Apple Watch, readiness & HRV
How to check your resting heart rate trend on iPhone
Resting heart rate is one of the simplest numbers your watch records and one of the most useful. Over months it reflects your aerobic fitness; over days it reacts to hard training, short nights, heat, alcohol and getting sick. Here is where to find it on iPhone, what a normal value is for athletes and which changes are worth acting on before a hard session.
Short answer
Open the Health app, tap Browse (or Search on newer iOS versions), then Heart, then Resting Heart Rate. Apple Watch records one value per day from moments when you are still. For most adults 60–100 bpm is normal, and endurance athletes are often in the 40s or 50s. What matters is your own trend: a rise of around 5 bpm or more above your usual, for several days, is worth noticing.
Where to find resting heart rate on iPhone
- Open the Health app.
- Tap Browse, or Search on newer iOS versions, and choose Heart.
- Tap Resting Heart Rate. Choose W, M or 6M to see the trend, and tap Add to Favorites to keep it on the Summary page.
On the watch, the Heart Rate app shows today’s resting value. Newer watches also show your sleeping heart rate in the Vitals app, compared with your usual range, together with breathing rate, wrist temperature, blood oxygen and sleep duration.
Resting heart rate and sleeping heart rate are related but not the same: the overnight value is usually lower, and it is the steadier signal because nothing you do during the day affects it.
What is a normal resting heart rate?
| Group | Typical resting heart rate |
|---|---|
| Adults in general | 60–100 bpm |
| Regularly active adults | Often 50–65 bpm |
| Well-trained endurance athletes | Often 40–55 bpm |
A lower resting heart rate usually comes with better aerobic fitness, but genetics, age and medication play a big part, so a lower number is not a score to chase. A resting heart rate regularly above 100 bpm, or below 40 bpm with dizziness or fatigue, is a reason to see a doctor.
Which changes matter
- A slow fall over months during consistent training is a good sign your aerobic fitness is improving.
- A rise of about 5 bpm or more above your usual, for two or three days, often means you are not fully recovered: hard training, short sleep, stress, alcohol or travel.
- A rise together with lower HRV and a higher breathing rate or temperature is a common early sign that you are coming down with something. That is a good day to train easy or not at all.
- A single high day after a late meal, a hot night or a drink is normal and passes.
Compare like with like: values from the same watch, at the same time of day, worn the same way. A new watch, a different band or a sensor that sits loosely can move the number by itself.
How to use it before a hard session
Look at three things in the morning: resting or sleeping heart rate, HRV and how you slept. If all three are inside your usual range, train as planned. If one is off, keep the session but watch how it feels. If two or more are off together, swap the hard day for an easy one and look again tomorrow. Read more about the companion signal in how to see your HRV on Apple Watch.
Your resting heart rate in context with Keho
Keho reads resting and sleeping heart rate from Apple Health and gives every vital its own tile: last night’s value, your usual range, the last seven nights and a trend arrow. Each morning they feed a readiness score from 0 to 10, together with sleep, HRV and training load, with the reasons in plain words. If two or more overnight vitals drift from your normal at once, Keho gives you a heads-up. Everything is calculated on your iPhone, with no account. How the score works is explained in a readiness score for Apple Watch, and how sleep fits in under sleep debt explained.
Questions
Why is my resting heart rate higher after a hard workout?
Your body is still repairing and refuelling, which raises heart rate for a day or two. That is normal after a race or a big session and should settle as you recover.
Does caffeine affect it?
It can raise heart rate for a few hours in some people. The overnight value is less affected than daytime readings, which is one reason it is the better signal.
My resting heart rate is very low. Should I worry?
In fit people a low value is usually harmless. If it comes with dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath or unusual tiredness, talk to a doctor.