Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats in one minute while you sit or lie quietly. It is one of the simplest numbers you can check about your body, and it changes from day to day with sleep, stress, coffee, illness and fitness. Below you will find the normal ranges published by health organisations, a chart by age, the right way to measure, and the situations in which a high or low number should send you to a doctor or to emergency care.
What is a normal resting heart rate for adults?
For most adults, a resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute (bpm) is considered normal. The American Heart Association, the US National Library of Medicine (MedlinePlus) and the British Heart Foundation all give this same range. It applies to older adults too: MedlinePlus lists 60 to 100 bpm for everyone from 10 years of age through to seniors.
Well-trained athletes are the main exception. Regular endurance training makes the heart pump more blood with each beat, so it needs fewer beats at rest. MedlinePlus gives 40 to 60 bpm for well-trained athletes, and the British Heart Foundation notes that a lower rate is acceptable if you are very fit and active.
A number inside the range is not a guarantee that everything is fine, and a number just outside it is not automatically a problem. How you feel, whether the rhythm is regular, and how your number compares with your own usual value matter as much as the figure itself.
Resting heart rate chart by age
Children have faster heart rates than adults, and the younger the child, the higher the rate. These ranges are from MedlinePlus (reviewed January 2025):
| Age | Normal resting heart rate |
|---|---|
| Newborn (0–1 month) | 70–190 bpm |
| Infant (1–11 months) | 80–160 bpm |
| 1–2 years | 80–130 bpm |
| 3–4 years | 80–120 bpm |
| 5–6 years | 75–115 bpm |
| 7–9 years | 70–110 bpm |
| 10 years and older, adults, seniors | 60–100 bpm |
| Well-trained athletes | 40–60 bpm |
Different textbooks print slightly different limits for children. A systematic review by Fleming and colleagues (2011, The Lancet) pooled data from 143,346 children and found that the median heart rate rises from 127 bpm at birth to about 145 bpm at one month, then falls to 113 bpm by age two. The same review showed that many published ranges for children do not match measured data well, so a child's single reading outside a chart is a reason to ask a doctor, not a reason to panic. Phone camera methods have not been validated in children, so measure a child's pulse by hand or let a professional do it.
What changes your resting heart rate?
Your heart rate is never fixed. Things that commonly push it up for a while include:
- Stress, anxiety and strong emotions, including the slight nervousness of measuring yourself.
- Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
- Being unwell, for example with a fever, and dehydration.
- Heat and poor sleep.
- Recent activity. The British Heart Foundation points out that going over 100 bpm during exercise is perfectly fine; it just does not count as a resting value.
Some things lower it: regular exercise, sleep and certain medicines, such as beta blockers (for example bisoprolol). If you take any heart or blood pressure medicine, your doctor's target for you may differ from the general range.
Because of all this, a single reading tells you little. Measure at the same time of day, ideally in the morning after you wake up, and look at the trend over a week or two.
How to measure your resting heart rate correctly
- Rest first. Sit or lie down for about five minutes. The British Heart Foundation also advises avoiding caffeine and smoking beforehand.
- Find your pulse. Place your index and middle fingers on the inside of your wrist, just below the base of your thumb. Do not use your thumb, which has its own pulse. Press lightly.
- Count. Count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by two. If the beat feels irregular, count for a full 60 seconds.
- Write it down with the time and anything unusual (coffee, a bad night, a cold).
You can also use the camera of your phone. Our heart rate monitor reads the tiny colour change in your fingertip with each beat (photoplethysmography), measures for 30 seconds and saves your last readings in your browser, so you can follow your morning trend. It only shows a number when the signal is clean enough, and a webcam needs a lamp behind your finger. Treat it as an estimate and compare it with a manual count now and then. While you are resting anyway, the breath hold test and the balance test are two other quick checks of your body at rest.
Slow heart rate (bradycardia)
A resting rate below 60 bpm is called bradycardia. It is often harmless: Cleveland Clinic notes that the heart normally slows during sleep and that trained athletes can have a low rate because their hearts pump more efficiently. Many people with a low rate have no symptoms at all.
A low rate deserves attention when it comes with symptoms such as dizziness or light-headedness, fainting, confusion, shortness of breath, chest pain or unusual tiredness. Cleveland Clinic advises emergency care if you have a low heart rate together with chest pain, trouble breathing or dizziness, or if your heart rate falls below 40 bpm and that is unusual for you.
Fast heart rate (tachycardia)
A resting rate above 100 bpm is called tachycardia. A temporary rise is normal after exercise, a fright or strong emotion, and it settles when you calm down. Cleveland Clinic lists stress, dehydration, caffeine and alcohol among other causes, and the NHS adds nicotine, some medicines, an overactive thyroid and iron deficiency anaemia as causes of a racing or pounding heartbeat.
Repeated resting readings above 100 bpm with no obvious reason are worth a doctor's visit, even if you feel fine. A racing heartbeat with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint is a different situation, described below.
When to see a doctor and when it is an emergency
Call your local emergency number (112 in Turkey and the EU, 999 in the UK, 911 in the US) straight away if:
- a fast, pounding or irregular heartbeat comes with chest pain, shortness of breath, fainting or feeling faint;
- palpitations do not go away;
- your heart rate is unusually low, for example below 40 bpm when that is not normal for you, together with dizziness, confusion or breathlessness.
Do not drive yourself to hospital; ask someone else or call an ambulance.
Book a normal appointment with your doctor if:
- your resting heart rate is repeatedly above 100 bpm, or below 60 bpm with dizziness, fainting or unusual tiredness;
- your pulse often feels irregular;
- palpitations keep coming back, happen more often or last longer than a few minutes;
- you have a heart condition or a family history of heart problems.
A phone or webcam cannot detect rhythm problems such as atrial fibrillation, and a normal reading does not rule them out. If you have symptoms, trust the symptoms, not the number.
Sources
- MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine. Pulse (resting heart rate ranges by age, athletes, how to measure). Review date January 2025. medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003399.htm
- British Heart Foundation. Checking your pulse. bhf.org.uk
- American Heart Association. All About Heart Rate (Pulse). heart.org
- Fleming, S., Thompson, M., Stevens, R., et al. (2011). Normal ranges of heart rate and respiratory rate in children from birth to 18 years of age: a systematic review of observational studies. The Lancet, 377(9770), 1011–1018.
- Cleveland Clinic. Bradycardia. my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17841-bradycardia
- Cleveland Clinic. Tachycardia. my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22108-tachycardia
- NHS. Heart palpitations. nhs.uk/conditions/heart-palpitations
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal resting heart rate?
For most adults, including older adults, a resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute is considered normal. Well-trained athletes often rest between 40 and 60 beats per minute.
What is a good resting heart rate?
Within the normal range, a lower resting rate often goes with better fitness, but lower is not automatically better. How you feel and whether your rhythm is regular matter as much as the number. Compare your readings with your own usual value rather than with other people.
Is a resting heart rate of 50 bad?
Not necessarily. A rate in the 50s is common in fit people and during sleep. It is worth seeing a doctor if a low rate comes with dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, chest pain or unusual tiredness.
Is a resting heart rate over 100 dangerous?
A short rise after exercise, stress, caffeine or a fever is normal. If your resting readings are repeatedly above 100 with no obvious reason, see a doctor. Call emergency services if a fast heartbeat comes with chest pain, breathlessness or fainting.
What is a normal heart rate for a child?
Children have higher rates than adults. MedlinePlus lists 80 to 130 beats per minute for 1 to 2 year olds, 80 to 120 for 3 to 4 year olds, 75 to 115 for 5 to 6 year olds and 70 to 110 for 7 to 9 year olds. From age 10 the adult range of 60 to 100 applies.
When is the best time to measure resting heart rate?
In the morning after you wake up, before coffee, after sitting or lying quietly for about five minutes. Measuring at the same time each day lets you compare readings fairly.
Can I measure my heart rate with my phone camera?
Yes, a fingertip on the camera can give a reasonable estimate in adults at rest. It cannot detect rhythm problems such as atrial fibrillation, and it has not been validated in children, so check it against a manual pulse count if in doubt.