Healthy living
Exercise and fitness
Your pulse rate
Your resting pulse rate is measured by most blood pressure monitors, or you can do it yourself by counting the beats in your wrist or neck against the second hand of your watch
What you need to know is the number of beats per minute. Generally the lower it is, the fitter you are - unless you have a pacemaker or heart disease.
Pulse rate fluctuations
Your pulse rises to meet the demands of activity, then recovers as you rest. The degree of increase and decrease in pulse, and the speed of recovery increases as you get fitter.
You can calculate the optimum rise during exercise, and use a pulse monitor to maintain that level during your exercise spells and check your rate of recovery as you rest afterwards. Try recording your 'activity pulse' immediately after you complete your exercise, then your recovery pulse' two minutes later.
The difference between the two figures is a measure of your recovery rate. You can monitor your progress towards fitness by recording your recovery rates after the same spell of exercise each day.
If you set the level of your daily activity according to your pulse, you will gradually do more and get fitter quite safely with each exercise session - three 30-minute spells per week are sufficient.
You will quickly see improvements in your body fat and blood pressure measurement, and recovery of your pulse to resting levels.
So what are 'normal' pulse rates?
The average resting heart rate for an adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, while well-conditioned athletes can achieve between 40 and 60 beats per minute. The maximum pulse rate is 220 minus your age, and the target for a healthy pulse rate during, or just after, exercise, is 60-80 per cent of this.
Therefore, if you are aged 50, you should aim to build up fitness gradually until you reach a target pulse rate during exercise of between 102-136 bpm (beats per minute).
If you are aged 55, your target should be between 99-132 bpm, age 60 = 96-128 bpm, age 65 = 93-124bpm, age 70 = 90-120 bpm, and age 75 = 87-116 bpm.
Keeping track
If you keep track of how long it takes for your pulse rate during exercise to return to its normal resting rate, within four weeks of starting regular exercise your efforts should be rewarded with a noticeable reduction in recovery time.
However, the target rates given are only guidelines, as your pulse rate may be affected by other factors such as medication, pacemakers or certain forms of heart disease.
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Reader comments
I am interested in an answer to Mr. Mohammed's question. I, too, excercise regularly and feel that my typical maximum is just fine, but after almost 2 hours it recovers to just 85 bpm. My normal resting heart rate is about 60 bpm. Is my recovery time too long?
Posted by: Richard Lorenz | 21/06/2008 03:18:10
I AM 65 YEARS OLD AND TO-DAY AFTER 20 MINS OF EXERCISE MY PULSE RATE WAS 94,after 1hr it was still about 70.Was that to long ingetting back to normal?
Posted by: a.mohammed | 22/05/2008 23:09:54
Answer for Belinda Vickery. Your daughter's reading is normal. The 'top' number is the systolic pressure, which is measured when the ventricles in the heart contract forcing blood into the aorta and pulmonary arteries. When the ventricles relax again then this gives the 'bottom' reading or the diastolic pressure.The average person has a reading of 120 over 80.Hope this makes it a little clearer.
Posted by: Denise | 13/04/2008 17:36:11
my daughter has a sats reading of 115 over 95 can you explain what the top is and the bottom is
Posted by: belinda vickery | 09/04/2008 10:45:19
I am 61 years of age, I run three time per week and have a resting pulse of 33 is this too low ?
Posted by: Terry Cokeley | 03/03/2008 20:05:23
Your advice is useful but does not give any advice for anyone who takes medication for systolic hypertension. I am 70 with an excellent physique maintained by regular excercise, yet my resting pulse rate varies between 46 -50 beats per minute
Posted by: Jack Adams | 29/12/2007 10:52:45
Very helpful information and guide to pulse rate which I have been trying to find out for some time. MJW
Posted by: Michael Woollard | 19/12/2007 17:10:10
Information on this site is for interest only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should consult your own doctor about any specific health concerns.