What is the normal heart rate for sleep health?

The average sleeping heart rate of normal healthy adults is mostly between 50 and 70 beats/minute. People with long-term aerobic training habits can even be as low as 40 beats/minute. As long as there is no chest tightness, dizziness, fatigue and other discomforts after waking up, it is basically within the healthy range.

I helped my cousin who often runs half-marathons organize his sports watch monitoring data for three consecutive months and found that his heart rate during deep sleep often dropped to 42-45 beats/min. He himself had come across the saying that "a sleep heart rate below 50 means conduction block" before, so he went for a 24-hour dynamic electrocardiogram. As a result, the doctor laughed and said that his heart reserve capacity is much better than ordinary people. The vagus nerve dominates during sleep, so a low heart rate is a good thing and there is no need to worry at all.

In fact, after a person enters sleep, the excitability of the sympathetic nerves will drop rapidly, and the vagus nerve, which is responsible for relaxation and slowing metabolism, will take over. The heart rate will naturally be 10-30 beats/min lower than the resting heart rate when awake. For people who usually have a heart rate in the early 60s when they are awake and sitting still, it is normal for the heart rate to drop to around 50 after falling asleep. Nowadays, there are many opinions in the academic circles that do not recommend a fixed numerical threshold. After all, the basal heart rate of different people is very different, just like everyone's appetite is naturally different. Some people need to eat two bowls at a meal to be full, and some people only eat one bowl. The normal range of heart rate must be based on their own basic conditions, such as For example, some people who seldom exercise and have a relatively fast basal metabolism have a resting heart rate of 80 beats/min while awake, and the average heart rate during sleep is maintained at 70-75 beats/min. As long as there is no sleep apnea, suffocation, or palpitation, there is no need to worry about your "heart rate being too high."

Many people are used to reading the sleep report of their smart watches first when they get up in the morning. Occasionally, they panic when their sleep heart rate soars to over 90. In fact, there is no need to be too nervous. It is most likely that you had a nervous dream last night, or drank caffeinated drinks such as iced Americano or milk tea before going to bed. A transient fluctuation cannot explain the problem at all. Only when your average sleeping heart rate is 10 beats/min higher than your usual baseline level for more than two consecutive weeks, and you can't find a clear trigger (such as staying up late, catching a cold, or a sudden increase in exercise recently), you need to pay attention to whether your body is in a state of excessive fatigue or has potential inflammation problems. If necessary, just go to the hospital for a simple dynamic electrocardiogram to check. Don't scare yourself with the unified standards on the Internet.