Being obsessed about numbers in many regards, especially when it comes to my own person, I am leveraging my Polar watches I have for almost six years now not only to track my exercise – mainly for running it has a pivotal role – but also to track my sleep. Yes, for so many years I got accustomed to sleep with the watch wrapped around my wrist in 99% of the cases, and perfectly fine with it. While following closely my heart rate during sleeping hours, I’ve found the opportunity to analyze much more things, provided thru Polar, once I access my account on a desktop, and sharing some thoughts here, after doing some digging regarding what some of the data mean. Firstly, the below is just to see how I “perform” for a maximum six months of data in terms of sleeping. I would consider these general good numbers, since I plead for a seven hour night rest. I do sleep more in some specific days, but a sleep time between six and seven hours suffices for me as a human being.
My sleep time from the last six months, as Polar shows it
Heart rate drops 20-30% when you sleep
Now, getting back to my heart rate, because during night is much more accurate to have it measured by a hand watch, comparing to the moments you are moving or, even most likely, you are undergoing a heavy training activity. Also, being very interested in my general wellbeing thru life, this details is particular important. So then, reading several articles, I’ve found out that a normal resting heart rate should be between 60 and 100 bpm (beats per minute), while this could decrease 20-30% during sleep. I don’t give too much importance to the heart rate when I am awake and moving, because of the reasons presented above. So then, sleeping heart rate being the difference. My watch calculates it for the past 30 days, and this varies, usually between 57 and 59, with the latest value currently available.
57 bmp for the latest night taken in consideration here
But the latest night sleep, which seem to be a very good one, mostly thanks to the higher amount of hours spent in bed, showed an average during night of 57 bpm, which is remarkable good, from my point of view. In the graph you can see a spike, at around 06:00, which I am not sure if it was an error, since in most of the days my interval is quite steady, or if it was something like a powerful dream I don’t remember about, or just an unexpected and violent body movement. This is not something that happens on a regular basis, so it is just an additional comment here, without too much importance to be granted to. Since the first thing I check in the morning, after waking up, is the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) charge, where the average heart rate is also covered.
Below the generally accepted average
As said, mine is normally between 57 and 59, let’s give it a constant 58, even if it went both to 56, and 61 for example. But considering it at 58 is more accurate, and this is practically a benchmark that shows – or at least I think so – everything works perfect. This is, as well, what the doctors said, after all kind of check ups, because of my heavy training load, and because my interest in keeping prevention at a top level in my life. A bit higher, I have mentioned a 20-30% against an average normal 60-100 bpm resting heart rate (when you don’t do too much stuff). Putting this into context, and making an average based on all numbers, it means that a healthy average resting heart rate is around 80 bpm, while the one during sleep, being with an average 25% lower should be around 60. Now, with my latest 59, I am a bit below average, so glad of that.
Just myths
Going as low to 58, which usually is my normal average long time heart rate, I can state that this boosts my confidence that the lifestyle I have is the way it should be. Maybe the other numbers above from my sleep don’t necessary convince you, but judging from the way in which my heart rests, it should be the ultimate proof that my sleep is a good sleep, even though it is not ideal, especially when it comes to the hour when I switch off the light. These, though, are details which, from my understanding after all the lectures and experiences went thru while adopting the healthiest lifestyle possible, depend on every individual, and there doesn’t seem to be a general rule of thumb:
- Sleep between 22:00 and 06:00
- Run in the morning, as early as possible
- Don’t eat in the evening
- Eat in the morning
These are just some examples I don’t think they work as a general rule, but more to be fitted in the lifestyle you choose. Maybe I’ll dive into details on other subjects as well, but for now, I am sticking to numbers, as it is very often good to, when we present some points of view, because numbers are factual, and they can’t lie too often.
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