Friday, 1 November 2013

Resting heart rate

Resting heart rate

How to check your resting heart rate

The best time to take this is when you first wake up in the morning. If you take the recordings over three days and average them, you will get a more accurate result.
Place two fingers on either of your wrists (radial artery), or you neck (carotid artery). Be careful not too press to hard, then count the number of beats for a minute. If you have a heart rate monitor, this will obviously give you an accurate reading.
Check the Heart Rate Chart below to see where you heart rate place you.

More Information about your heart rate

Your resting heart rate is often a good determination as to how fit you are, as well as indicating if you're either over training or unwell - showing up as unexplained increases in resting heart rate.
If using a heart rate monitor, make sure that there is a good connection between the chest strap and your chest, with adequate connection fluid, as often most heart rate monitors will require a little body perspiration prior to performing consistently.
It is important to remember that the best time to take this test is first thing in the morning, when you awake, as simply getting up and walking around your bedroom will cause your heart rate to rise, with other factors such as smoking or caffeine, also causing an increase.
Remember to take your resting heart rate over at least 3 days so that you can get an average reading.
For example if on day one you record 72 bpm (beats per minute) day two you record 78 bpm and on day three you record 72 bpm, then your average is 74 bpm.
Look at recording your time for a full minute to make the test as accurate as possible.
As you become fitter through aerobic exercise, your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood around the body, especially if combined with a reduction of the plaque (fatty deposits) within your arteries.
As a result you will find your resting heart rate gets lower so you will need to check your RHR on a regular basis and recalculate any target zones you have, especially if working with a heart rate monitor.
Drugs found in cold medications raise the heart rate and do not give a true indication of your resting heart rate.
Men
Age
18 -25
26 -35
36 -45
46 - 55
56 -65
65+
Athlete
49-55
49-54
50-56
50-57
51-56
50-55
Excel't
56-61
55-61
57-62
58-63
57-61
56-61
Good
62-65
62-65
63-66
64-67
62-67
62-65
Above Av
66-69
66-70
67-70
68-71
68-71
66-69
Average
70-73
71-74
71-75
72-76
72-75
70-73
Below Av
74-81
75-81
76-82
77-83
76-81
74-79
Poor
82+
82+
83+
84+
82+
80+

Women
Age
18 -25
26- 35
36 -45
46 - 55
56 -65
65+
Athlete
54-60
54-59
54-59
54-60
54-59
54-59
Excel't
61-65
60-64
60-64
61-65
60-64
60-64
Good
66-69
65-68
65-69
66-69
65-68
65-68
Above Av
70-73
69-72
70-73
70-73
69-73
69-72
Average
74-78
73-76
74-78
74-77
74-77
73-76
Below Av
79-84
77-82
79-84
78-83
78-83
77-84
Poor
85+
83+
85+
84+
84+
84+


Suggested by Neeraj Mehta, Fitness Expert and Director of GFFI Fitness Academy

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