ever since i learned about the resting heart rate in high school, i've used it as a measure of fitness. it doesn't stand alone as the single greatest way to determine whether you're healthy or not, but it's a useful tool to have in your repertoire.

i just took mine (here at work), counting the beats for an entire 60 seconds, and it was 63 beats/min. it's best to measure it right when you wake up in the morning, but i never remember to. my RHR is somewhere aroung 53-54 the last time i checked.

a healthy range is between 60-80. wiki says that the average man's is 70, while the average woman's is 75. athletes tend to be lower. the husband of one of my college professors was a marathon runner. his RHR was 37. lance armstrong's is 32-34.

if you don't know how to measure your resting heart rate, it's easy to learn. simply find your pulse on your wrist or neck (below your jaw bone). look at a watch and count how many times your heart beats in 60 seconds. make sure to use your index and middle finger. your thumb has a pulse of it's own and might throw you off.

it's better to count for the full 60 seconds, rather than counting for 15 and multiplying by 4. you'll get a more accurate reading because your heart rate tends to fluctuate over short periods (slows as you exhale and speeds up while you inhale).

if you check right now and find your heart rate is higher than 80, don't start worrying (well worry a little, but not too much). your heart rate increases with a lot of factors including anxiety and stress. you might be nervous enough while checking your pulse to raise your HR by 5-10 beats per minute.

my goal RHR is 40. that's substantially lower than what it is now. i'll try to check it tomorrow morning so i can give an accurate record.

What's your Resting Heart Rate?

Heh. Exactly 75. Average is SO obnoxious.

I'll have to try first thing in the morning tomorrow and see if that's any different.

A goal of 40 thats a great goal!! Good luck!!

Last time I had a medical mine was 52, but that was a while ago now so I'm hoping I will have improved on that. To be honest it never crosses my mind to check it, but maybe I should get into the habit?

I just keep doing regular bleep tests and generally use that as a guide. My ex-girlfriend used to have a heart rate under 40 and she never ever went to the gym? The docs couldn't explain it, and I certainly wouldn't know how to explain it either?

At last check, my RHR is 62, down from around 80 two years ago. I'd like to get it lower. Sometimes when I use my treadmill, I stand there and see how low I can get my heart rate before I start. Lowest I was ever able to get was 64, which was a huge surprise.

My husband's heart rate has always been really low, and he's in terrible shape right now. Just another one of those genetic things.

mine was 53 bpm (5:00 pm).

later

I try to remember to check mine when I wake up in the morning because having an elevated HR when you wake up is a sign of overtraining. Mine is usually 48 bpm.

yes, that's a great piece of info for anyone who's worried that they might be overtraining.

Mine is about 64 bpm right now. I'll have to try to remember to take it before I get out of bed one of these mornings.

Joel,

Mine's pretty much the same as yours: 54. Last I checked anyway and that was before I started doing more cardio training.

i hop out of the bed in the morning and never remember to check my HR. i think it's going to be higher than 54, because i haven't been running for a quite a while. we're going in opposite directions, hehe.

I just tried again, and it was 58. Woo hoo! Now THAT's pretty cool. That's also much closer to my mother's resting heart rate, so I can tell her I'm as cool as she is now.

Joel,
make a sign and tape it to your ceiling so that you see it when you open your eyes...maybe that will help you to remember to take your HR before you jump out of bed. I actually did this...its a little weird but it worked! haha.