What is a good resting heart rate

What is a good resting heart rate and how can you achieve it?

A low rested heart rate typically indicates a sign of good health if you are training regularly. For those of you who are heavily inactive this is quite the opposite, and can unfortunately be an indicator of heart disease or similar illnesses.

Health experts believe that a resting heart rate above 75 beats per minute can increase death from heart disease by upto 82%. An good resting heart rate is much lower than this, preferably under 65 bpm for a much healthier and fuller lifestyle.

Anything below 60bpm is a healthy resting heart rate. If you are an athlete a heart rate in the 40′s and low 50′s is even better and means you are in great shape.

Keeping your normal heart rate reduced in the long term will require a lot of work and patience but the health benefits in the end will be worth it.

Here are some pointers to help guide you on your route to a lower rested heart rate:

Exercise

Implementing regular cardio into your lifestyle is a very important first step into reducing your overall resting heart rate. Good types of cardio activities can range from running, sport, swimming, martial arts, brisk walking and rowing.

Anything that will get the blood pumping is a good start and the best thing is you can pick an activity that you enjoy the most to participate in. By doing this your heart will get stronger and the flow of oxygen within your body will be greater. This will allow your heart to pump blood around the body more efficiently and as a result the beats per minute to keep the circulatory system operating can be greatly reduced.

It is recommended to exercise at atleast 50% of your max heart rate, if you are a beginner, and between 50-90% if you are an athlete.

Relaxation & Comfort

Being in a relaxed state has been proven to greatly reduce resting heart rate, and can be achieved by things such as warm baths, massages, lying in the sun and meditation.

It is possible to reduce your resting heart rate by 10bpm and sometimes even more when you engage in the above activities, so make a habit of allowing yourself to relax more often.

 

Rest

Quality of sleep is one of the most important factors when it comes to improving health and fitness levels. You need to let your body fully rest and recover, especially if you are involved in any type of sports or training otherwise the body will stress itself out from overworking.

A recent study showed how your average heart rate can increase by 13 bpm with poor quality of sleep. This test was done by waking up one group of volunteers at random times of the night, while letting the other group sleep normally and the results were astonishing.

Make sure you get atleast 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night – wear earplugs if you have too!

Hydration

Drinking plenty of water throughout the day is great for the immune system, it helps keep a natural flow of blood within your body and can also be great for your skin and digestive system. If you live in hot climate, or an athlete you should aim to drink much more to restore body fluid levels that have been lost due to sweating.

Relieving yourself When you find that urge to go, don’t try to hold it in! It is crucial for the body’s natural flow of blood and also the kidneys to relieve yourself of excess fluids or baggage straight away. A stressed out circulatory system and increased heart rate is the consequence of trying to hold it in. Your heart rate could be increased by upto 9pm extra!

Alcohol / Smoking

Alcohol and smoking are the worst things you can do when trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle and a lower rested heart rate. Drinking a couple of pints a week in moderation might be okay, but smoking is a definite no-no. Not only is it bad for your health but it can affect the arteries and flow of blood in a hugely negative way which can lead to a number of different types of diseases. Stay away from these two if your goal is to live longer and have a healthier lifestyle.

The first most important step should be to buy the best heart rate monitor that is going to be suitable for your own personal needs. You will be able to actively monitor your heart rate, check your progress for previous weeks or months, and set targets on what heart rate zones to train in. All this will make it an easier and more efficient process achieving the ideal resting heart rate.