Resting Pulse Rate Chart for Adults

The measurement of pulse rate has been used to assess the overall health of an individual since thousands of years. Pulse rate is also known as heart rate, as it denotes the number of times your heart beats in a minute. The unit of measurement is beats per minute (bpm) and it indicates how many times the heart contracts in a minute.

Resting pulse rate is nothing but the pulse rate when you are at rest. It is also referred to as 'normal pulse rate' or 'normal heart rate' or 'resting heart rate (RHR)'.

Resting heart rate of newborn infants is higher than that of adults. Information on variations in resting pulse rate by age is provided below

Newborn infants: 100-160 bpm
Children belonging to the age group 1-10 years: 70-120 bpm
Children over 10 and adults (even elderly): 60-100 bpm
Well-trained athletes: 40-60 bpm.

The heart rate not only depends on age, but also on other factors that include heart and lung health, overall health, gender, lifestyle, etc. The intensive training that athletes undergo, helps enhance the capacity of their lungs and heart significantly.

Presence of diseases and disorders like thyroid problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc., can affect the capacity of the heart and lungs. A healthy heart beats slowly, so that it doesn't have to put extra efforts to pump the required quantity of blood. A weak heart beats faster as it has to work harder to fulfill the body's need of oxygen.

A sedentary lifestyle is also linked to a comparatively higher RHR than those who are physically active. Alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and use of certain medicines may affect your pulse rate significantly. During exercise, the demand for blood and oxygen increases, and therefore the heart starts beating faster.

Athletes can exercise with higher pulse rate than the normal people as their bodies are toned in that manner. Thus, healthy or ideal pulse rate may vary from person to person, and it does not depend only on age.

Women, generally, have slightly higher pulse rate than men. Owing to increased metabolism, pregnant women have slightly higher pulse rate than normal women. An overweight person has higher RHR than the heart rate of another person of the same age. Apart from this, a younger woman has slightly higher pulse rate than an older woman.

Certain lifestyle changes like avoiding excess alcohol consumption, avoiding smoking, performing regular exercises, avoiding excessive consumption of medicines, and following a healthy and balanced diet can help enhance the capacity of lungs and heart. Simple dietary and lifestyle changes can thus bring about significant improvement in the pulse rate.