Resting heart rate

• Age, general health, sex, fitness, smoking, alcohol and some medicines.
• A fever or infection commonly raises it.
• Women tend to have a slightly higher resting rate than men.
• Some people sit outside 60 to 100 bpm without a problem.

Source: British Heart Foundation

• Most trackers report a resting figure from a quiet period, often during sleep.
• Wrist readings are less reliable during vigorous or irregular movement than at rest.
• Clinicians use a pulse check or ECG when they need a reliable reading.

• Watch the trend in your own resting rate, not a single day.
• A rise above your usual lasting weeks, with no clear cause such as illness, new medicine or alcohol, is worth mentioning to a GP.
• So is a rate that stays slow with tiredness or fainting.

Source: British Heart Foundation

• NHS: see a GP if palpitations keep coming back, happen more often or last longer than a few minutes.
• NHS: also see a GP about palpitations if you have a heart condition or a family history of heart problems.
• NHS: call 999 or go to A&E if palpitations do not go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or fainting.

Source: NHS

What is a normal resting heart rate for an adult?

The British Heart Foundation says usually 60 to 100 bpm, and some people sit outside this range without a problem.

Is the figure on my tracker the same as a clinic reading?

Not always. Wrist trackers estimate heart rate optically; studies found small median errors in controlled testing, but accuracy depends on the device and on movement.

• Your heart rate, British Heart Foundation
• Heart palpitations, NHS
• Accuracy in Wrist-Worn, Sensor-Based Measurements of Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure in a Diverse Cohort, Journal of Personalized Medicine, 2017 (Shcherbina et al.)
• Reliability and Validity of Commercially Available Wearable Devices for Measuring Steps, Energy Expenditure, and Heart Rate - Systematic Review, JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2020 (Fuller et al.)