Some measures of physical fitness — such as athletic ability, strength and stamina — can be difficult to ascertain right away, but others are more obvious. Your resting heart rate, for instance, is easy to check and says a lot about your well-being.
“Your heart rate is one of the first signs that gives your doctor insight into your overall health,” says Dr. Doris Chan, a cardiologist at NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn. “It guides us in the right direction when, and if, further testing is necessary.”
A lot of people don’t understand the importance of resting heart rates — what they mean and why they fluctuate. Knowing yours can help identify potential health problems and gauge how healthy your heart is.
What is a resting heart rate?
It’s the number of times a minute the heart beats while in a rested state.
To check, your pulse should be aken in the absence of a stressful or exciting event and at least an hour after exercise.
The American Heart Association says it’s best to check your resting heart rate first thing in the morning, while still in bed, to get the most accurate reading.
Elevated heart rates can be an indication of “stress, anxiety, dehydration, health conditions or physical excursion,” says Barbara Olendzki, an associate professor of population and quantitative health sciences at UMass Chan Medical School.
It’s normal, though, to “have a heart rate increase from exercise,” she says.
Certain conditions can affect your heart rate. For example, any loss of blood “will result in a loss of blood pressure and will cause the heart rate to increase for a time to compensate,” says Viet Le, a physician association and associate professor of preventive cardiology for Intermountain Health.
Caffeine consumption, illness, medications and electrolyte abnormalities also can temporarily affect your resting heart rate.
What is a healthy resting heart rate?
A commonly accepted range for a healthy resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats a minute, “though some argue that the resting heart rate lower limit be shifted down to 50 beats per minute,” Chan says.
That’s because generally the lower your resting pulse is — to a point anyway — the more efficient the heart is thought to be working. Athletes often aim to get their heart rates down. Some endurance athletes strive to reach a resting heart rate in the 40s.
There are numerous exceptions to the 60 to 100 beats-per-minute rule. And a normal pulse varies from person to person.
Numerous external factors can temporarily affect your resting heart rate, but some outside influences might affect it for much longer. For example, an overactive thyroid, anemia, rare adrenal tumors, unhealthy organs, pregnancy, abnormal heart rhythms and age can affect resting heart rate for extended periods.
How to check your heart rate
Checking your heart rate is simple. Just place your index and third fingers on your neck, to the side of your windpipe, then count the number of beats from the first time you feel your pulse, continuing for 15 seconds. Multiply that number by four to calculate beats per minute.
To check your pulse at your wrist, place two fingers between the bone and the tendon over your radial artery, which is on the thumb side of your wrist, then count the number of beats the same way.
What is an unsafe resting heart rate?
A resting heart rate below 60 is called bradycardia or a slow heart rate, and one over 100 is called tachycardia or a fast heart rate. Staying too low or too high for extended periods without a known cause is something that should be looked into, experts say.
“One should seek out professional attention if high heart rates are prolonged and persistent, as it may cause symptoms of palpitations, skipped beats, shortness of breath, fainting or lightheadedness, excessive fatigue or chest tightness or pressure,” Le says.
Read more at usatoday.com.
