Heart Rate Chart: Rest, Exercise and Target Pulse Rate

Heart rate, also known as pulse rate, refers to the number of heartbeats per minute (bpm). The heart can pump oxygen-rich blood to the body’s tissues through regular contractions. Your heart rate varies due to many factors. It is usually at its lowest during sleep and at its highest during periods of exercise. Age, gender, or physical condition can also cause different heart rates.

Heart rate is the primary indicator of overall heart health and fitness. It is essential for those who love fitness or care about health to pay attention to their heart rate. To take full advantage of workouts, it is best to keep your heart rate between 60% and 85% of your maximum heart rate, called aerobic heart rate.

However, how to track the heart rate when working out? How to know whether the heart rate is in the normal range? This article provides you with various heart rate charts that can help determine the normal resting and maximum heart rates.

Heart Rate Chart
Heart Rate or Pulse Rate Chart

5 Heart Rate Charts Help Monitor Your Pulse Rate

How to know what is resting heart rate and maximum heart rate? How to determine the target heart rate? Let’s discuss it below.

1. Normal Heart Rate Chart When Resting By age

Resting heart rate refers to the number of heartbeats per minute when your body is calm or at complete rest. It represents the work that your heart must do when your body is not active. This indicator can well measure the health level of your heart.

The best time to measure your resting heart rate is before any activity in the early morning. Generally speaking, fewer heartbeats per minute and a lower resting heart rate indicate a better health level of the heart. This means that the heart does not have to work hard to pump blood throughout the body.

Age18-25 years26-35 years36-45 years46-55 years56-65 years65+years
Well-conditioned Athlete49-5549-5450-5650-5751-5650-55
Good56-6555-6557-6658-6757-6756-65
Normal70-7371-7471-7572-7672-7570-73
Bad82+82+83+84+82+80+

2. Resting Heart Rate Chart For Children

The resting heart rate of children is very different from adults, and the heart rate is often faster than adults. This is a child’s resting heart rate chart.

AgeHeart Rate
Newborn(0-3months)100-150 bpm
Infants(3-12months)90-150 bpm
Childeren(ages 1-10)70-130 bpm
Childeren(Over ages 10)60-90 bpm

3. Maximum Heart Rate Chart

Maximum heart rate refers to the maximum number of heartbeats in one minute during strenuous exercise. It can be used to measure training intensity and fitness level.

You can measure your maximum heart rate to assess whether physical exercise is sufficient to increase your heart rate. And to ensure that the heart rate remains within an acceptable range during exercise.

The maximum heart rate can be measured after completing the exercise test. It can also be determined by standard formulas based on age and gender. The common formula for calculating the maximum heart rate is as follows:

  • Maximum HR for men = 220-your current age
  • Maximum HR for women = 226-your current age

For example, the maximum heart rate of a 32-year-old man is 220-32 = 188 beats per minute.

AgeMaximum Heart Rate For MenMaximum Heart Rate For Women
20 years200 bpm206 bpm
25 years195 bpm201 bpm
30 years190 bpm196 bpm
35 years185 bpm191 bpm
40 years180 bpm186 bpm
45 years175 bpm181 bpm
50 years170 bpm176 bpm
55 years165 bpm171 bpm
60 years160 bpm166 bpm
65 years155 bpm161 bpm
70 years150 bpm156 bpm

4. Target Heart Rate Chart

What is the target heart rate? The target heart rate refers to the heart rate zone to maximize the benefit and reduce the risk. During exercise, the ideal target heart rate is usually 50-85% of the maximum heart rate.

The ideal target heart rate for moderately strenuous exercise is usually about 50-69% of the maximum heart rate. The target heart rate for vigorous physical exercise should be controlled at 70% to 85% of the maximum heart rate. It is recommended not to exceed 85% of the maximum heart rate, which will increase the risk of cardiovascular and orthopedic injuries.

With the target heart rate Chart, you can determine whether you should increase or decrease your exercise intensity. An exercise that exceeds the target heart rate is often not beneficial to the body.

In addition, you need to know that the target heart rate varies from person to person, and this value may increase or decrease depending on your health. Moreover, the target heart rate is only one factor, and you also need to consider your feelings during exercises, such as muscle fatigue and difficulty breathing.

AgeHeart Rate Zone For MenHeart Rate Zone For women
20 years100-170 bpm103-175 bpm
25 years98-166 bpm100-171 bpm
30 years95-162 bpm98-167 bpm
35 years93-157 bpm95-162 bpm
40 years90-153 bpm93-158 bpm
45 years88-149 bpm90-154 bpm
50 years85-145 bpm88-150 bpm
55 years83-140 bpm85-145 bpm
60 years80-136 bpm83-141 bpm
65 years78-132 bpm80-137 bpm
70 years75-128 bpm78-133 bpm

5. Heart Rate Chart by Training Intensity

This chart can determine your heart rate in different exercise intensity zones. This chart includes age, low intensity, moderate intensity, vigorous intensity, and the aerobic zone.

Age

Low Intensity
(57-63%)
Moderate Intensity
(64-76%)
Aerobic
Zone
(70-80%)
Vigorous Intensity
(77-95%)
Maximum
Intensity
(96-100%)
20 Years97-116

116-135

135-155

145-164

194
25 Years95-114

114-134

133-152

143-162

190
30 Years93-112

112-131

131-149

140-159

187
35 Years92-110

110-128

128-147

138-156

183
40 Years90-108108-126

126-144
135-153

180
45 Years88-106
106-124

124-141

133-150

177
50 Years87-104

104-121

121-139

130-147

173
55 Years95-102

102-119

119-136

128-145

170
60 Years83-100

100-117

117-133

125-142

167
65 Years82-98

98-114

114-131

123-139

163
70 Years80-96

96-112

112-128

120-136

160

How to Take Your Heart Rate or Pulse Rate?

Pulse is the heartbeat felt through the arterial wall of the wrist. It is commonly used to measure heart rate, expressed as beats per minute (BPM).

How to take your pulse with a radial pulse? It would help if you placed your middle fingers on the inside of your opposite wrist. Once you feel the pulse, you can calculate the pulse within one minute.

You can also measure the pulse at the carotid artery on the side of the neck, the femoral artery on the front of the hip joint, or the temporal artery at the temple.

In addition, you can use a home sphygmomanometer or a digital fitness tracker on a smartphone for measurement. However, they are not as accurate as checking your heart rate manually.

Factors That May Affect Your Heart Rate

Typically, your heart rate is relatively stable, but some factors may disturb your heart rate. This will make the measured number differ from the range in the normal heart rate chart above. These factors include:

Fast heart rate:

  • Exercise or workout
  • Certain medication
  • Caffeine or alcohol intake
  • Taking stimulants or smoking
  • Anemia, thyroid, or heart disease
  • Fever caused by a cold
  • Nervousness or excitement

Slow heart rate:

  • Take certain medication
  • Chronic heart disease or Hypothyroidism
  • The body is at rest, such as sleeping
  • Certain quiet activities such as meditation
  • High-level fitness
  • Peripheral arterial disease

Conclusion

Through the above heart rate charts, you can get an insight into the health level of your heart. By comparing the maximum rate with the target heart rate, you can effectively determine your exercise intensity. If your heart rate is out of the normal range during exercise, you should stop immediately. If the condition does not improve after some time, seek medical help as soon as possible.

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