Training & Nutrition - Resting heart rate: women

Regarding 'resting heart rate,' what's a 'normal' rate, or range of rates for a woman?

From what I've found on the internet, a woman's resting heart rate is higher than a man's because women have smaller sized hearts. Ok, fine.

I've also learned that 'athletes' tend to have lower RHRs (in the 40-50bpm range). I suspect that these numbers are typical for men? Still, the info out there does not say what might be a 'normal' RHR for women, whether athletic or not. Why is it such a big secret?

My RHR seems to be around 70bpm. I workout (run, bike, or hike) at least 4 times a week. Just wondering what number would be typical for an active 32 year old.

No, I don't have a heart rate monitor. I'm doing this the old fashioned way.

(Edit) P.S. I asked my doctor about it the last time I was there and was told, "Everyone is different, blah blah blah." I realize that. I just want some general numbers here so that I have something to work with.

i don't know too much about resting heart rate, but i can tell what i do know::

i asked a trainer last week exactly what 'resting heart rate means' - i.e. sitting, lying, lowest possible, etc... i was told it is the lowest sustained heart rate best measured in the morning while lying down but breathing normally -- take an average for a minute or so, b/c holding your breath makes it temporarily lower.

for MAX heart rate, women's tend to be slightly HIGHER:
men MAX = 220 - age
women MAX = 226 - age

as far as what's normal or healthy for resting heart rate... i think anything in the 40-70bpm should be normal (i'm guessing), but i dont really know. i need to re-measure mine, but my resting pulse is about 42bpm (i need to re-measure from the new definition i was given) i'm 32 and my max is a little higher than average at 194 and my anaerobic threshold 167. during the day, sitting down not doing much my heart rate is about 50-55bpm (significantly higher than my real "resting pulse")

i as i understand it, aerobic exercise strengthens the heart so that it doesn't have to work as hard when you're resting, thus the lower resting heart rate. BUT, while you can lower yours through exercise, i don't think the absolute values mean much -- i.e. i don't think it means: John's RHR is lower than Bill's so John must be more aerobically fit and healthy (depends more on the individual and as your doctor said, everyone is different)

my girlfriend has a weak heart value or something so her resting heart rate and Max are much higher (her max is about 226 and no i'm not a pedaphile - she's 26 with an expected MAX of 200)

most pro triathletes, cyclísts and runners are usually listed with resting heart rates in the 30s... these are exceptionally low through training

Originally posted by nathank
for MAX heart rate, women's tend to be slightly HIGHER:
men MAX = 220 - age
women MAX = 226 - age

At the risk of sounding too much like your doctor, these numbers really are just an average starting point. There is considerable variation that has more to do with genetics than health or fitness. If you have a very low resting pulse, like Nathank, it is probably the result of (at least) several years of significant aerobic training and careful selection of your parents. Also, notice that age doesn't have much to do with resting heart rate, so much as max heart rate. If you are fit, healthy, and work at endurance fitness, your RHR will decrease with age, as the strength of your heart and cardiovascular fitness continue to improve. (Ever wonder why the winners of the TdF are almost always at least 25 years old, often closer to 26 or 27? It's 'cause it takes years of distance training to develop that kind of cardiovascular capability.)

Here's a web-site with some information. (http://www.heartmonitors.com/exercisetips.htm) I think the Polar heart rate monitor page has some info, too.

i surfed a few minutes and didn't find anything concrete, but a few things:

Take your RHR first thing after waking up in the morning. Feel your pulse at either your carotid (neck) or radial (wrist) artery for one minute over several days to obtain an average RHR. In general, the more efficient your heart, the lower your RHR will be. (Note: As you grow older, your RHR will generally increase slightly.)
The RHR can vary by as many as 50-60 beats per minute between two people of the same weight, height, and age, though for trained athletes the difference is usually much smaller. RHR's also vary between sexes: on average, a female's resting heart rate is roughly five to seven beats per minute higher than a male's heart rate. http://www.usms.org/training/heart1.htm

also from some high school study, although the subjects were 15/16 years old and the "resting" pulse was not taken early in the morning after sleep so probably higher than the 'real' resting pulse:

...that average heart rate is faster in females (72 to 80bpm) than in males (64 to 72bpm) http://www.casio.edu.shriro.com.au/pages/pdf/biol4.pdf

and from an Internet 'fitness Test', i gather a typical range is 50-100bpm since that's the range listed in the test:

Rating Resting Heart Rate
beats/min
Excellent < 60
Good 60-69
Average 70-79
Fair 80-89
Poor > 89
http://www.mhhe.com/hper/health/personalhealth/labs/cardiovascular/lab3-1.html

again, i think it's not very important as an individual unless yours is really high, say over 85 or 90bpm... this might indicate a heart problem that you should ask your doctor about. but in your case you already talked to your doctor so should be OK...

Your resting heart rate should be taken in the morning before you get up but can be taken during the day by laying down for 10 minutes. Count your pulse beats for 6 seconds and multipy by 10. The male average resting heart rate is 72 bpm. The female average is 76 bpm. http://www.biofitness.com/aorder.html


Resting heart rate is most accurately measured just before you get out of bed in the morning. Accuracy is even greater when you take your resting heart rate 3 mornings in a row and averaging them.

Normal resting heart rates are in a very wide range of numbers, which is why this test is not so much an measurement of you being compared to a norm, but more a measurement of you being compared to yourself over time. Ranges vary anywhere from 40 beats per minute up to 100 beats per minute. Ideally you want to be between 60-90 beats per minute.

Average resting heart rate for a man is 70 beats per minute, and for a woman is 75 beats per minute.

Do keep in mind that an elevated resting heart rate might mean that you have not completely recovered from the most recent exercise session. If your resting heart rate is chronically high, and you are a regular vigorous exerciser, this could indicate that you are overtraining, and you should see a doctor. http://www.motivationstation.net/resting.htm


The average resting heart rate is around 70 beats per minute (bpm), with a range of 50 bpm for marathon runners and 90+ bpm for sedentary individuals. http://www.cfsa.ca/english/programs/skating/other/health.html

wow, higher than i thought! so Julie, yours at 72 is actually below the average (but remember the average includes all those inactive people too, not just healthy people)

Hey...thanks, guys! That's a lot of great information. I've made a note of all the web sites you mentioned and will be sure to check 'em out. Meanwhile, I guess my RHR will decrease over time. I'll check it maybe every month or so.

You'll probably get more exact information from the various web-sites mentioned by others, but here are a couple more 2 cents worth:

I have heard over and over that 60-80 is normal for normal folks (I would guess that normal means somewhat active). Over 80 is unhealthy. I have heard endurance trainers call this figure too high (by how much?). For endurance athletes, I usually see numbers like 30-60, or 30-50.

I am 34 (male) and my resting pulse is about 48-50 (measured in bed in the morning as soon as I become conscious enough). My girlfriend, 32, has a resting pulse of 52. She started running just last Fall and had a resting pulse of 60 at that time. She runs about 5-10 km 3 times a week.

A sign of over-training is when one's resting pulse stays more than 10% above one's normal resting pulse for more that 3 days. I have noticed that the morning after a hard workout my resting pulse will often be about 5% higher. But, the next morning its back to normal.

But, as Nathan suggested, I think that there is a lot more variation between people and that one should always take the word "average" with a grain of salt. My father, a fit 72-year-old, has a resting pulse of 50 (which is up from his earlier 45 simply due to age). His doctor recently got worried because he thought it too low for someone my dad's age. The doctor recommended consideration of a pace-maker. My dad set him straight in short order.

Cheers.

My resting HR is 38-42. I'm a 43 yo woman. My HR has always been low like this even when I was much heavier and out of shape. I guess I live at the far end of the bell shaped curve. <g>

I have a corollary question to the original question here: I have a very hard time getting my heart rate over 145 even though my theoretical max is 177. (85% = 150) Does a lower resting HR alter your ability to kick your exercise HR up to max?

Originally posted by roadie gal
My resting HR is 38-42. I'm a 43 yo woman. My HR has always been low like this even when I was much heavier and out of shape. I guess I live at the far end of the bell shaped curve. <g>

I have a corollary question to the original question here: I have a very hard time getting my heart rate over 145 even though my theoretical max is 177. (85% = 150) Does a lower resting HR alter your ability to kick your exercise HR up to max?

Whoa! Nice RHR.

Your resting heart rate fluctuates and can be improved (made lower) with exercise. An increase in your rhr can be a symptom of overtraining.

Your max heart rate is genetically set. It decreases with age but cannot be improved by any amount of training. It represents a point beyond which you cannot work. Greater strength and lower weight allow you to work more efficiently, but don't improve your mhr. You get more bang for the buck...the same amount of work gets you farther.

Your theoretical max hr is just that...theoretical. The various formulae are all averages and guesses. The only (safe) way to accurately determine your very own personal mhr is through a medically supervised stress test.

Hope that helps. :)

The 220-age formula is very approximate.

I have 2 friends and we are all around 50 years old. But the max heart rate varies quite a bit: 210 for Larry, 195 for me, and about 185 for Jack. Jack has the best sprint and I am the strongest (aerobic output).

I don't know what their resting heart rates were. I found I could take a heart monitor and fool around with my mental state and depress my resting heart rate (sitting, I did this driving to the ride) and I could deflect it down into the 40s. So resting heart rates are strange things.

Training will decrease your resting heart rate but not your upper heart rate (at least that is the story). With training, you can gain quite a bit of aerobic power. In your case, I think your resting heart rate is high and I suspect that you are not measuring it properly. Borrow a heart monitor and see what you get.

I have a corollary question to the original question here: I have a very hard time getting my heart rate over 145 even though my theoretical max is 177. (85% = 150) Does a lower resting HR alter your ability to kick your exercise HR up to max? roadie gal

as was already explained by another poster, the expected max HR is just that and varies a lot between individuals and yours could be 150 or lower. in your case it's probably about 155 or so since you rarely see your max on a HR monitor... i think i have heard that something like 80% of people are within 5bpm of the theretical max, but the variation can be as high as 50bpm (Pat's example of his friend Larry with a 170 expected and actual max of 210 or 40 bpm higher than expected - in general there's nothing wrong with this unless you have some medical condition like a heart defect like weak valves or whatever... i'm not a doctor)

as far as i have heard there isn't much correlation between max HR and athletic/aoerbic performance... smaller people tend to have higher max HRs i guess b/c there is less distance to pump the blood (although when i say smaller, i mean bone/structure size, not weight) --- also true in animals i think where small animals and birds have extremely high heart rates...

i think overweight people have higher resting HRs b/c their heart must work harder to pump blood to all the extra tissue (i.e. the heart is sized for a 'normal' body with 15-30% fat or whatever, so when you hav 50% fat...)

and the heart is a muscle, so physical activity trains the muscle to be stronger so that then at rest the heart must not work as hard to pump the basic blood suply to the resting body...