Resting Heart Rate
Also written as: Pulse, RHR
The number of times the heart beats each minute while the body is fully at rest.
What it measures
How many times the heart beats per minute while at rest, felt at the wrist or neck or read by a monitor. It reflects the balance between the parts of the nervous system that speed the heart up and those that slow it down.
Why it is checked
Recorded as part of routine vital signs at most visits. It offers a quick window into fitness, hydration, thyroid activity, medication effects, and whether the heart's rhythm is regular.
What is generally associated with a higher result
Broadly associated with fever, dehydration, anemia, an overactive thyroid, anxiety, deconditioning, and stimulants such as caffeine. A persistently rapid or irregular resting pulse is broadly associated with heart rhythm disturbances.
What is generally associated with a lower result
Broadly associated with high aerobic fitness, since a trained heart moves more blood with each beat, and also with certain medications and an underactive thyroid. In some contexts very slow rates are broadly associated with problems in the heart's electrical conduction.
Everyday things that move this number
Not every shift in a value reflects disease. These are ordinary factors known to affect this particular measurement:
- Caffeine, nicotine, or a recent meal
- Recent exercise, which can raise it for hours after a hard session
- Stress, anxiety, or a poor night's sleep
- Body position and how long the person has been sitting quietly before the count
- Fever or a recent illness
Questions to take to your appointment
- Is my rhythm regular, not just the rate itself?
- Could any of my medicines or supplements be influencing it?
- Are readings from my watch or fitness tracker reliable enough, or should the pulse be checked manually?
Build a printable questionnaire with your own results →
Where to read more
MedlinePlus, from the US National Library of Medicine, publishes patient-facing pages on individual lab tests and is a reliable next stop: medlineplus.gov/lab-tests .
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