Your Resting Heart Rate
When you are at rest, your heart is pumping the lowest amount of blood to supply the oxygen your body’s needs. For most healthy adult women and men, resting heart rates range from 60 to 100 beats per minute. However, a 2010 report from the Women’s Health Initiative indicated that a resting heart rate at the low end of that spectrum may offer some protection against heart attacks. When WHI researchers examined data on 129,135 postmenopausal women, they found that those with the highest resting heart ratesmore than 76 beats per minutewere 26% more likely to have a heart attack or die from one than those with the lowest resting heart rates62 beats per minute or less. If your resting heart rate is consistently above 80 beats per minute, you might want to talk to your doctor about how your heart rate and other personal factors influence your risk for cardiovascular disease.
What Is A Resting Heart Rate
Before we explain the resting part, lets quickly cover heart rate.
Put simply, your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats every sixty seconds. Along with body temperature, blood pressure, and breathing rate, its one of the vital signs when it comes to monitoring body health and knowing how to measure it can help you keep a close eye on your own physical fitness.
Your resting heart rate, therefore, is the number of times your heart beats when youre at rest.
In this article, we explore what a good resting heart rate looks like at different ages, why measuring your heart rate matters, and talk you through how to do it yourself. But first
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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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Why The Test Is Performed
Measuring the pulse gives important information about your health. Any change from your normal heart rate can indicate a health problem. Fast pulse may signal an infection or dehydration. In emergency situations, the pulse rate can help determine if the person’s heart is pumping.
Pulse measurement has other uses as well. During or immediately after exercise, the pulse rate gives information about your fitness level and health.
Knowing Your Heart Rate
Whether you walk briskly or swim laps in the community pool, you’ll notice an increase in your heart rate. The American Heart Association recommends exercising within your target heart rate zone, which is roughly between 50 and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your current age from 220. A simple way to check your heart rate while at rest or during exercise is to find your pulse on the inside of your wrist and count the beats for 60 seconds.
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Your Age And Health Play A Role
In general, the more athletic you are, the lower resting heart rate you’ll experience. An athletic male between the ages of 18 and 25 will often have a resting heart rate of 49 to 55 beats per minute. A person in this age group of below-average health might have a resting heart rate between 74 and 81 beats per minute, according to Top End Sports. Your resting heart rate will increase as you age, but keeping active can result in a lower resting heart rate than someone decades younger than you. An athletic male between the ages of 36 and 45 often has a resting heart rate of 50 to 56 beats per minute, while someone of the same age with below-average health can experience a rate of 76 to 82.
Which Factors Can Influence Heart Rate
Many things can affect your heart rate, including:
- physical activity if youve been moving around a lot, your heart rate will increase
- fitness level your resting heart rate may be lower if youre very fit
- air temperature on hot days, your heart needs to pump more quickly
- emotions such as feeling stressed or overly excited
- medicines some can decrease your resting heart rate , while others can increase it
- age with age, the rate and regularity of your pulse can change and can be a sign of a heart problem.
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Is Resting Heart Rate Different By Age
For most of us , between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal.1 The rate can be affected by factors like stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and how physically active you are. An athlete or more active person may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute. Now thats chill!
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt have to work as hard to maintain a steady beat. Studies have found that a higher resting heart rate is linked with lower physical fitness and higher blood pressure and body weight.2
What Is Your Heart Rate
Your heart rate, or pulse, is the number of times your heart beats in 1 minute. Heart rates vary from person to person. Itâs lower when youâre at rest and higher when you exercise.
Knowing how to find your pulse can help you figure out your best exercise program. If youâre taking heart medications, recording your pulse daily and reporting the results to your doctor can help them learn whether your treatment is working.
Blood pressure vs. heart rate
Your heart rate is separate from your blood pressure. Thatâs the force of your blood against the walls of your blood vessels.
A faster pulse doesnât necessarily mean higher blood pressure. When your heart speeds up, like when you exercise, your blood vessels should expand to let more blood pass through.
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What’s A Normal Heart Rate
Most adults have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100bpm.
The fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate is likely to be. For example, athletes may have a resting heart rate of 40 to 60bpm, or lower.
See a GP to get checked if you think your heart rate is continuously above 120bpm or below 40bpm, although it may simply be that this is normal for you.
Visit the British Heart Foundation for more information on checking your pulse.
Normal Temperature Heart And Respiratory Rates In Dogs
Just like people, dogs have a normal body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate. These things help to regulate a dog’s bodily functions but can also change when there is a problem. Knowing what readings are normal for a dog and what could happen if they aren’t is good for any dog owner to understand.
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Does Your Heart Have A Maximum Number Of Beats
The maximum number of lifetime heartbeats for humans is about 3 billion. But you wont die when you reach a set number of heartbeats. Heartbeats, however, are a marker of your metabolic rate. The faster your metabolic rate , the shorter your lifespan.
For example:
The total number of heartbeats per lifetime is amazingly similar across all mammals. For example, a mouse has a heart rate of 500 to 600 beats per minute but lives less than two years. At the other extreme, a Galápagos tortoise has a heart rate of about six beats per minute and has a life expectancy of 177 years.
Do the math and the heart of a mouse beats 100 times faster than that of a tortoise. But a tortoise lives 100 times longer than a mouse. Humans, however, have about 60 bpm and have about 3 billion heartbeats per lifetime.
What Do My Heart Rate Numbers Mean
Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats each minute when youre not active. The normal range is between 50 and 100 beats per minute. If your resting heart rate is above 100, its called tachycardia below 60, and its called bradycardia. Increasingly, experts pin an ideal resting heart rate at between 50 to 70 beats per minute.
If you want to find out your resting heart rate, pick a time when youre not active, find your pulse, count how many times it beats in 30 seconds, and then double that number. You may want to check it several times throughout the day, or over a week, to average out the number and to look for any irregularities.
Resting heart rates can change from person to person and throughout the day, influenced by everything from your mood to your environment. It rises when youre excited or anxious, and sometimes in response to smoking cigarettes or drinking coffee. More athletic people tend to have lower heart rates.
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What Is A Heart Rate In A Dog
The heart rate of a dog is also referred to as the pulse. It quantifies how many times a dog’s heart beats in a minute and is recorded as beats per minute or BPM. A dog’s heart pumps blood throughout the rest of the body and can be felt by a dog owner by placing a hand over their dog’s heart.
The heart is located in the chest near the left armpit and the beats can be easily palpated in a lean dog. Each beat of the heart that is felt is counted within a 60 second time frame in order to obtain the heart rate. Sometimes beats are counted for 15 seconds and then that number is multiplied by four to obtain the same reading and to decrease the time it takes to obtain this information. A veterinarian or other veterinary professional may use a stethoscope to obtain this information or feel for a pulse in an artery in the leg or tail of a dog as well.
| Heart Rates of a Dog |
|---|
| Bradycardic/Low |
| Over 140 |
Smaller and out of shape dogs may have faster normal heart rates than larger dogs. Because of this little dogs typically have heart rates between 100-140 while larger dogs will be between 60-100 BPM.
Exercise And Heart Rate
Like any other muscle, your heart needs exercise to keep it fit and healthy. Regular exercise can help reduce your risk of heart disease and other health conditions, such as diabetes.
To keep your heart healthy, you should aim to do 150 minutes of low to moderate intensity exercise a week. If you have a heart condition, talk to your doctor about what exercise and target heart rates are safe for you.
One way to measure the intensity of your exercise is by using your heart rate. To exercise at a low to moderate intensity your heart rate should be at 50 to 70% of your approximate maximum heart rate.
The easiest way to get an approximate maximum heart rate is to calculate 220 your age. You then need to calculate 50 to 70% of your MHR.
For example, if youre 40-years-old:
- your approximate maximum heart rate is: 220 40 = 180 beats per minute
- 50% of your MHR is 180 X 0.5 = 90 bpm
- 70% of your MHF is 180 X 0.7 = 126 bpm.
Alternatively, you can use our heart rate chart below to get a rough idea.
Remember if youre on medications to slow your heart rate down, you may not be able to meet these upper heart rates and the aim should be to exercise at a rate that makes you lightly puff.
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Lowering A Rapid Heart Rate
Pulse rates can spike due to nervousness, stress, dehydration and overexertion. Sitting down and taking slow, deep breaths can generally lower your heart rate. Exercising and getting fitter will usually lower heart rate, too.
Cooling down after a workout is important, according to the AHA. Because your heart is beating faster, your body temperature is higher and your blood vessels are dilated, stopping too fast could make you feel sick or even pass out.
The AHA recommends stretching and walking. Stretching helps reduce the buildup of lactic acid, which cause cramps and stiff muscles. Follow these tips:
- Walk for about 5 minutes, or until your heart rate gets below 120 beats per minute.
- Stretch, and hold each stretch 10 to 30 seconds. If you feel you need more, stretch the other side and return for another set of stretching.
- The stretch should be strong, but not painful.
- Do not bounce.
- Breathe while youre stretching. Exhale as you stretch, inhale while holding the stretch.
How Do I Take My Heart Rate
There are a few places on your body where itâs easier to take your pulse:
- The insides of your wrists
- The insides of your elbows
- The sides of your neck
- The tops of your feet
Put the tips of your index and middle fingers on your skin. Press lightly until you feel the blood pulsing beneath your fingers. You may need to move your fingers around until you feel it.
Count the beats you feel for 10 seconds. Multiply this number by six to get your heart rate per minute
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High Blood Pressure Vs High Heart Rate
Some individuals confuse high blood pressure with a high heart rate. Blood pressure is the measurement of the force of the blood against the walls of arteries, while pulse rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute.
There is no direct connection in between the two, and high blood pressure does not always lead to a high pulse rate, and vice versa. Heart rate goes up during laborious activity, however a vigorous workout may just modestly enhance high blood pressure.
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How To Calculate Resting Heart Rate
To check your normal resting heart rate, you can use a heart rate monitor, or use this 10-second pulse count method:
- Take your pulse at either the base of your thumb on the palm side of your wrist, or the base of your neck on either side of your windpipe.
- Using two or three fingers, press lightly on your skin until you can feel your blood moving underneath.
- Count the beats for 10 seconds, then multiply that number by six.
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Problems With An Abnormal Body Temperature In A Dog
The body temperature is important to the health of a dog. If a dog is too cold or hypothermic it may not receive adequate blood flow to all the parts of the body. If it is too warm or hyperthermic it may cause damage to internal organs. This condition is also referred to as a fever. Both extremes can be fatal to a dog.
If a dog has an abnormal body temperature it may be lethargic and not very alert. If the temperature is too low, the dog may shiver but if the temperature is too high the dog may pant. Either extreme is worrisome.
What Is A Normal Or Resting Heart Rate
There are three general ways to classify heart rate, 1) normal, 2) fast and 3) slow.
- A resting heart rate is normal between 60-100 beats per minute.
- A resting heart rate is fast at greater than 100 beats per minute.
- A resting heart rate is slow at less than 60 beats per minute.
A resting heart rate predicts longevity and cardiovascular disease, and current evidence suggests that it is also an important marker of outcome in cardiovascular disease, including heart failure. A normal heart rate is generally stated to be between 60-100 beats per minute at rest . However, recent studies have suggested that an ideal resting heart rate is between 50-70 beats per minute. It is well-known that the average resting heart rate for well-trained athletes is between 40-60 beats per minute! A heart rate can change dramatically while sleeping or with daily activity and exercise. Usually, a heart rate will be slower during sleep, faster during daily activities or with exercise, and recover quickly back to a resting rate after exercise. This means your heart has appropriate heart rate variability and recovery, which is associated with good heart health. Your resting heart rate can also be used to estimate how much energy your body uses, or your basal metabolic rate.
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What Causes A Fast Pulse Rate
If your heart rate is over 100 beats per minute when you are at rest, this is considered fast.
A rapid heart rate, also known as tachycardia, can be related to many different health conditions. Its normal for your heart rate to increase when youre exercising or if your body is fighting off an infection.
If you have noticed a sudden increase in your heart rate and are also feeling dizzy, faint, orhaving palpitations , you should speak with your GP.