What is a good resting heart rate?

This is why our heart beats faster when we exercise heart rate training Can be so useful. But even when we’re not doing anything, it can be useful to know our heart rate. Most wearables, including smart rings and watches, will report your resting heart rate (RHR). Here’s how to understand what it’s telling you.

What is normal resting heart rate?

Medical professionals generally consider between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm) to be a “normal” resting heart rate. But this is not a guideline for numbers that should appear on wearable items. The standard numbers usually assume that you are measuring the resting heart rates of people who are in a health care setting, sitting quietly. Specifically, they are awake, and some people may be a little nervous about being in the doctor’s office.

Your smartwatch or other wearable device may be able to capture lower numbers, especially if you wear it while you sleep. Smart ring maker Oura reports that its members Resting heart rate is between 50 and 60 bpm. Whoop says its users Average 59 bpm for women, 55 for men.

Users of Oura, Whoop, and similar devices probably have lower heart rates than average, in part because these platforms are popular among athletes and health-conscious people. (I’ve also noticed that Ora reports lower numbers than most other devices when I do side-by-side comparisons.) The more general figure of 60 to 100 applies to the entire population that a health care professional might encounter. So it’s okay if you’re not reaching those low numbers.

Lower resting heart rate is usually better

Athletes and people with good heart health have lower heart rates. People who improve their cardio fitness find their resting heart rate decreases over time, and this is often considered a good sign that what you are doing is working. So in the long run, it is good for your resting heart rate to remain low or in the lower numbers. In the short term, noticing a resting heart rate a few beats higher than your normal may mean:

• You are mentally or physically stressed (for example, tired from hard work)

• You are in your follicular phase (if you are a person with a menstrual cycle).

• you are getting sick

• You are taking medication that affects your resting heart rate (including some stimulants and decongestants)

• Something disrupted your sleep (if your RHR is measured during sleep – for example, drinking alcohol and staying up late can both result in a high RHR reading)

I get a resting heart rate (along with HRV, which is different) Useful numbers to track To understand how stressed or healthy my body is. If it goes up, that’s okay, as long as it comes back down within a few days. A resting heart rate that remains elevated for weeks may indicate disease or other problems that may require medical attention. I won’t go to the doctor Now! Because my resting heart rate is a little high, but if I feel like other things aren’t right I’ll take that as a sign to pay attention to my health and see a doctor.

Why you shouldn’t compare your resting heart rate to others

As tempting as it is to want a “good” resting heart rate, it is not useful to think of RHR as a competition. People are built differently, and just as your friend may be taller or shorter than you, their heart rate may be naturally higher or lower, even before taking your fitness or health factors into account.

In general, smaller people have slightly higher resting heart rates, which is why the average RHR for women is a few beats higher than the average man. Resting heart rate can also change with age, increasing slightly in early adulthood and then leveling off. (Note that your resting heart rate does not necessarily say anything about your maximum heart rate or exercise heart rate I discuss it in more detail here.)

If you’re using a watch or wearable to tell your resting heart rate, there are differences between devices as well. When I wore five different devices to track my RHR and HRV for several nights in a rowThe Fitbit gave resting heart rate numbers that were often 10 beats higher than the Ora’s readings. Other devices—a Garmin, a Whoop, and an Apple Watch—were in between.

Ultimately, the best way to use your RHR data is to keep an eye on long-term and short-term trends. If your RHR is slowly decreasing over time with a little more exercise, that’s a good sign. And while it varies from day to day, you can use those changes to check your health, stress, fatigue, and sleep. And of course, if you’re ever concerned about your heart rate being abnormally high or low, get checked by a medical professional.