Resting Heart Rate for Women

One of the most reliable ways to keep a check on the performance of the heart, how it is going and what's its state of health, is by measuring the Resting Heart Rate (RHR). This is why the best time to measure the beats is when the person wakes up in the morning from a good night sleep. Beats Per Minute (BPM) is the unit of measurement. According to experts, lower the RHR value, the healthier the heart is. This is the reason RHR for athletes always remains lower than that of a non-athlete, but a healthy individual.

What is Known As Normal Resting Heart Rate?

For Women By Age
Age	RHR for Athletes	Excellent	Good	Above Average	Average	Below Average	Poor
18-25	54-60	61-65	66-69	70-73	74-78	79-84	85+
26-35	54-59	60-64	65-68	69-72	73-76	77-82	83+
36-45	54-59	60-64	65-69	70-73	74-78	79-84	85+
46-55	54-60	61-65	66-69	70-73	74-77	78-83	84+
56-65	54-59	60-64	65-68	69-73	74-77	78-83	84+
65+	54-59	60-64	65-68	69-72	73-76	77-84	84+

For Men By Age
Age	RHR for Athletes	Excellent	Good	Above Average	Average	Below Average	Poor
18-25	49-55	56-61	62-65	66-69	70-73	74-81	82+
26-35	49-54	55-61	62-65	66-70	71-74	75-81	82+
36-45	50-56	57-62	63-66	67-70	71-75	76-82	83+
46-55	50-57	58-63	64-67	68-71	72-76	77-83	84+
56-65	51-56	57-61	62-67	68-71	72-75	76-81	82+
65+	50-55	56-61	62-65	66-69	70-73	74-79	80+

Normal RHR can be influenced by various factors. Some of them may include:

• Size of the body
• Position when the body is in
• Air temperature and pressure of the area
• Level of physical activity
• Stress, anxiety and other psychological factors
• Use of medication
• Illicit drug use

How to Measure Heart Rate

• As mentioned, morning is the best time to measure your RHR. However, do not begin measuring as soon as you wake up. You got to give yourself some time.
• Keep lying down for about 15 minutes, before you start measuring.
• Post 15 minutes, you can measure your RHR by either placing your index finger and the second one below your jaw. Try to locate the nerve using the tips of the finger. After sometime, you will sense the pulse. So using a clock, measure the beat for about a minute, and that would be your RHR.

You can perform the same process by placing the fingers on your wrist. Alternatively, instead of counting the pulse for one minute, you can count it for 10 seconds and multiply this figure by 6.