Know your numbers: What is your heart rate?
Your heart rate, or pulse, is the number of times your heart beats per minute. Your resting heart rate is when the heart is pumping the lowest amount of blood you need because you're not exercising. If you're sitting or lying down ― and you're calm, relaxed and aren't sick ― your heart rate is typically between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
Why your heart rate matters
Cardiovascular exercise, also called cardio or aerobic exercise, keeps you and your heart healthy. This specific type of exercise gets your heart rate up and your heart beating faster for several minutes. Cardiovascular exercise helps strengthen your heart, allowing it to pump blood more efficiently and improving blood flow to all parts of your body. It also boosts your high-density lipoprotein (or HDL), or "good" cholesterol, and lowers your low-density lipoprotein (or LDL), or "bad" cholesterol. This may result in less buildup of plaque in your arteries.
What's your target heart rate?
Your target heart rate is the minimum heart rate you need to maintain in a given amount of time to reach the energy level necessary to give your heart a good workout. To find your target heart rate to maximize your cardiovascular exercise, the first step is determining your maximum heart rate.
Your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. Your target heart rate for moderate to vigorous exercise is about 50%–85% of your maximum heart rate.
Averages by age as a general guide are:
- 20: 100–170 beats per minute
- 30: 95–162 beats per minute
- 35: 93–157 beats per minute
- 40: 90–153 beats per minute
- 45: 88–149 beats per minute
- 50: 85–145 beats per minute
- 55: 83–140 beats per minute
- 60: 80–136 beats per minute
- 65: 78–132 beats per minute
- 70: 75–128 beats per minute
Interested in wellness tips?
Expert health advice, inspired stories, upcoming events and other helpful information can be delivered to your inbox. Sign up today!
Introducing the Primary Care On Demand app
Mayo Clinic Health System is excited to introduce a new mobile app, Primary Care On Demand, which gives you 24/7/365 access to care, including video visits with a physician. Using the mobile app, patients and community members ages 18+ can receive assessment and treatment for symptoms and conditions like sore throat, rash, cough, aches and pains, upper respiratory infection, sinusitis, urinary tract infection and more.
Primary Care On Demand is an extension of your care team. The on-demand team will be available to care for patients in the evenings, overnight, weekends and when in-clinic same-day appointments are filled.
If you complete a video visit with a Primary Care On Demand physician, Mayo Clinic Health System will bill your insurance like other primary care video visits.
Download the Primary Care On Demand app
Scan this code or choose the appropriate link below to download the Primary Care On Demand app.
