How to measure
How to measure resting heart rate
Resting heart rate (RHR) is your pulse when you have been still for a few minutes — ideally morning, before caffeine.
Typical adult ranges (context, not a diagnosis)
The American Heart Association notes that a normal resting heart rate for most adults is often about 60–100 beats per minute, with trained athletes sometimes lower.1 Your personal pattern and symptoms matter more than a single number.
Finger pulse
- Sit quietly several minutes (AHA consumer guidance commonly uses a short quiet period before counting).1
- Find the pulse on your wrist (radial) or neck (carotid — gentle pressure only).
- Count beats for 30 seconds and multiply by 2, or count a full 60 seconds.
Wearable or Kardia
A watch or KardiaMobile PDF upload can fill the same field. Prefer a resting reading, not mid-workout. Consumer ECG devices are for rhythm screening education — not a substitute for clinical ECG when a clinician orders one.2
Alternative educator themes (not medical advice)
| Educator | Theme | VitalGauge framing | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Eric Berg | Stress / recovery lifestyle themes that often sit beside heart-rate education | Log RHR as a habit metric — not a “fix your heart rate” protocol. | Berg3 |
| Dr. Sten Ekberg | Autonomic / recovery education themes | Morning resting reads beat mid-caffeine chaos. | Ekberg4 |
| Dr. Josh Axe | Lifestyle heart-health education | Pair tracking with clinician review when patterns change. | Axe5 |
What to enter
Use the Resting heart rate (bpm) field in the app. Talk to a clinician about your pattern if readings are persistently outside your usual range or you have symptoms.
Open the app · Kardia PDF how-to · More how-tos
Citations
- American Heart Association. All About Heart Rate (Pulse) — typical adult resting ranges and how to check. heart.org
- AliveCor. Kardia product information — personal ECG for detecting certain arrhythmias; not for heart attack detection. alivecor.com
- Berg, E. (educational). drberg.com
- Ekberg, S. (educational). drstenekberg.com
- Axe, J. (educational). draxe.com