What Is a Healthy Resting Heart Rate?
When we exercise, our heart beats faster, which is why heart rate training can be so beneficial. But when we’re not doing anything, knowing your heart rate can still be useful. If you have a wearable device that measures your resting heart rate (HR), here’s how to understand what it’s telling you.
What is the normal resting heart rate?
Healthcare professionals generally consider a “normal” resting heart rate to be between 60 and 100 beats per minute. But they typically measure the resting heart rate of people who are in medical settings and sitting quietly. Notably, they don’t sleep, and some may feel a little nervous while in the doctor’s office.
Your smartwatch or other wearable device may register lower numbers, especially if you wear it while you sleep. Oura, a smart ring maker, reports that its members typically have a resting heart rate of 50 to 60 beats per minute . Whoop claims that its users average 59 beats per minute for women and 55 for men .
Users of Oura, Whoop and similar devices are likely to have lower than average heart rates, as these platforms are popular among athletes and health-conscious people. The more typical figure of 60 to 100 is intended to apply to the entire population likely to be encountered by a healthcare provider. So it’s okay if you don’t reach these lower numbers.
The lower your resting heart rate, the better.
Athletes and people in good cardiovascular health tend to have a lower resting heart rate. People who improve their cardio fitness typically notice that their resting heart rate decreases over time, and this is often considered a good sign that what you’re doing is working.
In the short term, a heart rate a few beats higher than normal may mean:
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You are under stress, mental or physical (for example, tired from hard training).
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If you have a menstrual cycle, you are in the follicular phase.
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You’re getting sick
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You are taking medications that affect your resting heart rate (including some stimulants and decongestants).
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Something has disrupted your sleep if your RHR is measured while you sleep—for example, drinking alcohol and staying up late can lead to higher RHR readings.
I find resting heart rate (along with HRV, which is different) to be a useful metric for tracking how much stress or recovery my body is experiencing. If it goes up, that’s ok, as long as it goes down again within a few days. A resting heart rate that remains elevated for several weeks may indicate illness or other problems that may require medical attention.
Why you shouldn’t compare your resting heart rate to other people’s.
As tempting as it is to want to have a “good” resting heart rate, it’s not helpful to treat RHR like a competition. People are built differently, and just as your friend may be taller or shorter than you, he may have a naturally higher or lower heart rate, even if you don’t take fitness or health factors into account.
In general, shorter people tend to have a slightly higher resting heart rate, so the average heart rate for women is a few beats higher than the average man. Resting heart rate may 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 or exercise heart rate, which I cover in more detail here .)
If you use a watch or wearable device to check your resting heart rate, the difference will also vary depending on the device. When I wore five different heart rate and HRV tracking devices for several nights in a row , the Fitbit produced resting heart rate readings that were often 10 beats higher than the Oura reading. The remaining devices—Garmin, Whoop, and Apple Watch—were in between.
Ultimately, the best way to use RHR data is to monitor long-term and short-term trends. If your heart rate gradually decreases as you exercise a little more, that’s a good sign. And when it changes from day to day, you can use these changes as a cue to check your health, stress, fatigue and sleep. And of course, if you’re ever concerned about an unusually high or low heart rate, consult your doctor.