What does my resting heart rate say about my fitness?
By Mert Yerekapan · Updated
A normal resting heart rate for adults is 60 to 100 beats per minute. People who train regularly often sit around 50 to 60, and some endurance athletes go lower. A resting rate that trends down over weeks and months usually means your cardio fitness is improving.
Why it drops with training
A fitter heart pumps more blood per beat, so it needs fewer beats to do the same job at rest. That's why your resting rate often falls by 5 to 10 bpm after a few months of regular cardio.
It's a useful number to watch, but it isn't a score. Genetics, age and body size all affect it. Someone at 62 isn't necessarily less fit than someone at 52.
How to measure it properly
Take it first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed or have coffee. Sit or lie still for a minute, then count beats at your wrist for 30 seconds and double it. Or use your watch's overnight or morning reading. Look at the average over a week, not a single day.
Things that push it up temporarily
- Poor sleep
- Stress or anxiety
- Dehydration
- Caffeine and alcohol
- Heat
- Being sick, since it often rises a day or two before symptoms
- Hard training without enough recovery
That last one is why some people track it. If your resting rate is 5 to 10 beats above normal for several days, you're probably under-recovered, and an easy day or two is a good idea. More on that in signs of overtraining.
When to see a doctor
Most variation is harmless. But talk to a doctor if:
- Your resting rate is consistently above 100 or below 40 and you're not a trained athlete
- You feel dizzy, faint, short of breath or have chest pain
- Your heart seems to skip beats or race for no reason
A low rate in a person with no symptoms who trains a lot is usually fine. A low rate with dizziness is not.
What to do with the number
Use it as a trend. If you start a new routine, check in after 8 to 12 weeks. A drop of a few beats is a good sign. If it doesn't change, that's fine too, since fitness shows up in other ways, like easier workouts and a faster pace at the same effort.
A trend only shows up if you keep training for weeks. League of Fitness matches you each day with someone near your level, and runs, rides and walks synced from Apple Health are scored by heart rate zones, which gives you a reason to keep those weeks consistent.