Health figures
A review in the medical journal CMAJ brought together 46 cohort studies from different countries, which followed more than 1.2 million people in total: a higher resting heart rate went together with higher mortality, a relative risk of 1.09 for every extra 10 beats per minute (2016).
This page shows which guidelines apply to heart rate and what you are looking at: at rest, in children, during exertion, and what research has measured over the long term. A normal heart rate at rest is between 60 and 100 beats per minute for adults: that is the guideline from the Hartstichting. It is a guideline and not a target value: where you sit between those two limits depends on your fitness, your age, your medication and what you were doing just before the measurement.
| Value | What it measures | Measured in | Period | Uncertainty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 to 100 beats per minute | resting heart rate in adults | adults, general, the Netherlands | information page, last updated 18 August 2025 | not given | 2025 |
| more than 100 beats per minute | threshold that the Hartstichting calls a high heart rate | adults, general, the Netherlands | information page, last updated 18 August 2025 | not given | 2025 |
| 160 to 180 beats per minute | heart rate during exercise | adults, general, the Netherlands | information page, last updated 18 August 2025 | not given | 2025 |
| 120 to 170 beats per minute | resting heart rate, newborns | newborns, the Netherlands | information page, last updated 18 August 2025 | not given | 2025 |
| 65 to 120 beats per minute | resting heart rate, children aged 9 to 12 | children aged 9 to 12, the Netherlands | information page, last updated 18 August 2025 | not given | 2025 |
| 208 minus 0.7 times age beats per minute | predicted maximum heart rate | healthy adults, international, not Dutch | 351 studies, 492 groups | correlation with age r = -0.90 | 2001 |
| 209 minus 0.7 times age beats per minute | the same formula, measured again in the laboratory | healthy adults, international, not Dutch | laboratory study within the same publication | not given | 2001 |
| no difference regression line | difference between men and women in the predicted maximum heart rate | healthy adults, international, not Dutch | 351 studies, 492 groups | not given | 2001 |
| 1.09 relative risk per 10 beats per minute | association between resting heart rate and death from all causes | general population, 46 cohort studies, international, not Dutch | literature searched up to 1 January 2015 | 95% confidence interval 1.07 to 1.12 | 2016 |
| 1.08 relative risk per 10 beats per minute | association between resting heart rate and death from cardiovascular disease | general population, international, not Dutch | literature searched up to 1 January 2015 | 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.10 | 2016 |
| 1.45 relative risk | all-cause mortality at a resting heart rate above 80, compared with the lowest category | general population, international, not Dutch | literature searched up to 1 January 2015 | 95% confidence interval 1.34 to 1.57 | 2016 |
| 1.08 relative risk | cardiovascular mortality at a resting heart rate of 60 to 80, compared with the lowest category | general population, international, not Dutch | literature searched up to 1 January 2015 | 95% confidence interval 0.99 to 1.17 | 2016 |
The question most people ask is about rest: what is normal when you are doing nothing. The answer is a guideline with a lower and an upper limit, and the distance between those two already says a lot.
60 to 100 beats per minute
resting heart rate in adults
The Hartstichting gives 60 to 100 beats per minute as the heart rate at rest in adults.
Source: section "Normale hartslag", first paragraph (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: A guideline is not a target value. Where you sit between these limits depends on your fitness, your age, your medicines and the moment of measuring.
more than 100 beats per minute
threshold that the Hartstichting calls a high heart rate
Above 100 beats per minute at rest, the Hartstichting speaks of a high heart rate.
Source: section "Hoge hartslag" (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: A single measurement above 100 says little: coffee, stress, fever and having just walked up a flight of stairs give the same result.
Forty beats per minute between the lower and the upper limit is a lot. That is because the same number means something different in a trained and an untrained person, and because the moment of measuring counts: just after getting up, after coffee, during a fever or after climbing a flight of stairs you measure something different than after sitting still for ten minutes.
In children the heart rate is higher, and it drops over the years towards the guideline for adults.
120 to 170 beats per minute
resting heart rate, newborns
Newborns have 120 to 170 beats per minute at rest.
Source: table "The heart rate per minute at rest in children" (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: These guidelines apply to children at rest; a crying child measures higher.
65 to 120 beats per minute
resting heart rate, children aged 9 to 12
Children of 9 to 12 years sit between 65 and 120 beats per minute at rest.
Source: table "The heart rate per minute at rest in children" (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: From the age of 12 the same guideline applies as for adults.
According to the table from the Hartstichting, from 12 years the same guideline applies as for adults: 60 to 100 beats per minute. The change towards it happens gradually.
During exertion the heart rate rises, and its upper limit is linked mainly to age.
160 to 180 beats per minute
heart rate during exercise
During exertion the heart rate can rise to 160 to 180 beats per minute.
Source: section "Normale hartslag", the paragraph on exertion (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: How high this is for you depends strongly on your age; see the section on maximum heart rate.
208 minus 0.7 times age beats per minute
predicted maximum heart rate
A meta-analysis of 351 studies with 18,712 participants arrived at 208 minus 0.7 times age as the formula for maximum heart rate, with a correlation of -0.90 with age.
Source: Tanaka, Monahan and Seals, J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37(1):153-6, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: This is a group average. For an individual the measured maximum heart rate clearly differs from it, so the formula is a starting point and not a personal value.
209 minus 0.7 times age beats per minute
the same formula, measured again in the laboratory
A separate laboratory measurement in 514 people in the same publication gave 209 minus 0.7 times the age, almost the same line.
Source: Tanaka, Monahan and Seals, J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37(1):153-6, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: Two methods that arrive at the same line say something about the formula, not about the spread between people.
no difference regression line
difference between men and women in the predicted maximum heart rate
The regression line did not differ between men and women, and it was not shifted by large differences in how much people moved either.
Source: Tanaka, Monahan and Seals, J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37(1):153-6, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: No difference shown is not the same as sameness shown; it means this study found none.
The rule 220 minus your age is everywhere, but the meta-analysis that checked it came out at 208 minus 0.7 times your age. The difference grows with age: at twenty the two formulas differ by a few beats, at seventy by more. Both are group averages, so both say little about your own maximum.
Large cohort studies have looked at whether resting heart rate is linked to death. They do find a link, and it matters that you read what kind of statement that is.
1.09 relative risk per 10 beats per minute
association between resting heart rate and death from all causes
For every 10 beats per minute higher resting heart rate, 46 cohort studies together found a relative risk of 1.09 of death from all causes, with a confidence interval of 1.07 to 1.12.
Source: Zhang, Shen and Qi, CMAJ 2016;188(3):E53-E63, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: This is an association in large groups, not a prediction for one person, and the study does not show that a lower heart rate lowers mortality.
1.08 relative risk per 10 beats per minute
association between resting heart rate and death from cardiovascular disease
For death from cardiovascular disease, the same association was 1.08 per 10 beats per minute, with an interval of 1.06 to 1.10.
Source: Zhang, Shen and Qi, CMAJ 2016;188(3):E53-E63, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: The same limitation: an association within groups, not a cause and not a personal outcome.
1.45 relative risk
all-cause mortality at a resting heart rate above 80, compared with the lowest category
People with a resting heart rate above 80 had a relative risk of 1.45 of death from all causes compared with the lowest category, interval 1.34 to 1.57.
Source: Zhang, Shen and Qi, CMAJ 2016;188(3):E53-E63, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: The categories come from different studies with different measurement methods; the limit of 80 is a way of grouping, not a threshold in the body.
1.08 relative risk
cardiovascular mortality at a resting heart rate of 60 to 80, compared with the lowest category
For a heart rate of 60 to 80, the risk of death from cardiovascular disease was 1.08, but the confidence interval of 0.99 to 1.17 runs through 1: this outcome shows no difference.
Source: Zhang, Shen and Qi, CMAJ 2016;188(3):E53-E63, Results (retrieved 2026-09-16)
What this number does not say: An interval that contains 1 means that no difference fits the data. This row belongs here to show where the association stops.
These figures come from observational research: groups of people were followed for years. Research like that shows that two things move together, not that one causes the other. It also does not show that lowering your heart rate changes the outcome. And a relative risk of 1.09 in a group of a million people says nothing about what happens to an individual.
In controlled exercise studies with 12,952 healthy participants in total, from young to old, resting heart rate in the groups that started moving fell by an average of 3.3 beats per minute more than in the control groups; the programmes lasted a median of 12 weeks, with a median of three sessions a week. Whether a lower resting heart rate also changes health in the long term is not something this research shows.
3.3 lower beats per minute
how much further the resting heart rate fell in the groups that started exercising than in the control groups
In controlled exercise studies, resting heart rate in the groups that started moving fell by an average of 3.3 beats per minute more than in the control groups, with programmes of a median of 12 weeks.
Source: Reimers, Knapp and Reimers, J Clin Med 2018;7(12):503, Results, paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 (retrieved 2026-09-21)
What this number does not say: A group average across all kinds of exercise and all ages, children included, in programmes running from 2 weeks to 2 years. The source gives no confidence interval for the 3.3 beats per minute, the research is not about a Dutch group, and it does not show what a lower resting heart rate means for health in the long term.
Would you like to put your own heart rate next to these guidelines? The heart and vascular test from BioProfile asks for your measured values and gives you a first picture. It is a measurement and not a diagnosis: a score on this test does not establish heart or vascular disease and does not replace your GP.
Or read first what the heart and vascular test measures
A measurement, not a diagnosis.
The Hartstichting gives 60 to 100 beats per minute for adults at rest. That is a guideline and not a goal: people who are well trained often sit below 60 with nothing wrong.
Above 100 beats per minute at rest, the Hartstichting speaks of a high heart rate. A single measurement above that after coffee, stress or a flight of stairs says little; if it stays high at rest, that is a reason to discuss it with your GP.
The best supported formula is 208 minus 0.7 times your age, from a meta-analysis of 351 studies with 18,712 participants. It is a group average: your own maximum can differ from it clearly, and only a measured exercise test gives you your own value.
For every 10 beats per minute higher resting heart rate, large cohort studies find a relative risk of 1.09 of death from all causes. That is a link within groups. The research does not show that lowering your heart rate changes that outcome, and a low heart rate with complaints such as dizziness does call for a doctor.
For maximum heart rate, the meta-analysis found no difference between men and women in the regression line. That is not the same as proof that no difference at all exists; it means this study found none.
It is higher and drops with age: newborns 120 to 170 beats per minute, children of 9 to 12 years 65 to 120, and from 12 years the same guideline as for adults.
The figures on this page were retrieved from their original source: on 16 September 2026 from the Hartstichting for the Dutch guidelines and from the original publications in scientific journals for the research figures, and on 21 September 2026 from the overview of training studies in the section on what research saw change. Every number on this page is given with the group it was measured in, the period it covers and the year of publication. Where the source gives a confidence interval, it is included, also when the interval crosses 1 and the result therefore shows no difference. An updated retrieval date is not a revision of the content: those two dates stand separately at the top.
This page gives the guidelines for everyone. The cardiovascular test looks at your own measured values.
Or read first what the heart and vascular test measures
A measurement, not a diagnosis.
