TempoLife › Nutrition & fitness glossary › Resting heart rate
Resting heart rate
Your heart rate at complete rest — usually 60–100 bpm, and lower with fitness.
Resting heart rate (RHR) is how many times your heart beats per minute when you are completely at rest — best measured just after waking, before you get up. For most adults it falls between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
A lower resting heart rate generally reflects better cardiovascular fitness: a stronger heart pushes more blood per beat, so it needs fewer beats. Endurance-trained people often sit in the 40s or 50s. A resting rate that creeps up over days can hint at fatigue, stress, dehydration, illness or poor sleep.
As a trend it is one of the simplest, most reliable numbers a watch or a finger-on-the-wrist can give you. Watch the direction over weeks rather than fixating on a single morning, and read a sudden sustained rise as a nudge to rest — while noting that caffeine, a late meal or a bad night can all lift it temporarily.
Frequently asked questions
Resting heart rate?
Your heart rate at complete rest — usually 60–100 bpm, and lower with fitness. Resting heart rate (RHR) is how many times your heart beats per minute when you are completely at rest — best measured just after waking, before you get up. For most adults it falls between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
