Improving resting heart rate?

[catcher]

Hi Steve and other forumites,

I am wondering: does it make sense to target some suitably low resting heart rate (RHR), as a level of cardiovascular fitness?

Looking online, I am seeing articles which say that the incidence of heart disease is strongly correlated with RHR. But I don't know whether there continue to be benefits once your RHR is kind of decent (my measurements have been between 62 and 70), and how quickly you can expect it to improve as you increase exercise intensity.

Regards,
Catcher

[Steven Barnes]

there are genetic components to this. Some people can get their resting heart rates down absurdly low. Others can be in excellent cardiac health and never get below 65. I would suggest talking with your doctor about this. One quality that is gettting a lot of attention is the variability of your heart rate. A bit of chaos seems to be healthy.