Training guide
Your resting heart rate is how often your heart beats when you're sitting quietly, usually somewhere between 60 and 100 beats a minute. Regular exercise lowers it, mostly endurance exercise such as brisk walking, cycling or running, because a fitter heart pumps more blood with each beat. The fall is real but modest, a few beats a minute on average, and it builds over months rather than days.
A lower number isn't a goal in itself, and no trial has shown that lowering it helps you live longer. This guide covers what's normal and how to measure it so a change is real, how much exercise lowers it and how fast, what strength training, yoga and slow breathing add, what sleep, alcohol, caffeine and heat do, a 12-week plan with moves and workouts, and when a slow, fast or irregular pulse needs a GP or 999. Our resting heart rate test has the norms for your age.
The NHS and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) give 60 to 100 beats a minute for adults at rest, and the BHF adds that some people sit outside it. Fit people are often in the 50s or lower. Our resting heart rate test has the norms for your age and sex.
Across 191 studies, exercise lowered resting heart rate by about 3 beats a minute compared with no exercise, with endurance training and yoga lowering it most. People who started higher tended to drop more.
In beginners who walked or jogged 3 times a week, about half the fall came by 3 months and all of it by 6. In 86 trials, the fall had gone once people stopped training.
Steady cardio at a pace where you can talk but not sing, building from 20 to 30 minutes on 3 to 5 days a week towards 150 minutes or more a week, then one harder session a week once you have a base, and strength training on 2 days. The 12-week plan below puts it in order.
Sit quietly for 5 minutes, at the same time of day, and average 2 or 3 days. A watch works it out mostly while you sleep, so its number reads lower. Alcohol, poor sleep, illness and heat all push it up for a while.
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Higher resting rates go with higher death rates across large groups, but that's an association: no trial has shown that lowering your rate adds years. Many fit people's rates are low and healthy. A slow, fast or irregular pulse with dizziness, fainting, chest pain or breathlessness needs checking, not training: see the warning signs.
Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats a minute when you're sitting or lying quietly, awake. The NHS and the BHF give 60 to 100 for adults. Under 60 is common if you're fit, asleep or taking a beta blocker, and the BHF says to try not to worry about it if you're well and have no symptoms.
Endurance training makes the heart pump more blood with each beat, so it needs fewer beats at rest. Athletes' hearts also have a lower built-in rate, not only more of the calming (vagal) nerve activity that slows the heart. In rats and mice, training changed a channel in the heart's natural pacemaker, and the slower rate reversed within 2 weeks of stopping.
Age, sex (the BHF says women's rates are about 3 beats higher, because their hearts tend to be slightly smaller), genes, sleep, alcohol, illness, heat, stress, pregnancy and medicines such as beta blockers all play a part.
In 92,457 adults wearing trackers, people's usual resting rates differed by up to 70 beats a minute, so compare yourself with yourself, not with a friend or a chart. In trials, people who started higher saw bigger falls, and older groups smaller ones that took longer.
Sit quietly for 5 minutes, then count your pulse at your wrist or neck for 30 seconds and double it. Do it at the same time of day, before coffee or exercise, on 2 or 3 days, and take the average. Our resting heart rate test has the full method and the norms.
Trackers work out your resting rate mostly while you sleep, when it's lowest: it averaged 65 in 92,457 wearers. Don't compare a watch's overnight figure with a count taken sitting up, and judge the trend over weeks.
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In the same study, 1 in 5 people had at least one week when their resting rate moved by 10 beats a minute or more. The BHF says not every change in your heart rate means something is wrong.
Most trials are small and short, and resting heart rate was rarely their main measure; the figures on living longer come from studies that watched people over time, which show links, not cause and effect.
Across 191 studies (12,952 people, a median of 12 weeks with 3 sessions a week), exercise lowered resting heart rate by 3.3 beats a minute compared with no exercise, about 5%. Most trials were small and not blinded.
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Endurance training lowered it by about 3 to 6 beats, depending on sex, across 121 comparisons. Falls were bigger in people who started higher.
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In the same review, yoga lowered resting heart rate by about 5 beats a minute, from fewer and smaller trials.
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Strength training gave a small pooled fall that was clear in women but not in the 5 randomised trials on their own. In women after the menopause, a review of 60 studies found a small fall. Do it for strength and bone, with cardio for your heart rate.
In 13 trials of 651 inactive older adults, endurance training lowered resting heart rate by about 6 beats a minute, and programmes longer than about 30 weeks may be needed. Older groups saw smaller falls in the larger review.
Across 46 groups of people followed over time (1.2 million people), each 10 beats a minute higher went with about a 9% higher risk of death. In 2,798 Danish men, the link held even after their measured fitness was taken into account. These studies show a link, not that the heart rate itself is the cause.
In 29,325 Norwegian adults, a rate that rose from under 70 to over 85 went with about twice the risk of dying from heart disease, but a rate that fell showed no clear benefit across the group. Exercise has proven benefits of its own; a lower number is a side effect of getting fitter, not the aim.
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In one study of 465 current and former elite endurance athletes, 38% had a lowest heart rate of 40 or below on a 24-hour heart monitor, with no link to adverse outcomes over 5.5 years. There's no single number that is too low for everyone: what matters is whether you have symptoms such as dizziness, fainting or unusual tiredness.
In 18 untrained adults who walked or jogged for 45 minutes 3 times a week for a year, resting heart rate fell by about 9 beats a minute: about half of it by 3 months and all of it by 6. The study was small and had no comparison group.
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In 507 previously inactive adults who cycled 3 times a week for 20 weeks, resting heart rate fell by about 3 to 5 beats, while heart rate during the same exercise fell by much more. A walk that once raised your pulse a lot will raise it less: that's a better sign of progress than your resting number.
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Across 86 randomised trials, resting heart rate was back to where people started at every point measured after training stopped, including within the first 2 months. Most of the studies had some risk of bias. Keeping some regular cardio keeps the fall.
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Walk briskly, cycle, run, row, swim or use the cross-trainer at a pace where you can talk but not sing. Start with 20 to 30 minutes on 3 to 5 days a week and add about 5 minutes a session each week until sessions reach 30 to 60 minutes (our editorial starting point, as in our stamina and zone 2 guides), building towards the NHS's 150 minutes of moderate activity a week or more.
Once 30 minutes feels comfortable, swap one session a week for intervals, such as the Norwegian 4x4, as our stamina guide suggests. Intervals raise fitness a little more than steady training, but the resting heart rate trials were mostly of steady training, and we found no evidence that intervals lower it more.
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The NHS advises strength work on at least 2 days a week. It lowered resting heart rate only a little in trials, but it's good for your muscles, bones and blood sugar. Breathe out as you lift.
Expect a few beats over 3 to 6 months, and check every 4 weeks, the same way each time. Training hard every day to force the number down won't speed it up.
Our editorial plan, built from our stamina and zone 2 guides' starting point, our resting heart rate test's method, the UK activity guidelines and the time course above. No trial has tested this exact plan.
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The movement on the figure: Treadmill walking
At a pace where you can talk but not sing: start with 20 to 30 minutes on 3 to 5 days a week and add about 5 minutes a session each week towards 30 to 60, building to 150 minutes a week (our stamina and zone 2 guides' starting point).
3D demoTreadmill walkingBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoStationary cyclingBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoIndoor rowing (rowing machine)Beginner · Cardio machine
3D demoElliptical trainerBeginner · Cardio machine
3D demoTrail running and walkingBeginner · No equipment
3D demoTreadmill joggingIntermediate · Cardio machine
3D demoStep jack (low-impact jumping jack)Beginner · No equipmentAdd one interval session a week once 30 minutes of steady cardio feels comfortable: for example 4 rounds of 4 minutes hard with 3 minutes easy between, as in our Norwegian 4x4 workout, or 3-minute fast walks with 3 minutes easy.
2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 to 3 reps short of failure, as our plans' notes say; breathe out as you lift. It lowered resting heart rate only a little in trials, but it does much else for you.
Slow breathing lowers your heart rate while you do it and helps you settle for 5 minutes before a pulse check; it hasn't been shown to lower your resting heart rate over weeks, as our resting heart rate test says.
In a review of 32 trials (767 people, mostly healthy young men), heart rate rose by about 5 beats a minute in the 6 hours after one drink (2 small trials, 28 people), and was still about 3 beats higher 13 hours or more after heavy drinking (4 trials, 154 people). In 4,098 employees, heart rate in the first hours of sleep rose with the amount drunk. The NHS advises no more than 14 units a week, spread over 3 or more days.
In 6 trials (485 people), 3 to 6 cups of coffee a day for 2 to 24 weeks changed resting heart rate by less than half a beat. Caffeine can still bring on palpitations in some people, the NHS says, so notice whether it affects you, and measure before your first cup.
In adults who slept poorly, programmes that helped them sleep longer lowered heart rate by about 1 beat a minute (4 studies, 164 people). Losing sleep shifted heart rate variability towards stress across 11 trials. Aim for 7 to 9 hours, as our stamina guide suggests.
In 83 adults over 65 wearing watches through a summer, resting heart rate rose a little on hotter days, about 0.1 beats for each degree. Our resting heart rate test lists hot weather and being dehydrated as reasons a reading runs high: measure on another day.
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NHS Better Health says that 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your pulse rate is already starting to return to normal, and that it's easier to stop with the right support.
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Slow breathing raised heart rate variability during and after practice across 223 studies, and the NHS breathing exercise for stress helps you calm down. We found no trial showing that it lowers your resting heart rate over weeks, or a resting heart rate figure for stress management.
Beta blockers slow the heart: that's what they're for. In heart failure trials, a bigger fall in heart rate on a beta blocker went with fewer deaths, but those were patients on medicine, not people training. Take medicines as prescribed and ask your doctor before changing them.
Most of the fall in resting heart rate in trials came from regular endurance exercise over months. Start with the easy cardio workout or the walking plan, 3 to 5 times a week, and add the 4x4 once a week when 30 minutes feels comfortable.
A steady 30 to 45 minute cardio session at talk-but-not-sing pace: walk, cycle, row or cross-train, counting toward weekly activity guidelines.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallA 25-minute walk with short faster bouts: notice your heart and breathing speed up, then settle. A gentle way to get used to the feelings of effort.
25 minBeginner5 movesCardio machine, A wallA 40-minute walk alternating 3 minutes fast and 3 minutes easy, five times over: the interval walking tested in Japanese trials, built up from three rounds.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallThe Norwegian 4x4, a well-studied interval session for raising VO2 max: four 4-minute hard efforts with 3 easy minutes between, on a bike, rower or treadmill.
40 minIntermediate3 movesCardio machine, A wallA 30-minute beginner run-walk session: a brisk walk, then 1-minute jogs with 1-minute walks, building to 3-minute runs over your first three weeks.
30 minBeginner5 movesCardio machine, A wallA 25-minute standing cardio circuit with no jumping: marching, step jacks, sit-to-stands, punches, step-ups and wall push-ups, with a seated option for most moves.
25 minBeginner9 movesA bench or box, A stepA 25-minute beginner rowing machine workout: set the damper, learn the stroke one part at a time, row three easy rounds of 4 to 5 minutes, then stretch.
25 minBeginner4 movesCardio machineA 30 to 45-minute beginner pool swim: a shoulder warm-up on the side, easy lengths, a main set of repeats with rests, and an easy swim down, any stroke.
35 minBeginner5 movesOther / check instructionsA 6-minute breathing routine: slow breathing, crocodile breathing, alternate nostril breathing, box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing.
6 minBeginner5 movesNo equipmentThe walking plan builds to 150 minutes a week over 8 weeks; Couch to 5K builds to 30 minutes of easy running; the 7-day plan mixes cardio and strength.
A free 8-week walking plan for beginners: build to 150 minutes of brisk walking a week, with intervals, hills and two short strength sessions.
6 training days40 minBeginner3 days a weekA 9-week beginner plan with the same walk-to-run shape as Couch to 5K: three run-walk sessions a week, from 1-minute jogs to 30 minutes of running.
3 training days35 minBeginner7 days a weekA full week that mixes intensities: three strength days, two cardio days, a mobility day and an easy day, never seven hard days.
3 training days45 minBeginner5 days a weekA free 30-day walking challenge for beginners: five walks a week, from 10 to 25 brisk minutes, with rest days and a step target built on your own average.
5 training days25 minBeginnerSlowing your heartbeat is what these medicines do, and the survey left out people taking them, so the percentiles don't fit. Follow any target your care team has given you; our heart rate zones calculator has a box for these medicines.
On a beta blocker: heart rate targets don't apply, so use the talk test.
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Counting is unreliable and watches read low, and the survey left out irregular pulses. Count for a full 60 seconds and see your GP; our atrial fibrillation guide covers exercise.
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High blood pressure that isn't yet controlled: keep to moderate effort until it is.
Blood Pressure UK: from 140/90 to 179/99 it should be safe to increase your activity; from 180/100 to 199/109, speak to your doctor or nurse first; at 200/110 or above, don't start any new activity.
Resting heart rate rises by about 10 to 20 beats a minute in pregnancy, and the survey left out pregnant women. Mention palpitations or a very fast rate to your midwife or GP.
With dizziness, this can be a sign of postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). See your GP, and see our PoTS guide.
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A pacemaker stops your rate dropping below a set value, so the number reflects its setting as much as your fitness, as our pacemaker guide explains. Follow your pacing clinic's advice.
All of these raise your rate for reasons that aren't your resting rate. Measure on another day.
The BHF notes that trackers can increase health anxiety, and our guide to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) says checking your pulse over and over for reassurance may be part of OCD. Take a break from checking, see our anxiety guide, and talk to your GP.
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For most people, regular exercise lowers the risk of AF. Very high volumes of endurance sport over many years have been linked with more AF, mainly in men, in observational studies. If that's you, talk to a cardiologist rather than giving up exercise.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise.
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
If you've had palpitations with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint but they've now stopped, ask your GP surgery for an urgent appointment, call 111 or use 111 online. The BHF says to talk to your GP or call 111 if palpitations are frequent or last a long time, or come with chest pain or dizziness.
In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
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If you're usually fit and healthy and have no symptoms, the BHF says to try not to worry if your heart rate drops below 60. The same number with dizziness, faintness, fainting or unusual tiredness needs a GP. The AHA advises calling the emergency services if your heart rate is suddenly very high or very low for you, especially with symptoms.
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Get help from NHS 111: pain or tightness in your chest, neck, shoulders, jaw or arms that comes and goes, often brought on by exercise, stress, emotion or cold and easing after a few minutes' rest. It can be angina, a sign of a heart problem. If you've been diagnosed with angina, get help from NHS 111 too if it feels worse than before, is happening more often, lasts longer or happens when you're resting.
In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
Stop straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, the NHS says, and contact 111 if your symptoms worry you or don't go away.
If your resting rate stays several beats above your usual for a few days with no obvious reason, such as a cold, a late night, alcohol or a hot spell, swap hard sessions for easy ones, and see a GP if it stays raised or comes with the symptoms above (our suggestion).
Speak to a GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or if you have a medical condition or concerns. Get advice first, too, if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, have recently had a heart attack or an operation, or are pregnant or have recently given birth.
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If you have a heart condition, follow your cardiac team's advice on how hard to work, and stop for the warning signs above. People with long-term conditions may wish to ask their specialist before starting. With uncontrolled high blood pressure, avoid straining against a held breath; the high blood pressure guide has more.
Higher rates go with higher risk across large groups, but no trial shows that lowering your rate adds years, and a slow rate with dizziness or fainting needs a GP. An athlete's slow pulse without symptoms is usually harmless.
It's common in fit people, during sleep and on beta blockers. What matters is whether you have symptoms.
The falls in trials came over months: about half by 3 months and all of it by 6 in one small study.
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Slow breathing raises heart rate variability during and after practice, and slows your heart while you do it, but we found no trial showing a lasting fall in resting heart rate.
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Steady endurance training and yoga lowered it in trials, and we found no evidence that intervals lower it more.
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In regular drinkers, 3 to 6 cups a day for weeks didn't change it in trials, though caffeine can bring on palpitations in some people.
Changes after heavy training can fall within normal day-to-day variation, as our resting heart rate test says, and alcohol, illness, heat and poor sleep raise it too. Look at the trend and how you feel.
Regular endurance exercise is the main way: brisk walking, cycling, running, rowing or swimming, building to 150 minutes a week or more at a pace where you can talk but not sing. Across 191 studies, exercise lowered resting heart rate by about 3 beats a minute, with endurance training and yoga lowering it most. Good sleep, less alcohol and not smoking help too.
Months, not days. In one small study of beginners, about half the fall came by 3 months and all of it by 6, and most trials ran about 12 weeks. Your heart rate at the same walking pace falls by more than your resting rate does.
A few beats a minute on average: about 3 to 6 with endurance training and about 5 with yoga, with bigger falls in people who start higher. In older adults, endurance training lowered it by about 6 beats, often over longer programmes.
Endurance exercise you'll keep doing, such as walking, cycling, running or swimming. Strength training helps a little and is good for you anyway. Add one interval session a week once 30 minutes of steady cardio feels comfortable.
A little, and not consistently: the pooled effect in trials was small and clearer in women. Do it for strength and bone, with cardio for your heart rate.
Slow breathing lowers your heart rate while you do it and helps you settle, which is why our test uses it before a measurement. Your resting rate itself only changes with fitness over months. If a fast heartbeat comes with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint, call 999.
A cold or fever, alcohol the night before, poor sleep, hot weather, stress, dehydration or a hard training block can all raise it for a few days. If it stays high for no clear reason, or comes with palpitations, dizziness or breathlessness, see the warning signs.
Yes, for hours. In a small number of trials, one drink raised heart rate by about 5 beats a minute for up to 6 hours, and after heavy drinking it was still about 3 beats higher the next day. Heart rate during sleep rose with the amount drunk.
Regular coffee didn't in trials: 3 to 6 cups a day for weeks changed it by less than half a beat. Caffeine can still bring on palpitations in some people, so measure before your first cup.
It can be normal, especially if you're fit, and it's often lower during sleep. Many endurance athletes' heart rates dip to 40 or below at times without harm. A slow pulse with dizziness, fainting, unusual tiredness or breathlessness needs a GP.
Not necessarily. Lower rates go with lower risk across large groups, but that's a link, not proof, and no trial shows that lowering your rate adds years. Train for fitness and how you feel, not for the number.
It drifts back. In trials, the fall had gone after training stopped, so keeping some regular cardio keeps it.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
