What am I doing wrong? For the last few weeks, I've finally started checking my HR first thing in the morning (sometimes right away, and sometimes after peeing and then going back to bed - both being recommended methods).
But on occasion (including today) I've ended up wearing my HRM around the house post-workout and have found that relaxing in front of the TV or lounging with the dogs that my HR is lower than that early morning reading (by as much as 10-20bpm).
Am I doing something wrong in the a.m.? Is there an explanation for this? Does it matter? Thanks for any insights.
You might just be jolting yourself too much when you awaken in the morning. You should not be using an alarm clock. The best time to do the "just woke up" HR is when you can let yourself sleep, and when you awaken, just lay there a few seconds, relax, and then look at the number.
Or, you could be taking your resting HR when you aren't recovered from previous day's workouts. This is why you might need to do it over several days.
If you're not worried about your health, then don't worry about your resting HR, unless you are in some sort of contest to see how low you can go. Just to get you started, mine is 47. Yesterday while I was doing a standing calf stretch it was only 55.
But it's all individual. My max. HR is only 164, so there you go.