Normal Resting Heart Rate for Men

Heart rate is measured by calculating pulse felt at the wrist or the neck. Pulse rate, also known as the heart rate, indicates how many number of times your heart beats in a minute. The unit of heart rate is bpm (beats per minute). What is the normal pulse rate for men? The normal pulse rate range for men and women is 60-100 bpm. Small children (1-10 years) and infants have slightly higher pulse rate than adults. The pulse rate calculated when you are at rest is known as normal or resting pulse rate, or normal / resting heart rate (RHR). The resting heart rate for men may vary according to the age, activity, lifestyle and overall health of a man.

Healthy Resting Heart Rate for Men

Since thousands of years, heart rate has been measured to assess the health of a person. The function of the heart is to pump blood. You must have noticed that the heart rate increases during exercise and you feel breathless if you continue exercising with very high heart rate. Exercising increases the demand for blood and oxygen from the body. To meet this demand, heart has to put some extra efforts. When the heart works harder and faster, you experience rapid heart beats. When athletes undergo endurance training, the capacity of their heart and lungs increase significantly. The heart of an athlete who performs intensive exercises can pump more blood in one contraction. It needs to contract less number of times within a minute to meet the demand of the body. Therefore, athletes exhibit an amazingly lower resting heart rate. It is better to have a heart rate nearer to the lower end of the normal heart rate range. It indicates healthy heart and lungs. Take a look at the following chart and check whether you have a poor, good or excellent heart rate.

Normal Resting Heart Rate for Men

Age Group	Exceptional RHR (Athletes)	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Average	Poor	Very Bad
18-25	49-55	56-61	62-65	66-69	70-73	74-81	More than 82
26-35	49-54	55-61	62-65	66-70	71-74	75-81	More than 82
36-45	50-56	57-62	63-66	67-70	71-75	76-82	More than 83
46-55	50-57	58-63	64-67	68-71	72-76	77-83	More than 84
56-65	51-56	57-61	62-67	68-71	72-75	76-81	More than 82
Above 65	50-55	56-61	62-65	66-69	70-73	74-79	More than 80

Heart rate depends upon the lifestyle. Those who lead a sedentary lifestyle exhibit slightly higher heart rate. Men generally are more active than women and hence show a slightly lower RHR than women. The normal RHR for men is around 68-75 bpm. Women have RHR around 75-80 bpm. But bad habits like following unhealthy diet, having heavy fatty meals, late night dinners, excessive smoking, excessive consumption of alcohol and drugs, use of certain medications, leading a hectic and stressful lifestyle can seriously affect the RHR of men as well as women. Higher or lower than normal RHR indicates impaired function of the heart. This can result in serious consequences. Men should at least try to maintain their heart rate nearer to the average RHR for men.

Overweight men have higher RHR than men with normal weight. But losing too much of weight in a short period can affect the heart rate seriously. Men diagnosed with diseases, infections may not have a healthy RHR. Diseases and disorders affect the heart health seriously. So to have normal RHR, one has to first control the diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. Heart diseases, blockage in the arteries, lung problems, thyroid problems, emotional stress, body position, excessive exertion can affect the heart rate significantly.

Men and women can maintain their resting heart rate within the normal range. For that they need to follow a healthy diet, lead a healthy lifestyle and perform exercises regularly. Those diagnosed with diseases and those on medications need to consult a physician before opting for a workout program. Simple exercises like walking, cycling, swimming, if performed regularly, can help maintain the health of the heart.