HR issues aside, I think it's a good question. Do we define ourselves as athletes? I felt more like an athlete when I was running 30 miles a week and getting PRs at 5 mile and 10 miles races. That was when I was a spring chicken of 34.

Now that I'm 40, I consider myself "athletic" rather than an athlete. Every day, I get a lot of exercise: running, walking, biking and dancing. The running isn't the same for me because I cross train so much, but I'm in good shape for a spinster lady.

Consider today- I biked to and from work, took a 2 mile walk at lunch, will be going on a three mile run as soon as I am done procrastinating on 3FC and then later tonight I will go dancing for a couple of hours. None of this exercise is all that strenuous & I'm not pushing myself to my limits.

But geez, I'm going to do a total of 2-3 hours of physical activity today. I am going to say I'm athletic.




Okay, now I'm going to suit up for my run.

My HR has never been low, and with losing 60-65 pounds, I'm pretty sure I had a caloric deficit for more than a month or two!