Your resting heart rate is the speed at which your heart beats when you’re not physically active. It’s typically measured in beats per minute (bpm). A healthy range for most adults is between 60 and 100 bpm.
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Usually, a resting heart rate on the lower end is a sign of better physical fitness, although some well-trained athletes may even have resting heart rates in the 40s.
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“The stronger [the heart] is, the lower the heart rate needs to be in order to achieve the same amount of blood flow,” explains Brian Becerra, MD, a board-certified cardiologist at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, California.
Your fitness level isn’t the only thing that influences your resting heart rate. Your age, size, smoking, medication use, and other health conditions like heart disease or high cholesterol also factor in. Things like the air temperature, your body position, and emotions like stress or anxiety can have a temporary impact, too. Your heart will beat a little slower when you’re calm and lying down than when you’re on edge and standing up.
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Heart rates that are too high or low may be a sign of an underlying problem like heart disease, lung disease, anemia, or an over- or underactive thyroid, says Christopher Kelly, MD, a cardiologist with UNC Health in Raleigh, North Carolina.
To get a sense of what’s normal for you, check your resting heart rate a few times a week, with a heart rate monitor, smartwatch, or a fitness tracker.
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If you don’t use wearable technology, you can perform a manual heart rate check. Lightly place your first two fingers on your pulse inside your wrist, count your pulse for 30 seconds, and multiply that number by two to calculate your bpm.
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