A lower resting heart rate can be one sign that your heart is working more efficiently, especially when it comes alongside better stamina and easier recovery from exercise.
Here are 10 ways to improve yours.
1. Measure your heart rate consistently
A resting heart rate is most useful as a trend, rather than a number you check once and try to change immediately. Take it under similar conditions each time. For example, measure before getting out of bed, after a quiet period, and before having coffee or starting exercise. If you use a wearable, keep in mind that its reading is an estimate and may vary with the device, fit, and activity.
Record your measurements for several days and look at the average. A reading taken after a hard workout, a poor night of sleep, a stressful day, or an illness may be temporarily different from your usual level. Checking at a consistent time helps you spot a lasting change without overreacting to a one-off reading.
2. Build a regular aerobic routine
Aerobic exercise is the most direct training tool for improving resting heart rate. Walking briskly, running, cycling, swimming, rowing, and similar activities challenge your cardiovascular system. With consistent training, the body can adapt so the heart pumps more blood with each beat, which may mean it needs fewer beats per minute at rest.
Start with a level you can repeat each week. If you are new to exercise, a brisk walk is a useful beginning. As your fitness improves, build toward 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or a combination of the two. The goal is a routine you can sustain, not an ambitious week followed by a long break.
3. Accumulate your weekly activity
You do not need to fit all your exercise into long workouts. A few shorter sessions across the week can help you build your total activity, and everyday movement counts too. Walking to a nearby destination, taking the stairs, or doing an active errand can all add movement to your day.
If 150 minutes sounds like too much right now, start with less and add time gradually. Some activity is better than none, and building the habit is a useful first step. As your body adapts, you can add minutes or another session instead of trying to make every workout harder.
4. Include some harder efforts when you are ready
Easy and moderate sessions can make up most of your aerobic training, but you can also include faster intervals if you are healthy and have built a base. For example, during a walk or ride, add a few brief stretches at a pace that feels challenging, followed by easier movement to recover. You can increase the number or length of the efforts gradually.
Intervals are one way to vary your training, not a requirement for lowering your resting heart rate. The evidence for exercise-related reductions in resting heart rate is strongest for regular endurance training overall. If you have a health condition, have been inactive for a long time, or feel unwell during exercise, check with a health professional before adding intense efforts.
5. Add strength training
Strength training supports fitness in ways that complement aerobic exercise. Work the major muscle groups with exercises such as squats, presses, rows, hinges, and loaded carries, adjusting the movements to your experience and equipment. Adults are advised to include muscle-strengthening activity at least twice a week.
Strength training is not a replacement for aerobic exercise if your specific goal is to lower resting heart rate. Instead, treat it as part of a balanced program that helps you build strength while keeping up regular cardio. Start with manageable loads and focus on good technique before increasing the challenge.
6. Increase everyday movement
Long periods of sitting can make it harder to reach your weekly activity target. Try breaking up extended sitting with short walks or standing movement, and look for small chances to move throughout the day. These actions do not have to feel like workouts to contribute to your overall physical activity.
This is especially helpful if you work at a desk or spend much of the day driving. A brief walk at lunch, a standing break between tasks, or choosing a farther parking spot can make an otherwise inactive day more active. Over time, those choices can support a steadier exercise routine.
7. Give sleep a consistent place in your routine
Sleep and heart rate are connected, but research on sleep duration and resting heart rate is not conclusive enough to promise that sleeping longer will lower everyone’s number. Still, sleep supports recovery and general health, and a regular sleep schedule is a practical habit to protect. Adults are generally advised to get at least seven hours of sleep regularly.
Try keeping a consistent bedtime and wake time, and make your bedroom comfortable and dark. If your wearable shows a higher reading after a short or disrupted night, treat it as context rather than proof that your fitness has changed. Persistent sleep problems, loud snoring, or waking up exhausted are good reasons to talk with a health professional.
8. Make time to unwind
Stress can affect the body’s cardiovascular response, and relaxation practices may help some people manage stress. Yoga combines movement, breathing, and attention, and research reviews have found that it may reduce heart rate in some groups. The evidence varies in quality, so yoga should be seen as one option rather than a guaranteed way to lower resting heart rate.
You could try a short yoga session, quiet breathing, a walk outdoors, or another activity that helps you wind down. Pick something you enjoy enough to repeat. A few minutes of calm at the end of the day may be more useful than adding another demanding task to your schedule.
9. Quit smoking and avoid nicotine where possible
Nicotine can raise heart rate in the short term. Research on people who stopped smoking has also found a decrease in heart rate soon after quitting, although the size and timing of the change can vary. Quitting smoking has important health benefits beyond its effect on a heart rate reading.
If you smoke or use nicotine, support can make quitting more manageable. A doctor, pharmacist, or cessation program can help you choose an approach that suits you. If you have already quit, do not judge your progress by a single measurement. Focus on staying quit and tracking your health over time.
10. Limit alcohol, especially near bedtime
Alcohol can temporarily raise heart rate during sleep, and controlled studies have found changes in nighttime cardiovascular activity after drinking. These effects are not the same as a permanent change in your daytime resting heart rate, but they can influence overnight recovery and wearable readings.
If you drink, try comparing your sleep and morning measurements on alcohol-free nights with nights when you drink. You may notice a pattern. Reducing how often or how much you drink, particularly in the hours before bed, is a practical way to avoid one factor that can temporarily affect your readings.
Focus on the pattern, not a target number
Resting heart rate is one piece of information, not a score you have to push as low as possible. Exercise can lower it over time, but the change may be modest and can take weeks or months. Your baseline also depends on factors you cannot control, so compare your current trend with your own usual readings rather than someone else’s.
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If your heart rate changes unexpectedly and stays unusually high or low for you, or you have symptoms such as chest pain, fainting, unusual shortness of breath, or palpitations, seek medical advice. Training should help you feel fitter and function better, not encourage you to ignore symptoms or chase a number.
Key takeaways
| Focus | Practical action |
|---|---|
| Track your baseline | Measure under similar conditions and look at a multi-day trend. |
| Train your heart | Build regular walking, cycling, swimming, running, or other aerobic exercise. |
| Increase gradually | Add activity over time and include harder efforts only when ready. |
| Balance your program | Include strength training and breaks from long periods of sitting. |
| Support recovery | Prioritize regular sleep, stress management, and less alcohol near bedtime. |
| Protect your health | Quit smoking and seek medical advice about persistent changes or concerning symptoms. |
References
- Geiger, C., Cramer, H., Anheyer, D., Dobos, G. and Kohl-Heckl, W.K. (2025) ‘A systematic review and meta-analysis of yoga for arterial hypertension’, PLOS ONE, 20(5), e0323268.
- Pabon, E., Greenlund, I.M., Carter, J.R. and de Wit, H. (2022) ‘Effects of alcohol on sleep and nocturnal heart rate: Relationships to intoxication and morning-after effects’, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 46(10), pp. 1875–1887.
- Reimers, A.K., Knapp, G. and Reimers, C.-D. (2018) ‘Effects of exercise on the resting heart rate: A systematic review and meta-analysis of interventional studies’, Journal of Clinical Medicine, 7(12), 503.
- Sivakumaran, K., Ritonja, J.A., Palmer, N., Pasumarthi, T., Waseem, H., Yu, T., Denning, A., Michaud, D. and Morgan, R.L. (2023) ‘Effect of sleep disturbance on biomarkers related to the development of adverse health outcomes: A systematic review of the human literature’, Journal of Sleep Research, 32(3), e13775.
- Ward, M.M., Swan, G.E., Jack, L.M. and Javitz, H.S. (1994) ‘Effect of smoking cessation and relapse on cardiovascular levels and reactivity’, Psychopharmacology, 114(1), pp. 147–154.
- World Health Organization (2020) WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: World Health Organization.
