What is a good resting heart rate for an active person? I think I remember reading that a normal resting heart rate is between 60-80 beats per minute. I think Lance Armstrong's rate is around 40/minute :eek:

Any ideas for what a reasonable goal should be? I'm 25 it that matters.

Actually, I believe Lance's resting pulse is 32.

Good for men is 60; For women, it's around 70, ideal. The more you work your heart, the lower it'll go. Remember, it takes time --- I'm fairly active, but my heart rate still will jump all over the place, I can feel my pulse rise just from going from sitting to standing.

I swam competitively for 8 years and my heart rate was 48/min at the time. Now it is still only 52-55/min, guess my running is good for my heart too

Clickman, my heart rate will jump all over the place too, simply from getting up and taking a few steps.

32 beats per minute is incredible...I also know that to improve your cardio you have to exercise within a certain heart range. Since my main method of working out is 2.5 hours of tennis a day on the average, I can't carry around a heart monitor to make sure that I'm doing the right type of exercise! Hopefully tennis is a good cardio activity!

when I was in the hospital, the doctors said that my heart was like an olympic athletes...it was 32. They said I should be around 40-60 if I was active and 80-90 non-active. Right now mine is 29-30...

Cheers.

Well, theres a difference between low heart rate from starvation and low heart rate from exercise... The former is dangerous, the latter is less so.

Mine is 75 but I really don't exercise. I'm working on it

My resting rate is usually between 60 and 65 bpm. Google resting heart rates and you'll find the chart (I'm short on time or I'd do it for you)

How do you measure your resting heart rate? I guess I could google that.

The easiest in my opinion, is to take your index finger and the one next to it (never your thumb) and put it on your wrist just a little up from where the hand meets the arm. You want to press lightly there on the thumb side. You should feel a rhythmic throbing. That's one of your arteries and the throbing is the heart pumping the blood in and out. Count for a minute. I count for a half and multipy by 2. Some count for 15 minutes and multiply by 4. Whichever is easiest for you. One thing to note. Make sure you've been sitting for at least 10 minutes for an accurate resting heart rate. Something so simple as standing increases your heart rate. Resting heart rate shows just how much effort your heart is putting out to keep you alive. More effort (higher beats per minute) usually signifies a heart that is working too hard for some reason, whether it be that the muscle is out of shape due to lack of excercise, or the nutrition it needs is off. Whatever the case, it's good to know what your resting heart rate is.

I did it again and got 68.

ETA: It's 10:20 and now I'm getting 82, this is screwed up.

Mine's usually 52-58- low from exercise.

I just did mine and it was 94!!! I have been sitting at my computer for at least an hour. But I had a wild weekend without much sleep or food so maybe that is contributing? Usually it is lower.

A link with some more info:
http://www.cchs.net/health/health-info/docs/0900/0984.asp?index=5508

My resting is 46, but I'm a long distance runner, too, and currently in training for a fall marathon. I'm 24.
Why is it important to you? I track mine because a rise in your RHR is a good way to gauge fatigue. Some people's are naturally higher even if they work out hard. Mine has gotten lower every year since I began running. So you probably should gauge it against yourself, knowing that working out more and being more fit will bring it down.

I just did mine and it was 94!!! I have been sitting at my computer for at least an hour. But I had a wild weekend without much sleep or food so maybe that is contributing? Usually it is lower.

Your resting heart rate should really be measured when you wake up, before you get out of bed. It is worth bearing in mind that it can be affected by all manner of things [how much sleep you got, if you have been drinking alcohol, etc]

I tried holding my hand over my heart and counting them for a minute timed and I got 38...that can't be right though. Although at the gym once I got on a machine and it said 29...I dunno. I must be weird. lol.

68.

It used to be 29.

Wow right now mine is 100, and I'm just sitting here. If I'm laying in bed it will be 70, sitting around it can be about 80. I've heard that the shorter you are, the faster your heart rate.

Cassiel, 46 is pretty awesome...How much do you run every day?

One morning I woke up with a sore throat and my resting heart rate was about 120 bpm. I was really freaked out and didn't know why it was that high, turns out that my sore throat was really strep throat. My body was probably working overtime to fight the illness.

Wfu, my daily run distance varies but I usually do about 40 mpw. Today it was 15 mi. Friday it will be 24.
That's one of the great things about noting your resting heart rate and observing the trends, and the reason I do it, actually! If it's up by 10 beats or more I know I'm overtraining. If it's up even more significantly than that, I can be sure I'm getting sick. Resting heart rate is a great indicator of your health status even before you feel like anything's different.

Resting heart rate is very important to measure because it helps decide many medical factors such as blood pressure, stress level, hydration...etc. As an EMT, we learned that between 60 and 80 is "good" for RHR. Of course, an athlete will have a slower heart rate. Kinda as a baseline thinking- slow heart rate can be a factor as to how healthy the heart muscle is. Talk to your dr. about what is right for your age, health history, family history and your activiy level. It all factors in!

mine is sixty.
somewhat high BP from caffine and social anxiety though. :/

heh.. my resting heart rate is often around 120. I didn't realize how high that was until everyone else is saying how low theirs is. I am prone to boughts of tachycardia(sp?) though.

Mines Around 80. I can't believe some peoples are under 30!! Talk about night of the living dead. :-/