The number of times your heart beats in a minute is referred to as your heart rate. A healthy resting heart rate (RHR) is between 50 and 90 beats per minute for most people, but this number might vary based on medications and exercise level. To calculate your RHR, place two fingers on the side of your neck or wrist, count the number of beats you feel for 15 seconds, and multiply by four. You can also use one of the many free smartphone apps that detect your pulse in your fingertip using your phone’s camera. A higher resting heart rate is something to be concerned about. The higher your resting heart rate, the greater your risk of dying, according to several research. The majority of this risk is caused by heart disease, but other causes of death also play a role. A RHR of more than 90 beats per minute was linked to a greater risk of heart disease death in one study (doubled in men and tripled in women). If you’re healthy and fit, your heart will quickly recover from exercise and return to a normal rate. If you’re out of shape, on the other hand, you’ll likely be huffing and puffing after an exercise, and your heart rate will be elevated for a longer period of time. You can check this by measuring your heart rate recovery (HRR), which is the difference between your heart rate when you’re working out hard and your heart rate one minute afterwards. Exercising at a high intensity for a few minutes will help you determine your HRR. “High-intensity exercise” is defined as “being unable to pronounce more than three or four sentences without exerting significant effort and breathing primarily through your mouth,” according to Dr. Sinha. Stop exercising and take a heart rate reading right away, then another one minute later. It’s common for your heart rate to drop 15-25 beats per minute in the first minute. The more decreases you have, the fitter you are.
