What is a normal heart rate for women?

Our resting heart rates are a good indicator of how efficiently our lungs and heart are working and generally speaking how healthy we are. However there are many factors that need to be considered at the time calculating the heart rate:

• Our present level of fitness
• The air temperature, humidity and our body temperature
• Time of day
• Type and quality of food ingested (coffee, sugars, salts etc.)
• Stress and anxiety
• Body frame (generally speaking taller people have lower heart rates then shorter people)
• Medication (cold and flu medication are known to increase the heart rate)
• Age
• Gender (men will usually have lower resting heart rates than women)
• Genetics

Am I at risk if I have a high resting heart rate?

Statistically, yes. It's been medically proven that a high resting heart rate is directly related to heart disease. And therefore measuring a woman's resting heart rate is probably one of the most inexpensive ways to monitor health risks.

A study in the British Medical Journal showed that postmenopausal women with resting heart rates of more than 76 beats per minute are 26 per cent more likely to experience heart conditions than those with heart rates of 62 beats per minute or lower.

When is the best time to measure your resting heart rate?

As soon as you wake up. You body hasn't been effected by movement, anxiety, food, medication etc.
Remember to measure your rate for a full minute, and another good idea is to measure your heart rate over a few successive mornings and take the average.

How to measure and calculate your heart rate:
Place your index and middle fingers on the back of your wrist just below the thumb. Shift the fingers slowly along the wrist until you feel your pulse clearly. With a watch or clock count the number of beats in 1 minute.

Note: The resting heart rate chart below gives an idea of a normal heart rate for women considering age and fitness level. The figures shown below AGE represent bpm or heart beats per minute.

Normal Heart Rate for Women (resting bpm)
AGE	18-25	26-35	36-45	46-55	56-65	65+
Athlete	54-60	54-59	54-59	54-60	54-59	54-59
High Fitness	61-65	60-64	60-64	61-65	60-64	60-64
Good Fitness	66-69	65-68	65-69	66-69	65-68	65-68
Above average	70-73	69-72	70-73	70-73	69-73	69-72
Average	74-78	73-76	74-78	74-77	74-77	73-76
Unfit	79-84	77-82	79-84	78-83	78-83	77-84
Poor Fitness	85+	83+	85+	84+	84+	84+

 

What is my target heart rate?

Your target heart rate is an aerobic zone of between 50% to 85% of your maximum heart rate. It is in this zone that you get the most benefits from exercise - your heart and lungs perform the best within this range, you burn more calories and you recover quicker.
For more about finding your optimal exercising heart rates see our target heart rate zone.

 

Navigate from normal heart rate for women to target heart rate chart.