How To Lower Your Resting Heart Rate Naturally—and What a Healthy Number Really Is
Whether stress, insomnia or too much coffee spiked your heart rate, you can bring it back down
Key Takeaways
- A resting heart rate above 100 beats per minute warrants medical evaluation.
- You can measure resting heart rate manually or with a wearable tech device.
- Natural remedies such as stress relief, exercise, hydration and sleep may help lower your RHR.
Ever check your smartwatch or Oura ring and notice your resting heart rate is higher than you expect? You do your best to follow a healthy diet and get regular physical activity, so what gives? We asked a top cardiologist to explain what this metric means for your overall health—including what a “normal” reading really is—plus how to lower your resting heart rate starting today.
What does resting heart rate mean?
“Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute while you are completely at rest, meaning you are awake, calm and not engaged in any physical exertion,” says Kardie Tobb, DO, MS, FASPC, FACC, a board‑certified preventive cardiologist and the medical director for the Cone Health HeartCare Women’s Heart Health and Cardio-Obstetrics Clinic. “It is best measured in the morning after waking, before you get out of bed, eat or have caffeine. In this state, your heart is doing the minimum work necessary to circulate oxygenated blood to your organs and tissues.”
How to measure your resting heart rate
While many people use wearable health tech devices to measure their resting heart rate (RHR), that’s not the only way to keep tabs on your numbers. Dr. Tobb explains that checking your resting heart rate manually first thing in the morning before getting out of bed is actually the most reliable method. Here’s how she says to do it:
Woman's World Answers
- Place your index and middle fingers over the radial artery, which is located on the inside of your wrist just below the base of the thumb.
- Count the number of beats for 60 seconds for the most accurate reading, or count for 30 seconds and multiply that number by two.
Dr. Tobb recommends doing this for several consecutive mornings and averaging the results to understand your baseline resting heart rate.
If you prefer to have a device figure out your RHRe for you, that’s also an option. Dr. Tobb says wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness rings have become increasingly accurate for tracking resting heart rate trends. Still, she notes that accuracy can be affected by how snugly the device fits, wrist placement, movement and, in some cases, skin tone, as the light sensors in many wearable devices are sometimes less accurate in darker skin tones due to melanin.
What is a normal resting heart rate?
A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute for adults, based on standard medical guidelines, says Dr. Tobb. “However, as a preventive cardiologist, I want to emphasize that this range is broad by design to accommodate the general population,” she adds. “In practice, a resting heart rate in the 50s or 60s is generally more desirable than one hovering near 90 or 100, even if that higher number technically falls within the normal range.”
Why your resting heart rate might be high
If your higher resting heart rate came as a surprise to you, your first question is likely “what’s causing it?” Dr. Tobb says a few factors that could be at play include:
- Dehydration
- Chronic stress and anxiety
- Poor sleep or a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea
- Excess caffeine or stimulants
- Lack of exercise
- Hyperthyroidism
- Fever or infection
- Anemia
- Medications (decongestants, stimulant-based ADHD treatments and bronchodilators)
How to lower your resting heart rate naturally
“A resting heart rate above 100 beats per minute is medically defined as tachycardia and warrants evaluation,” says Dr. Tobb. “However, research increasingly suggests that even rates consistently in the 80 to 99 range deserve attention.”
Whether you have a high resting heart rate or you’re trending upwards and want to make changes, Dr. Tobb shares four helpful tips to help you lower your number.
Actively manage stress
It’s one thing to notice you’re stressed and occasionally pause to relax, but it’s another thing to make stress reduction an intentional part of your daily life. Dr. Tobb recommends the latter.
She says you can pick an evidence-based stress reduction method of your choosing with options like deep breathing exercises, tai chi, yoga, spending time in nature, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) and mindfulness meditation. She adds that addressing the source of your chronic stress through lifestyle changes, therapy or social connection is also beneficial.
Why it helps: Dr. Tobb says wellness practices that incorporate breathing and mindfulness directly stimulate the vagus nerve, which is part of the parasympathetic nervous system. She explains this can help slow the sinoatrial node, which is considered the heart’s natural pacemaker, reducing heart rate and lowering the rate of electrical firing in the heart. “Research has shown that consistent mindfulness practice and slow paced breathing can reduce resting heart rate by four to 10 beats per minute over time,” she adds.
Get moving
Getting at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise five days a week with activities like brisk walking, jogging, cycling or swimming is not just great for your body, but also great for your heart health. “You can also achieve comparable benefits with 75 minutes per week of vigorous intensity exercise,” adds Dr. Tobb. “Consistency over weeks and months is more important than intensity on any single day.”
Why it helps: Aerobic exercise helps the heart experience cardiac hypertrophy, which is essentially where it becomes stronger and larger, says Dr. Tobb. “The left ventricle expands and contracts more powerfully with each beat, increasing stroke volume,” explains Dr. Tobb. “As stroke volume increases, the heart needs fewer beats per minute to deliver the same cardiac output and the resting heart rate falls.”
Stay hydrated
Dr. Tobb recommends drinking enough fluids a day so that your urine is a pale yellow color, which translates to two to three liters of water a day. That said,individual needs can vary by body size, climate and activity level. “Reduce reliance on caffeinated beverages, as excess caffeine contributes independently to elevated heart rate,” she adds.
Why it helps: Dr. Tobb explains that staying hydrated ensures your body has enough blood volume moving throughout your blood vessels, which means your heart does not have to beat faster to maintain proper blood pressure. “Even restoring mild dehydration to normal hydration status can lower the resting heart rate by three to seven beats per minute,” she adds.
Prioritize sleep
Aim for seven to nine hours of high quality sleep per night and stick to a consistent sleep and wake schedule even during the weekend, says Dr. Tobb. If that feels challenging, she says avoiding alcohol, heavy meals and screentime before bed can help.
Why it helps: Deep sleep is dominated by parasympathetic nervous system activity, which helps slow the heart rate and allows our hearts to recover and regenerate, Dr. Tobb explains.
The bottom line on lowering your resting heart rate
Discovering that your resting heart rate is higher than you’d like can feel scary. But the truth is, you have more control over this number than you might think. By managing stress, moving your body, staying hydrated and prioritizing sleep, you’re giving your heart exactly what it needs to beat steady.
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