Resting Heart Rate: What's Normal and How Training Changes It

For most adults, a normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute, according to the NHS. Regular training often nudges that number lower over weeks and months, which is why a fitter heart can sit below 60 at rest. This guide covers how to measure yours properly, what the number can tell you about your training, what pushes it up, and when it is worth speaking to your GP.

What is a normal resting heart rate?

Your resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats in a minute when you are fully relaxed, not moving, and have not just eaten, exercised or had a coffee. The NHS describes a normal resting heart rate as 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm) for adults.

That is a wide range, and there is no single perfect number. Age, genetics, body size, fitness, medicines and even the time of day all play a part. As general guidance, people who train regularly often sit at the lower end of the range or below it, and some very fit endurance runners and cyclists see readings in the 40s. So two healthy people can have resting heart rates 20 beats apart.

The most useful number is not someone else's. It is your own usual range, and how it moves over time.

How do you measure your resting heart rate?

You can do it with two fingers and a clock, or let a watch do it for you. Either way, the timing matters more than the tool.

By hand (the finger method):

• Sit or lie still for about five minutes first. Do not check straight after climbing the stairs.
• Turn one hand palm up. Place the index and middle fingers of your other hand on the thumb side of your wrist, just below the base of your thumb. Press gently until you feel the beat.
• Do not use your thumb to feel for it, as your thumb has a pulse of its own and can confuse the count.
• If the wrist is tricky, try the side of your neck, just beside your windpipe under the jaw. Press lightly.
• Count the beats for 60 seconds, or count for 30 seconds and double it.

With a watch or ring: most fitness watches use an optical sensor on the underside to estimate heart rate, and many work out a resting figure from overnight or all-day readings. Wear the watch snug, about a finger's width above your wrist bone. Wrist readings are estimates and different devices calculate resting heart rate in different ways, so compare your watch with itself over time rather than with a friend's.

When to measure: first thing in the morning is best, after you wake and before coffee, food or checking your emails. Take a reading on most mornings for about a week and average them. That gives you a rough baseline to compare against.

Why does resting heart rate often drop as you get fitter?

The short version: with regular aerobic training, the heart tends to become more efficient. It can push out more blood with each beat, so it often needs fewer beats to do the same job at rest. Changes in how your nervous system controls your heart at rest are thought to play a part too.

A few things worth knowing:

• It is usually gradual. Changes tend to show over weeks and months of consistent training, not after one good week.
• It varies a lot. Some people see a clear drop, others only a few beats. Genetics plays a big role, so a smaller change does not mean your training is not working.
• Easy aerobic work matters. Steady, conversational running, cycling or brisk walking builds the aerobic base that is most linked with a lower resting heart rate. Our guide to the five running heart rate zones explains how to keep easy days genuinely easy.
• Strength and HIIT still count. They build fitness in other ways, and a balanced week of running, strength and HIIT supports your overall health even if the resting number moves slowly.
• It is not a target. Chasing a lower number for its own sake is not the goal. Treat it as one signal among many.

What can push your resting heart rate up?

A morning reading a few beats above your normal is common and usually has an everyday explanation. Here are the usual suspects, as general guidance.

The flip side is useful too. If your resting heart rate is creeping up over a couple of weeks and you feel flat, it can be a sign you need more recovery. Our guide to the signs of overtraining and how to recover covers what to look out for.

How can you use resting heart rate in your training?

Once you know your baseline, resting heart rate becomes a simple morning check-in. Here is a sensible way to use it.

• Look at the trend, not the day. One high reading after a bad night means little. Several days in a row well above your normal is worth noticing.
• Pair it with how you feel. A higher number plus heavy legs, poor sleep or a sore throat is a good reason to swap a hard session for an easy one or a rest day.
• Use a rough rule of thumb. Many coaches treat a morning reading several beats above your usual average as a nudge to go easier that day. It is a guide, not a rule.
• Check progress every few months. Compare your average this month with the same period earlier in the year, not last Tuesday.
• Add HRV if you want more detail. Heart rate variability is a more sensitive recovery signal that many watches now track. Our HRV guide for hybrid training explains how to read it alongside resting heart rate.

Is a low resting heart rate a good sign?

Often, yes, if you train regularly and feel well. A reading in the 50s, or lower, can be normal for a fit person. But a low number is not automatically a good thing. If your resting heart rate is below 60 and you do not do much exercise, or a low reading comes with dizziness, fainting, unusual tiredness or breathlessness, speak to your GP. Some medicines, such as beta blockers, can also slow your heart rate, so mention anything you take.

When should you see a GP about your heart rate?

Resting heart rate is a handy training tool, not a diagnosis. Speak to your GP if:

• your resting heart rate is often above 100 when you are relaxed
• it is low and you are not especially fit, or you have symptoms such as dizziness, fainting or breathlessness
• your pulse feels irregular, or your watch keeps flagging an unusual rhythm
• you get palpitations (a racing, pounding or fluttering heartbeat) that keep coming back, last longer than a few minutes, or you have a heart condition or a family history of heart problems, which the NHS lists as reasons to see a GP

The NHS advises calling 999 or going to A&E if you have palpitations that do not go away, or palpitations with chest pain, shortness of breath, or feeling faint or fainting. Do not train through symptoms like these.

How does Edge help you train at the right effort?

A lower resting heart rate tends to come from consistent, well-balanced training, and that is what Edge is built for. Edge Pro gives you a fully personalised plan across running, strength, HIIT and mobility as one hybrid plan, so easy runs stay easy and hard days are spread sensibly through your week. It syncs with Strava, Garmin, Apple Health and Coros, and if your numbers look off or you feel run down, you can message a real coach anytime. Edge is free to use, and Edge Pro starts from £19.99 a month with a 7-day free trial (a card is needed to start the trial).

This article is general guidance, not medical advice. If you are new to exercise, returning from injury, pregnant, or managing a health condition, speak to your GP before starting, and see a physio for any niggle that does not settle.