Resting heart rate (RHR) refers to the number of times your heart beats per minute when you’re at rest. It can be a helpful indicator of your sleep quality, recovery, and overall health.
In general, a lower RHR is a sign of good physical fitness and overall health, while a higher RHR suggests potential illness, stress, or something else is challenging your body.
According to Mayo Clinic, most healthy adults can expect resting heart rates to range from 60 to 100 beats per minute. But what about Oura Members?
Here’s what aggregate data shows across Oura Members of varying age and gender.
LEARN MORE: All About Your Resting Heart Rate
Lowest Resting Heart Rate
In the graphs below, we’re analyzing members’ lowest resting heart rate — a single number that takes into consideration members’ baselines. Learn more about how Oura measures RHR here.
Overall, Oura members’ resting heart rates range from the mid-50s to mid-60s. This chart shows that resting heart rate increases slightly until about age 60, at which point it levels off and lowers slightly.
For female Oura members, the average lowest RHR is 58.1 and for men, it’s 54.5.
As these charts show, women tend to have a slightly higher RHR than men. This has to do with the size of the female heart, which is typically smaller than males. Because a smaller heart pumps less blood with each beat, the smaller female heart beats at a faster rate to match the larger male heart’s output.
Average Resting Heart Rate
These charts look at members’ average RHR captured during the night.
Average heart rate patterns tend to follow similar patterns to lowest heart rate across age and gender distributions.
What Factors Affect My Resting Heart Rate?
Your RHR is affected by a number of factors, both in and out of your control.
To lower your resting heart rate, the best thing to do is to get regular cardiovascular exercise — walking, jogging, cycling, or swimming all count. Other tips include:
- Go to bed at a consistent time.
- Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and smoking.
- Stay well hydrated.
- Practice stress management techniques such as breathwork or meditation. Find some follow-along exercises in the Explore content in your Oura App.