Normal Heart Rate According To Age And How To Calculate It

Multiple specialists have determined that the maximum heart rate during exercise should be 220 bpm minus the person’s age. However, it is essential to remember that average heart rate is not a specific value and is measured by ranges, which vary with age.

Taking all of the above into account, the average heart rate during exercise in adults is as follows:

• Twenty years: from 100 to 170 bpm.
• Thirty years: from 95 to 162 bpm.
• Forty years: from 90 to 153 bpm.
• Fifty years: from 85 to 145 bpm.
• Sixty years: from 80 to 136 bpm.
• Seventy years: from 75 to 128 bpm.

What factors alter the average heart rate?

When we move, the heart begins to beat faster. Walking briskly, we will be between 80 to 120 beats per minute. Even eating already gets us up to 70-100 beats per minute.

Of course, there is a noticeable increase in heart rate during sports. And when doing physical activity, the demand for energy increases, and the heart has to work with greater force.

High-performance athletes reach 180-200 beats per minute. In this sense, depending on the level of intensity, the beats accelerate, reaching 120-160. However, at rest, they are below 60. This is explained by a Revista de Psicología del Deporte study.

high heart rate

Various factors affect or affect the average heart rate, causing it to accelerate. When it rises above the upper limit of average, it is called tachycardia   and appears in the following situations:

• Ambient temperature: if the temperature increases, the heart works more.
• Emotions: stress, anxiety, fear, joy, and love can speed up your heartbeat.
• Overweight: in people with obesity, the number of beats per minute is possibly higher than usual.
• Fever: this condition increases the metabolic and cardiovascular demands of the organism, consequently increasing the heart rate. That is why tachycardia is a frequent finding in people suffering from infections.
• Sexual intercourse: the sexual act is a physical activity in itself that encourages cardiovascular work.
• Elevated blood pressure: arterial hypertension is usually accompanied by an increase in the number of beats per minute in a compensatory manner.
• Ingestion of abundant meals: the consumption of food in excess increases the cellular work and, consequently, the need for greater blood flow to the tissues. This is greater before the intake of foods rich in fats and sugars.
• Cardiac Pathology: Tachycardia is a typical finding in people with heart failure, atherosclerosis, and valvulopathies.

low heart rate

Bradycardia is a heart rate below the lower limit of normal. This is less frequent than the previous one and can appear as a result of the following conditions:

• Age: When we get older, not only do we slow down when we walk, but our heart beats more slowly.
• Medications: Beta-blockers slow the pulse, while amphetamine derivatives speed it up.
• Hypotension: The reduction in blood pressure is often accompanied by a decrease in heart rate, nausea, and drowsiness.
• Heart disease: electrical conduction disturbances at the cardiac level, such as sinus node blockage and dysfunction, are often accompanied by bradycardia. In addition, these patients also have respiratory distress and dizziness.

How to calculate heart rate?

The parts of the body where we can most easily feel the pulsations are the back of the wrists and on one side of the neck (just below where the lower jaw ends). The recommendation is that if you measure the pulse on the wrist, gently place the middle and index fingers of the opposite hand without pressing. The thumb should not be used.

Then, looking at a clock, count the number of pulsations or beats for 60 seconds. Some people prefer to count for 15 seconds and then multiply by 4. Others prefer to use a portable device called a heart rate monitor.

The idea is to take measurements when lying down or sitting, totally calm. According to the standards we have already seen, the average resting heart rate should be between 60 and 100 per minute.

Of course, you can and should also know your heart rate during physical activity. The procedure to do it is the same, with the difference that the moment would be during or just after finishing an exercise.

maximum heart rate

The measurements obtained before must be compared with the maximum heart rate. This is also standard. As its name implies, it indicates the most significant number of beats the stressed heart could achieve in one minute.

Several formulas determine this measure. The most common and straightforward is subtracting the person’s age from 226 (if she is a woman) or 220 (if she is a man). Thus, the maximum heart rate of a 50-year-old woman would be 176 beats per minute, for example.

Other forms, such as the Karvonen formula, are considered more accurate. It seeks to determine the optimal heart rate to achieve in the exercise. To do this, other variables are included in the calculations, such as resting heart rate upon awakening.

However, the purpose of these calculations is that once the maximum heart rate is determined, you know at what level you exercise without incurring excesses. According to this, we have to control the pace without overdoing it. If we want to work at moderate intensity, we must be at 50-70% of the maximum frequency. But if we aim to increase endurance or aerobic capacity, we can reach 70-85%.

Why is it important to know the heart rate?

We should be attentive to the heart rate for two fundamental reasons. The first is to rule out possible diseases. This is the reason why the doctor examines us.

However, although the heart rate is a reference that helps to detect pathologies, not all diseases are associated with irregular heartbeats, and not all irregular heartbeats are signs of pathology.

On the other hand, the heart rate allows us to know our physical condition and if we are working at an adequate level of training. The latter would help adjust the plan and assess progress.

For such purposes, we must periodically measure the pulse during training. If we are significantly accelerated or af,ter a session, it takes a long time for the heart rate to return to normal; we are doing something wrong.

How to maintain an average heart rate?

Cardiovascular health care is essential to improve our quality of life, especially as we age. Some recommendations from the Spanish Heart Foundation to maintain an average heart rate are the following:

• Practice aerobic exercise regularly, 3 to 4 times a week.
• Increase the consumption of vegetables, fruits, and vegetables.
• Reduce the intake of salt, processed foods, and sugary drinks. 
• Limit or avoid alcohol consumption.
• Reduce or eliminate smoking. 
• Avoid stressful environments.
• Limit work overload.

When to go to the doctor?

An alteration in the average heart rate can be eventual or transitory. But if it recurs, it is a sign that we should not ignore it.

On the other hand, when doing sports, it is not strange that we feel accelerated and with a high rhythm. The weird thing would be for this to continue for a long time.

Episodes of fast or slow heartbeats, without apparent cause or reason or accompanied by weakness or dizziness, should be reported to the doctor immediately to rule out an emergency. Remember that your pulse is a health tool in your hands, literally and figuratively.