Beats Per Minute at Rest (36bpm)

A low resting heart rate (measured in bpm - beats per minute) is one indication of cardiac efficiency - when there are no underlying cardiovascular issues or meds prescribed.  It is only one indication, for fitness and cardiac health other factors such as V02 max, stroke volume, cardiac output and blood pressure are also important to note.  But this is a simple measure to test.

Generally the lower the resting heart rate, the less the heart muscle has to work to do its job. It is one marker for a healthy cardiovascular system and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Here was my resting heart rate earlier this morning; 36bpm - as low as an elite athlete without the punishing, and gruelling endurance training usually required to get there. It may not sound as appealing as 'get a six-pack in 30 days' but it is far more beneficial to one's health than revealing abs.

Some of my clients have achieved a reduction of 30 bpm when undertaking one of my programs...

Review: Instant Heart Rate App (iPhone)

 My resting heart rate during testing

There are a few apps for the iPhone that promise to read and display your heart rate.  None of these seem to work very well - if at all.  However I have found a gem of an app that actually works and is very accurate.

What is more phenomenal is how it does this.  It uses the camera flash on the iPhone 4 to measure the change in colour as blood flow increases and decreases with your pulse, taking around 30 seconds to read.  This is a functional as well as a very impressive app, and the cheapest heart rate monitor I have come across.  

It's free (with ads and limited functionality) - or 0.59p (UK) for a fully featured version.

Note: Resting heart rate (RHR) - is the number of heart beats per minute when we are at rest; the average is usually between 60 and 80/min.  The resting heart rate can be one indication of your basic fitness level, in most cases the lower the better.   The better trained your body, the less effort and fewer beats per minute it takes your heart to pump blood to your body whilst at rest.

Update on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 7:48 by Darryl Edwards

This is also available for Android devices at the Android Marketplace