A normal resting heart rate for adults is 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). That range applies whether you’re 18 or 80, though where you fall within it depends on your fitness level, medications, and overall health. Resting means you’re sitting or lying down, awake, and haven’t just been exercising or chugging coffee.
Normal Resting Heart Rate by Age
Adults and teenagers share the same standard range of 60 to 100 bpm, but younger children run much faster. A newborn’s heart beats 100 to 205 times per minute, which sounds alarming until you realize their tiny heart is pumping a much smaller volume of blood with each contraction. As children grow, their hearts become more efficient and the rate gradually drops:
- Newborn to 4 weeks: 100 to 205 bpm
- 1 month to 1 year: 100 to 180 bpm
- 1 to 3 years: 98 to 140 bpm
- 3 to 5 years: 80 to 120 bpm
- 5 to 12 years: 75 to 118 bpm
- 13 years and older: 60 to 100 bpm
By the time a child reaches their teen years, their resting heart rate looks the same as an adult’s and stays in that range for life.
What “Good” Actually Looks Like
Being within 60 to 100 bpm is normal, but lower within that range generally signals a stronger, more efficient heart. If your resting heart rate sits around 65 bpm, your heart is pumping enough blood in fewer beats, which means less wear and tear over time. Someone who’s sedentary might sit closer to 80 or 90 bpm at rest, which is still healthy but leaves more room for improvement.
Professional athletes can have resting heart rates as low as 40 bpm. Their hearts are so well-conditioned that each beat pushes out significantly more blood, so fewer beats are needed. If you’re not an endurance athlete, a rate in the 40s would be worth investigating. But for a trained runner or cyclist, it’s completely expected.
Your Heart Rate During Sleep
Your heart rate drops while you sleep, typically running 20% to 30% lower than your daytime resting rate. For a healthy adult, that means somewhere around 50 to 75 bpm during the night. If you wear a fitness tracker and notice your sleeping heart rate dipping into the 50s, that’s normal and not a cause for concern. Your body is in its lowest energy state, and your heart adjusts accordingly.
Target Heart Rate During Exercise
When you’re working out, your heart rate should climb well above your resting rate. The American Heart Association recommends two intensity zones based on your estimated maximum heart rate:
- Moderate intensity: 50% to 70% of your max (a brisk walk, casual bike ride)
- Vigorous intensity: 70% to 85% of your max (running, fast cycling, HIIT)
The simplest way to estimate your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. So a 40-year-old would have an estimated max of 180 bpm, a moderate-intensity zone of 90 to 126 bpm, and a vigorous zone of 126 to 153 bpm. This formula isn’t perfect. It tends to underestimate max heart rate in men by about 3 bpm and overestimate it in women by roughly 5 bpm. But for general fitness tracking, it’s close enough to be useful.
A slightly more accurate formula, developed by researcher Hirofumi Tanaka, uses 208 minus 0.7 times your age. For that same 40-year-old, the result would be 180 bpm, nearly identical. The differences between formulas become more noticeable at older ages and in well-trained athletes.
When Your Heart Rate Is Too Slow
A resting heart rate below 60 bpm is technically called bradycardia. In many people, especially those who exercise regularly, a rate in the 50s is perfectly fine. Even a rate between 40 and 60 bpm without any symptoms is generally nothing to worry about.
The concern starts when a slow heart rate comes with dizziness, fatigue, fainting, or shortness of breath. A rate that drops below 40 bpm (outside of deep sleep) is getting into risky territory, and anything in the 30s is considered dangerous because your brain and organs may not be getting enough blood flow.
When Your Heart Rate Is Too Fast
A resting heart rate consistently above 100 bpm is called tachycardia. Plenty of temporary things can push you above 100: anxiety, caffeine, dehydration, a fever, or simply standing up quickly. That’s not the same as a heart that stays elevated at rest for no obvious reason.
If your resting heart rate regularly sits above 100 bpm and you’re not exercising, stressed, or sick, it’s worth paying attention to. A persistently fast heart rate makes the heart work harder than it needs to, which over time can contribute to cardiovascular problems.
Factors That Shift Your Heart Rate
Your resting heart rate isn’t a fixed number. It fluctuates day to day and even hour to hour based on several factors.
Fitness level is the biggest long-term influence. Regular cardio exercise strengthens the heart muscle, allowing it to pump more blood per beat and bringing your resting rate down over weeks and months. Someone who starts a consistent exercise routine might see their resting heart rate drop by 5 to 10 bpm over several months.
Medications can also move the needle significantly. Beta-blockers, commonly prescribed for high blood pressure and heart conditions, work by blocking stress hormones that speed up the heart. They can lower resting heart rate by 10 to 20 bpm or more. On the other side, decongestants, some asthma medications, and stimulants can push your rate higher.
Pregnancy causes a notable increase. Resting heart rate begins climbing early in pregnancy and peaks in the third trimester, typically rising 10 to 20 bpm above your pre-pregnancy baseline. Research from Harvard found that the median resting heart rate jumped from about 65.5 bpm before pregnancy to 77 bpm in the third trimester, roughly a 20% to 25% increase. This is a normal adaptation as the body pumps more blood to support the growing baby.
Temperature, stress, and illness all cause temporary spikes. A fever can raise your heart rate by about 10 bpm for every degree of body temperature increase. Emotional stress triggers the same fight-or-flight hormones that beta-blockers are designed to counteract.
How to Check Your Resting Heart Rate
The most accurate time to check is first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed. Place two fingers (index and middle) on the inside of your wrist just below the base of your thumb, or on the side of your neck. Count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by two. Fitness trackers and smartwatches do this automatically, though wrist-based sensors can be off by a few beats per minute depending on how snug the band is and how still you’re sitting.
Checking your heart rate a few times over the course of a week gives you a more reliable picture than a single reading. If you notice a sudden, sustained change of 10 or more bpm from your usual baseline without an obvious explanation, that’s worth noting and discussing with a healthcare provider.