{"id":423774,"date":"2026-02-13T15:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/423774\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T15:06:07","slug":"a-resting-heart-rate-of-34bpm-mathieu-van-der-poel-reveals-incredible-whoop-metrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/423774\/","title":{"rendered":"A resting heart rate of 34bpm?! Mathieu van der Poel reveals incredible Whoop metrics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mathieu van der Poel<\/a> has revealed some of the statistics around his heart rate that point to his supremely high fitness levels and ability to recover.<\/p>\n

The multi-discipline cycling star appeared as a guest this week on the podcast of one of his sponsors, Whoop, a wearable technology company that monitors health data via a wristband.<\/p>\n

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Van der Poel was in conversation with Whoop\u2019s CEO, who revealed that the three-time Paris-Roubaix<\/a> winner\u2019s heart rate variability (HRV) score was in excess of 200.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m really high in HRV,\u201d Van der Poel confirmed. \u201cI think it\u2019s a bit genetical, but fitness is important also. For sure, it\u2019s something that makes me stronger and better recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

HRV is essentially a measure of the variation in the amount of time taken between heartbeats, measured in milliseconds over a long period of time, usually overnight. It offers an insight into the balance of the body\u2019s autonomic nervous system and is used as a marker of stress \u2013 Whoop describes it as a \u201creadiness indicator\u201d.<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, a higher HRV score is associated with greater physical fitness and recovery. Whoop says its average HRV for all users is 65 for men and 62 for women, although it notes its users are largely performance<\/a>-minded athletes. For comparison, Oura, which tracks data through a finger ring, says its user average HRV is 40.3 for men and 41.5 for women.<\/p>\n

Resting heart rate and sharing data<\/p>\n

Van der Poel described HRV as one of \u201cthe two most important numbers I watch\u201d when looking at his Whoop data. The other, which is a much more familiar metric to most people, is resting heart rate (HRH).<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe average is 38,\u201d Van der Poel revealed. \u201cThe lowest I have on Whoop recorded is 34. So it\u2019s really low.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s something a lot of endurance athletes have \u2013 the heart is really well trained. In general, cyclists are quite low on the heart rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not all athletes are willing to divulge their physiological data, for fear of handing competitors intelligence that could be used against them, but Van der Poel doesn\u2019t seem to harbour such anxieties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind it, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course, other people and competitors can learn a bit from it, but it will not make the difference in my opinion. Some athletes are really strict about it, but I never had a big problem with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 200 HRV and a 38 RHR are beyond the wildest imaginations of mere mortals, but if you want some tips from an eight-time cyclocross world champion, Van der Poel suggests cutting out red meat and alcohol, which he has seen demonstrably impact his recovery scores.<\/p>\n

Magnesium tablets have helped relax his muscles before sleep, as has, slightly more relatably, reading before he turns the light out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mathieu van der Poel has revealed some of the statistics around his heart rate that point to his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-423774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}