Normal Resting Heart Rate For Adults
According to the American Heart Association , a normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 bpm . But some people may have a resting heart rate thats lower than 60 bpm and is still considered normal.
For example, athletes may find their heart rates are lower, sometimes as low as 40 bpm. Additionally, people taking certain medications, like beta-blockers, may also have a lower resting heart rate. Well explore more factors that can influence resting heart rate later on.
The table below shows the average normal resting heart rate for adults based on age.
| Age range |
Fast Resting Heart Rates
A heart rate that averages above 100 beats per minute is called tachycardia. You can develop a high heart rate because of things like fever, anemia, dehydration, or physical or emotional stress, which triggers the release of the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline.
“Adrenaline is like gasoline on a fire for heart rate,” says Traynor. It can also lead to bigger problemseverything from fainting spells to more serious issues like blood clots that lead to stroke, or eventual heart failure .
Some research found that people with a resting heart rate at or above 84 beats per minute over the span of five years were 55 percent more likely to die of heart disease than were those with lower resting heart rates.
How Can You Find Out Your Resting Heart Rate
Fitness trackers with heart rate monitors can be surprisingly accurate. But you don’t have to rely on technology to get your numbers.
“The best way to determine your resting heart rate is to learn to take your pulse, says Dr. Mittal. This can be taken by palpating the pulse at your wrist or neck.
Here’s how to do it: Place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. If you want to check it at your wrist, place two fingers between the bone and the tendon, looking for your radial arterywhich is located on the thumb side of your wrist.
Once you find your pulse, count the number of beats in 15 seconds, then multiply that number by 4 to calculate your beats a minute, according to the Mayo Clinic.
While your heart rate may vary, it’s important to keep a healthy base rate. Once you know what that is for your body, keep tabs. If you start to notice changes with your heart rate, you should check in with your doctor, especially if you notice it consistently dipping way below your normal resting heart rate, or have frequent episodes of unexplained fast beating.
“If you’re a regular exerciser, but start to notice your routine takes more effort, or if you’re breathless or more tired than normal during your workout, it’s time to see a doctor,” says Traynor.
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Body Size Mass And Fitness
A person who is very petite and has an average fitness regimen, or who is physically large but not overweight or unhealthy, may have pulses, or heart rates, which fall outside of the normal range. This is not indicative of a health problem it is just a factor of body mass and, perhaps, corresponding heart size and vascular capacity.
However, excessive weight can cause the heart to beat faster at all times, and this condition may lead to tachycardia, a condition characterized by a heart rate that is frequently or regularly 100+ beats per minute. Heart and vascular damage, and even failure can result. Fitness, on the other hand, especially if extreme, may result in a person’s resting heart rate being as low as 40 bpm, which is not likely to be an indication of bradycardia, or a regular resting heart rate below 60 bpm in someone who is not athletic.
What Should Your Resting Heart Rate Be
Your resting heart rate, which is when your heart is pumping the least amount of blood that you need because, well, youre resting, usually ranges from 60 beats per minute to 100 bpm, according to the American Heart Association. In other words, if youre sitting or lying down, youre relaxed, and youre not sick, your heart rate ideally is 60 to 100 bpm.
Exceptions to this include people taking certain medicines, like beta blockers , and athletes or people who exercise regularly .
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Maintaining A Normal Heart Rate
A healthy heartbeat is crucial for protecting cardiac health.
While exercise is important for promoting a low and healthy heart rate, there are several other steps a person can take to protect their heart health, including:
- Reducing stress: Stress can contribute to an increased heart rate and blood pressure. Ways to keep stress at bay include deep breathing, yoga, mindfulness training, and meditation.
- Avoiding tobacco: Smoking leads to a higher heart rate, and quitting can reduce it to a normal level.
- Losing weight: More body weight means that the heart has to work harder to provide all areas of the body with oxygen and nutrients.
How Other Factors Affect Heart Rate
- Air temperature: When temperatures soar, the heart pumps a little more blood, so your pulse rate may increase, but usually no more than five to 10 beats a minute.
- Body position: Resting, sitting or standing, your pulse is usually the same. Sometimes as you stand for the first 15 to 20 seconds, your pulse may go up a little bit, but after a couple of minutes it should settle down.
- Emotions: If youre stressed, anxious or extraordinarily happy or sad your emotions can raise your pulse.
- Body size: Body size usually doesnt change pulse. If youre very obese, you might see a higher resting pulse than normal, but usually not more than 100.
- Medication use: Meds that block your adrenaline tend to slow your pulse, while too much thyroid medication or too high of a dosage will raise it.
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How To Improve Your Resting Heart Rate
You can lower your resting heart rate by improving your physical fitness and making some lifestyle changes.
Regular cardio exercise, like running, swimming, or biking, trains the heart to be more efficient over time. With each heartbeat, the “athletic heart” maintains its output of blood to the body at a lower heart rate.
In addition to exercise, other actions that may improve your resting heart rate include:
What Is Target Heart Rate
You get the most benefits when you exercise in your ”target heart rate zone.” Usually, this is when your heart rate is 60% to 80% of your maximum. In some cases, your doctor may decrease your target heart rate zone to around 50%.
Check with your doctor before starting an exercise program. They can help you find a routine and target heart rate zone that match your needs, goals, and overall health.
When you start an exercise program, you may need to slowly build up to your target heart rate zone, especially if you havenât exercised regularly before. If the exercise feels too hard, slow down. Youâll lower your risk of injury and enjoy the exercise more if you don’t try to overdo it.
When you exercise, take a break and check your pulse regularly to find out whether youâre in your target zone. If your pulse is below your target zone, step up the intensity of your workout.
Show Sources
American Heart Association: âBlood Pressure vs. Heart Rate ,â âKnow Your Target Heart Rates for Exercise, Losing Weight and Health,â âAll About Heart Rate .â
Harvard Health Publishing: âWant to check your heart rate? Hereâs how,â âIncrease in resting heart rate is a signal worth watching.â
Journal of the American College of Cardiology: âCardiac function in smokers and nonsmokers: The CARDIA study. The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study.â
Hackensack Meridian Health: â6 Proven Ways to Lower Your Resting Heart Rate.â
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What Are Heart Palpitations
A heart palpitation is when you suddenly become aware of your heart beating, usually in an irregular way. Sometimes you can feel it in your ears, neck or chest when youre lying down. Your heart beat may feel:
- too fast or slow
- like its fluttering
- like its thudding, or pounding.
It is not unusual to feel heart palpitations occasionally and mostly they are harmless. However if youre experiencing them on a regular basis, see your doctor.
Cholesterol: Predictor Of Heart Attack
Cholesterol isn’t all bad — it’s a type of fat that’s actually a nutrient. But as you’ve probably heard, there’s “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol. When we measure cholesterol and blood fats, we’re really talking about three different numbers: HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. They combine to give you a “lipid profile” score, but the three individual scores are most important.
Here are the numbers to strive for:
- Total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or lower.
- HDL of 50 mg/dL or higher, if you’re a woman, or 40 mg/dL or higher, if you’re a man.
- Optimal LDL is 100 or lower, says Mosca. If you have other major risk factors, like pre-existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes, your doctor may want your LDL closer to 70.
- Triglycerides of less than 150 mg/dL.
LDL is the number most doctors and heart health programs focus on in particular, says Mosca. “Every single point of LDL decrease makes a difference,” she says. “If your LDL is at 140 and you get it down to 130, that’s great, even if you haven’t reached optimum levels yet.”
Adults 20 and older should get a lipid profile every five years.
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Where Is It And What Is A Normal Heart Rate
The best places to find your pulse are the:
- side of your neck
- top of the foot
To get the most accurate reading, put your finger over your pulse and count the number of beats in 60 seconds.
Your resting heart rate is the heart pumping the lowest amount of blood you need because youre not exercising. If youre sitting or lying and youre calm, relaxed and arent ill, your heart rate is normally between 60 and 100 .
But a heart rate lower than 60 doesnt necessarily signal a medical problem. It could be the result of taking a drug such as a beta blocker. A lower heart rate is also common for people who get a lot of physical activity or are very athletic. Active people often have a lower resting heart rate because their heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt need to work as hard to maintain a steady beat. A low or moderate amount of physical activity doesnt usually change the resting pulse much.
Understanding Your Target Heart Rate
Nearly all exercise is good. But to be sure youre getting the most fromyour workout yet staying at a level thats safe for you, you can monitorhow hard your heart is working.
Aiming for whats called a target heart rate can help you do this, says Johns Hopkins cardiologist Seth Martin, M.D., M.P.H. Think of it as the sweet spot between not exercising hard enough and overexerting.
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What Heart Rate Should I Expect To Have
Your resting heart rate depends on how old you are and your overall health. The younger you are, the higher your heart rate tends to be.
The expected resting heart rate ranges for children are:
- Newborns : 100 – 205 beats bpm*.
- Infant : 100 180 bpm*.
- Toddler : 98 – 140 bpm*.
- Preschool : 80 – 120 bpm.
- School-age : 75 – 118 bpm.
- Adolescents : 60 – 100 bpm.
For adults , the expected resting heart rate range is 60 – 100 bpm.
*These rates are for children while theyre awake. They will likely be lower when theyre asleep.
What if my resting heart rate isnt in the expected range?
When your resting heart rate falls outside of these ranges, either too high or too low, it might be a sign of a problem.
- Tachycardia: This is when your resting heart rate is over 100 bpm, an unusually high rate.
- Bradycardia: This is when your resting heart rate is under 60 bpm, an unusually low rate.
However, an important detail to keep in mind if you are very physically active is that you might have a resting heart rate under 60 beats per minute. Competitive athletes can have resting heart rates as low as 40 bpm or so. For the average person, however, that rate would be dangerously low.
Adjusting Your Activity Level
Once youve determined your ideal heart rate for exercise, its important to use this information to help keep the intensity level of your workouts in check.
Slow down your pace and effort level if your heart rate during activity is higher than it should be based on your doctors instructions and the guidelines above. If its lower that it should be, work harder to ensure that youre getting the benefits of the exercise.
Start slowly during the first few weeks of working out, aiming for the lower end of your target zone. You can then build up gradually to the higher end of your target zone.
With a little practice and guidance from your healthcare team, youll soon be able to make the most of your exercise routine by measuring your ideal heart rate.
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What Is Normal Rr On Hospital Monitor
A patients respiratory rate is how many breaths they take in a minute. The respiration rate for an adult at rest is between 12 and 16 breaths per minute. The vital signs chart shows the patients respiration rate in the box.
RR is a measure of how fast a persons heart is beating. If the patient is breathing at a normal rate, his or her RR will be less than 1, which means that they are not breathing as fast as they should be.
Whats A Normal Heart Rate
A heart rate is a measurement of the number of times the heart muscle beats per minute. Healthy kids and adults will have hearts that beat at different speeds because of their age and body size. If the heart is beating too fast or too slow, this could mean you have an underlying health problem. Your resting heart rate will also allow you to gauge your current heart health.
In general, a lower resting heart rate means the heart is beating less per minute, which likely means that its more efficient. Your resting heart rate tells you how fast your heart is beating when youre in a relaxed state, like sitting or laying down. If your resting heart rate is too high, this might mean you have lower physical fitness, or that youre at risk of developing a heart condition.
Knowing what your target heart rate should be for your age can help you recognize if and when your heart rate is abnormal, which may be an indication that its time to go to the doctor.
| Normal heart rate by age | |
|---|---|
| Age | |
| 18 and older | 60-100 bpm |
As we get older, the range of whats considered to be a healthy normal resting heart rate will change.
The average healthy adult will have a resting heart rate of 60 bpm or higher. Although the resting heart rate between 60 and 100 bpm is considered to be normal in clinical practice, those with a resting heart rate higher than 80 bpm could have an increased risk of developingcardiovascular disease.
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Smoking Medications Alcoholic Beverages
Prescription medicines, illegal drugs, alcoholic beverages, smoking, and caffeine can affect one’s heart rate, sometimes dangerously so. For example, one study published by the National Institute of Health compared heart rates in about 300 20-somethings. Resting heart rates for the smoking population were significantly higher than for the non-smokers, and the smokers failed to achieve the desired peak heart rate in a treadmill test, indicating diminished heart rate capacity.
How To Lower Heart Rate
If your heart rate is too high, there are ways to lower it safely. Your heart rate could be high after exercising or because youre feeling stressed or anxious.
Here are some fast-acting methods that can help lower a fast heart rate:
- Breathing exercises: You can use your breathing to raise the aortic pressure in your heart, which will lower your heart rate. Close your mouth and nose and raise the pressure in your chest. To do this, inhale for five to eight seconds, hold it for three to five seconds, and then exhale slowly. This can be repeated several times.
- Taking a bath: This can help you relax and slow down your heart rate.
- Light yoga: Calming yoga or meditation can help you relax and bring down a high heart rate.
- Moving to a cooler location: If your heart rate is raised because youre too hot, moving to a cooler location will help decrease it.
Here are some long-term solutions that can help you achieve a healthy heart rate:
- Exercising regularly: Starting and keeping an exercise program will help decrease resting heart rates over time.
- Eating healthy: Healthy diets that contain whole grains, leafy greens, fruits, and omega-3 fatty acids are great for supporting long-term heart health and will help keep heart disease at bay.
- Quitting smoking: Non-smokers have alowered risk of recurrent heart attacks and cardiovascular disease.
- Staying hydrated:Drinking enough water allows the heart to pump blood more easily throughout the body.
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