How to have a low heart rate

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Heart Health

August 29, 2020

  • By Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

How to have a low heart rate
When you sit quietly, your heart slips into the slower, steady pace known as your resting heart rate. An increase in your resting heart rate over time may be a signal of heart trouble ahead.

Your heart rate changes from minute to minute. It depends on whether you are standing up or lying down, moving around or sitting still, stressed or relaxed. Your resting heart rate, though, tends to be stable from day to day. The usual range for resting heart rate is anywhere between 60 and 90 beats per minute. Above 90 is considered high.

Many factors influence your resting heart rate. Genes play a role. Aging tends to speed it up. Regular exercise tends to slow your heart rate down. (In his prime, champion cyclist Miguel Indurain had a resting heart rate of just 28 beats per minute.) Stress, medications, and medical conditions also influence your resting heart rate.

Results of observational research studies support a link between health and heart rate. Researchers from Norway previously reported the results of a large study looking at changes in resting heart rate over 10 years. They recruited more than 29,000 people without any history or heart disease, high blood pressure, or any other type of cardiovascular disorder, and measured their resting heart rates when they started the study and again 10 years later. This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Compared to people whose resting heart rates were under 70 beats per minute at the study’s start and its end, those whose resting heart rate rose from under 70 to more than 85 were 90% more likely to have died during the course of the study. The increase in risk was slightly less for those with resting heart rates of 70 to 85 at the study’s start and who had a greater than 85 at the study’s end.

Although 90% sounds like a huge and scary increase, let me put it in perspective. Among the group whose heart rates stayed under 70 throughout the study, there were 8.2 deaths per 10,000 people per year. Among those whose heart rates rose above 85, there were 17.2 deaths per 10,000 people per year.

The results also suggested that lowering your resting heart rate over time may be beneficial, but the researchers could not say that for certain.

How to lower your resting heart rate

You don’t need a doctor’s visit to keep track of your resting heart rate. The best time to measure it is before you get out of bed in the morning. You can measure your heart rate at your wrist or neck by placing one or two fingers over a pulse point, counting the number of beats in 15 seconds, and multiplying by four.

By doing these 4 things you can start to lower your resting heart rate and also help maintain a healthy heart:

  1. Exercise more. When you take a brisk walk, swim, or bicycle, your heart beats faster during the activity and for a short time afterward. But exercising every day gradually slows the resting heart rate.
  2. Reduce stress. Performing the relaxation response, meditation, tai chi, and other stress-busting techniques lowers the resting heart rate over time.
  3. Avoid tobacco products. Smokers have higher resting heart rates. Quitting brings it back down.
  4. Lose weight if necessary. The larger the body, the more the heart must work to supply it with blood. Losing weight can help slow an elevated resting heart rate.

About the Author

How to have a low heart rate

Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Howard LeWine, M.D., is a practicing internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Chief Medical Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, and editor in chief of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. See Full Bio

View all posts by Howard E. LeWine, MD

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How to have a low heart rate

ECG strip showing a normal heartbeat

How to have a low heart rate

ECG strip showing bradycardia

Bradycardia is a heart rate that’s too slow. What’s considered too slow can depend on your age and physical condition. Elderly people, for example, are more prone to bradycardia.

In general, for adults, a resting heart rate of fewer than 60 beats per minute (BPM) qualifies as bradycardia.

But there are exceptions. Your heart rate may fall below 60 BPM during deep sleep. And physically active adults (and athletes) often have a resting heart rate slower than 60 BPM.

How to have a low heart rate

View an animation of bradycardia.

Causes of bradycardia

Causes for bradycardia include:

  • Problems with the sinoatrial (SA) node, sometimes called the heart’s natural pacemaker
  • Problems in the conduction pathways of the heart that don’t allow electrical impulses to pass properly from the atria to the ventricles
  • Metabolic problems such as hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone)
  • Damage to the heart from heart disease or heart attack
  • Certain heart medications that can cause bradycardia as a side effect

Symptoms of bradycardia

A heart rate that’s too slow can cause insufficient blood flow to the brain. Symptoms of bradycardia include:

  • Fatigue or feeling weak
  • Dizziness or lightheadedness
  • Confusion
  • Fainting (or near-fainting) spells
  • Shortness of breath
  • Difficulty when exercising
  • Cardiac arrest (in extreme cases)

Complications of bradycardia

Left untreated, severe or prolonged bradycardia can cause:

  • Heart failure
  • Fainting (syncope)
  • Chest pain (angina pectoris)
  • Low blood pressure (hypotension)
  • High blood pressure (hypertension)

Treatment of bradycardia

Borderline or occasional bradycardia may not require treatment.

Severe or prolonged bradycardia can be treated in a few ways. For instance, if medication side effects are causing the slow heart rate, then the medication regimen can be adjusted or discontinued.

In many cases, a pacemaker can regulate the heart’s rhythm, speeding up the heart rate as needed.

Why is my heart rate so high?

Stress, exercise, or even too much alcohol or caffeine can cause your heart to beat faster than normal. But if your heart races a lot—or if you notice your heartbeat is often irregular—then you should see a doctor.

What is the lowest ever heart rate?

The lowest resting heart beat on record is 27 bpm belonging to Martin Brady (UK, b. 24 March 1969) who was tested at the Guernsey Chest and Heart Unit, Channel Islands on 11 August 2005.