What Is a Normal Heart Rate During Sleep?

Our heart rate is a barometer of our health. Measuring it can give us insight into how efficiently our blood flows, how stress affects us, and even how well we sleep.

So, what is a typical sleeping heart rate?

During deep sleep, our heart rate drops 20-30% from our resting heart rate and goes down to 40-50 beats per minute. This is because our nervous system is less active, and our body processes are slowing down. In light sleep, our heart rate slows but stays above our resting heart rate. During REM sleep, our heart rate fluctuates a lot, increasing during intense dreams and decreasing during calm ones, reflecting the nature of the dream. However, sleeping heart rates vary from person to person, and your exact heart rate will depend on your fitness level, health status, and sleep quality. The average sleeping heart rate for healthy adults typically ranges between 40-60 beats per minute, while for children, it can be slightly higher.

In this article, we’ll explore everything you need to know about sleeping heart rates and how to address factors affecting yours. Understanding the different sleep stages, including REM and non-REM, is crucial as they influence heart rate during sleep. For healthy adults, the ideal percentage of REM sleep in a night's sleep is around 20-25%.

What is a Normal Resting Heart Rate?

Before we discuss sleeping heart rates, let’s discuss resting heart rates. For adults, a normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute (BPM).

Lower is better because it means a more efficient cardiovascular system, which is often the result of regular high-intensity exercise and high activity levels. When you exercise, you also train your heart muscle so it can pump more blood with each beat. Physical fitness and aerobic training can lead to a slower heart rate during rest or sleep.

In fact, elite athletes can have resting heart rates as low as 30-40 BPM, which is half the average resting heart rate.

Resting heart rate decreases with age. One large study found the upper limit of the average resting heart rate is 110 BPM for adults 18-45, 100 BPM for 45-60 and 95 BPM for 60+. Here are the average resting heart rates for healthy adults, according to the same study.

It is important to note the difference between daytime resting heart rate and sleeping heart rate, with the latter typically being lower.

Why Your Sleeping Heart Rate Matters

For some conditions like peripheral artery disease, healthy blood flow during sleep is critical to symptom relief and better sleep. Sleep disorders can impact heart health and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Your sleeping heart rate can also indicate health issues that must be caught early.

An irregular heartbeat can mean diabetes, high cholesterol, heart disease, tachycardia (above 100 bpm) or bradycardia (below 60 bpm, not from exercise). Sleep disorders like sleep apnea can affect heart rate and overall health. Sleep apnea can lead to increased heart rate and high blood pressure.

Measuring your sleeping heart rate can be valuable. But how do you track your heart rate while you’re asleep?

One way is to use wearable technology, like pedometers and smartwatches. These devices can track your heart rate and show the data in easy-to-use apps that you can review when you wake up. Or, if you prefer the old-school way, you can ask a partner to check your pulse while you’re sleeping.

How to Keep Your Heart Happy

Want to give your heart a kick and sleep better tonight? Many things that affect your resting heart rate (lifestyle and stress management) also affect your sleep quality. Here are our top tips to keep your resting and sleeping heart rate happy:

Exercise Daily: It seems counterintuitive, but exercising (walking, playing a sport, cycling) temporarily raises your heart rate. Over time, daily exercise strengthens your heart muscle and lowers your resting and sleeping heart rate. Physical activity can also affect heart rate during both exercise and sleep.

Avoid Tobacco: Smokers have higher resting heart rates, and smoking is linked to heart palpitations. Quitting smoking can lower your resting heart rate and reduce the risk of heart conditions and heart palpitations. Smoking is also associated with higher blood pressure and increased heart rate.

Reduce Stress: Stress management techniques like meditation, yoga, and journaling can lower your resting heart rate over time. If you suffer from stress or anxiety at night, you might want to check out our sleep anxiety tips to calm nighttime anxiety and lower your heart rate. Poor sleep quality and stress can lead to high blood pressure.

As a bonus, to promote better cardiovascular health and experience restful sleep night after night, enhance your sleep environment with high-performance bedding from Sootora.