There’s a great deal of attention paid toblood pressure readings— for good reason, considering it’s amajor indicationof cardiovascular health — but if you’re trying to track your progress in terms of improving your overall wellness, you may want to consider also taking a look at your resting heart rate.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Blood pressure is the rate at which blood travels through the body via the circulatory system, rising with each heartbeat as blood is pushed from the heart into the arteries, and falling as the heart relaxes between beats.
Resting heart rate, also known as your pulse, is a measure of how many times your heart beats per minute, while you’re “at rest,” which means not actively exercising. The American Heart Association推荐getting an accurate reading by putting your finger on a pulse point like your wrist, the side of your neck or inside your elbow and counting the number of beats in 60 seconds.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a normal rate ranges from 60–100 beats per minute. Generally, a lower rate at rest indicates better heart function. For instance, a well-conditioned athlete may have a resting heart rate closer to 40 beats.
WAYS TO LOWER YOUR PULSE
There are some non-lifestyle factors that go into your rate, like age, body position (it’s higher when you stand) and air temperature. But there are also plenty of changes you can make to begin bringing your resting heart rate down.
The top way to lower your resting heart rate is through regular exercise, because that makes your cardiovascular system more efficient, according to Dr. Robert Greenfield, medical director of non-invasive cardiology and cardiac rehabilitation at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center.
“As you become better conditioned, your resting heart rate will start to lower, because your heart won’t have to work as hard at rest, thanks to a more efficient system,” he says.
Dealing with emotional stress is another way to get your heart health on track. TheUniversity of Rochester Medical Center notesthat psychosocial factors like grief and depression can contribute to heart attack risk, and stress can elevate your chances of heart disease. Also,stress may lead to unhealthy behaviorslike smoking, overeating, physical inactivity and drinking too much alcohol.
Losing weight也有帮助，因为过多的体重倾向于使心脏更加努力地为身体提供血液。如果您使用烟草产品，请绝对尝试减少或戒烟，因为戒烟往往会降低静息心率。
WHEN TO SEE A DOCTOR
Resting heart rate is mostly a health marker that’s worth noticing as a sign of progress in terms of fitness, but there are a couple of instances where it may warrant getting checked out.
如果您的静息心率始终高，或者您注意到心率在激烈运动后几分钟内不会降低，请考虑检查。您是钳工，它应该越快降至正常。
另一个考虑因素是，您是否看到静息心率显着甚至增加。根据最近的瑞典人study，心率稳定的人患心脏病的风险较低，但是看到增加的人的风险较高。
这是因为哥德堡大学的研究合着者萨利姆·巴里瓦尼（Salim Bary Barywani）表示，静息心率的增加可能是心血管变化的警告信号，例如高血压或早期心脏病。休息心率的其他原因可能会向上趋势，包括对药物的反应不佳，甲状腺激素水平升高，贫血或潜在的感染。
What if your resting heart rate is on the lower end and then suddenly surges upward, but still stays within that normal range? See a doctor anyway, Barywani advises.
“That’s a worrying signal, even if you only go up by 10 beats per minute,” he says. “I would get that checked, especially if that increase tends to persist.”
