Exercise can help heart learn to take it easy
Posted on Monday, October 29, 2007
Resting heart rate is the number of times the heart beats per minute when the body is at rest. The lower the number, in general, the greater indication of fitness.
With age, resting heart rate tends to increase as the heart works harder to pump blood through the body. But people who exercise regularly typically have lower heart rates and only about one-third the decline in aerobic capacity of those who don’t exercise.
The American Heart Association recommends checking your resting heart rate in the morning after a good night’s sleep, before getting out of bed.
To take your pulse at the wrist, turn the palm up and place the tips of the other hand’s index and middle fingers just below the base of the thumb and press lightly.
If checking your pulse at the neck, place the fingertips on your throat along the windpipe just below the jaw, taking care not to press harder than you must to feel the heart beat.
You can count your pulse for 60 seconds to get the number of beats per minute; or you can count for 30 seconds and multiply by two, or for 15 seconds and multiply by four. The longer you count, the more accurate your total will be.
Some experts recommend measuring your resting heart rate for three consecutive mornings so you can take an average. Normal resting heart rate for children older than 10 and for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute. In well-trained athletes, 40 to 60 is not uncommon.
Resting and exercising heart rates can be influenced by many factors, including stress, medicines and poor eating and sleeping habits. A doctor can help you figure out what’s going on if you find your resting heart rate is consistently much higher or lower than normal.
Excessive exercise will also cause resting heart rate to rise, and that’s why knowing your usual number is considered a tool to prevent overtraining. Some athletes take the day off if their resting heart rate is five or more beats higher than it has been. Celia Storey contributed some information to this report.
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