Pay Attention to the Resting Heart Rate on Your Smart Watch

Why knowing your personal norm can help you keep tabs on your health

Lauren Tanabe
Elemental

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A woman stretching while wearing a smartwatch.
Photo: Grace Cary/Getty Images

“According to my Fitbit, I’m probably going to die soon,” I informed my husband.

“Probably from stressing about those numbers,” was his not completely unreasonable response.

“Those numbers” were my resting heart rate (RHR), the number of times a heart beats in a minute while the body is at rest. My Fitbit told me it seemed high, around 85 beats per minute (bpm). “Poor,” the smartwatch declared about my overall cardiorespiratory fitness.

I found that hard to believe considering I regularly log well over 10,000 steps chasing after two little kids all day long. How accurate are the health metrics on my smartwatch and how seriously should I take them? I worried and wondered. While seeking out the answers to these questions, I discovered that RHR is more than a potential window to health. When combined with wearable fitness technology, it could also have an unexpected but timely role during the pandemic.

For years, studies have shown an association between a high RHR and risk of illness or mortality. The link makes sense: a lower RHR would imply that the heart is working more efficiently. Think of the oft-cited example of super…

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Lauren Tanabe
Elemental

I’m a writer in Detroit and former scientist. I have a sciencey PhD from Columbia University and two young kids. I like coffee, silence, and brains. ltanabe.com