Overview

• The HEART Lab at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and St Vincent's Institute compared 109 elite athletes with 38 non-athletes and reported the results in JACC: Advances this week.
• Athletes averaged 68 beats per minute versus 76 in controls, totaling roughly 97,920 versus 109,440 beats per day, a saving of about 11,500 beats.
• The analysis challenges the battery-like view of the body popularized in coverage of President Donald Trump by showing fitter people use fewer total heartbeats over 24 hours.
• Data from 2023 Tour de France cyclists indicate extreme endurance racing can increase daily heartbeat counts during competition.
• The authors propose a straightforward “heartbeat consumption” metric for wearables to guide training load, and experts emphasize that meeting recommended activity levels lowers mortality risk.