Heart Rate in a Male

Your heart rate, or pulse, is one indicator of your overall fitness. Regular exercise offers many benefits, one of which is a lower resting heart rate. Lower rates can increase your heart's health and help prevent some chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and high blood pressure. Even if you are in your 60s or 70s, your heart function may still be improved with exercise, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Definition

Your heart rate is, simply, the number of times your heart beats in one minute. The human heart, according to World Invisible, pumps blood throughout the body to help it function, to circulate oxygen and glucose, and to remove waste products, among other functions. Each contraction of the heart is known as a cardiac cycle. In the average, non-athletic 70-year-old, World Invisible says, the amount of blood pumped through the heart during his lifetime is approximately 250,000 gallons.

Calulating Heart Rate

Measuring your heart rate requires that you count the number of beats, or pulses in the artery, for 10 seconds and then multiply that number by 6 to give you the number of beats per minute. Two of the best locations for counting your own heart rate are the wrist and the neck, according to the National Emergency Medical Association.

To find your heart rate in your wrist, put the index finger and middle finger of one hand on your opposite wrist. Feel for the location that is about 1 inch below your hand, with your palm facing up, on the side of your wrist nearest your thumb. You have found the correct location, which is between the bone on the outside of your wrist and a tendon that runs through your wrist into your hand, when you feel a throbbing under the two fingers you placed on your wrist. Count those pulses for 10 seconds and multiply that number by 6 to calculate beats per minute.

Find the pulse rate at your neck, which is called your carotid pulse, using a procedure similar to the one for your wrist. Place the same two fingers of one hand vertically -- index finger above middle finger -- on the opposite side of your neck. Move your fingers about halfway down your neck and just to the side of the center. Press lightly until you feel the pulsing. Count beats and multiply as above.

For example, your heart rate is 66 beats per minute, or bpm, if you feel 11 beats in 10 seconds on your wrist or neck (11 x 6 = 66).

Heart Rate Ranges

A resting heart rate -- the beats per minute while you are at rest -- normally ranges from 60 to 100 bpm, according to Dr. Edward Laskowski, a Mayo Clinic physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist. He says that more physically fit people, such as athletes, may have a resting heart rate that is closer to 40 bpm. These statistics apply to both males and females.

Your maximum heart rate, as defined by the Glossary of Gym Terms, is the highest number of times your heart can theoretically beat in one minute. To estimate this maximum rate, which differs for men and women, MapMyRun's website says to use this formula for men: 214 - (your age x 0.8) = Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). For example, a 40-year-old male's maximum heart rate is 214 - (40 x 0.8) = 182. This website also has a calculator to do the work for you.

Slow Heart Rate

Dr. Chris, on HealthHype.com, discusses the causes of bradycardia, or slow heart rate. He says when you are sleeping, you may have a slower heart rate than the normal range, but that it should rise when you awaken and stand up. If your heart rate stays under 60 bpm, it may be beating too slowly. Sometimes there is no cause, says Dr. Chris, and you won't feel poorly. If you are an athlete, your heart rate may be slower than average, which is normal. In these two cases, the slow heart rate is likely not due to a disease process.

If you experience dizziness, fainting, blurry vision or fatigue, warns Dr. Chris, a slow heart rate may be an indication of an abnormal condition. Some reasons the heart may beat fewer than 60 bpm include hypothermia or cold body temperature, heart infection, jaundice, heart block, coronary artery disease, heart attack, certain drugs, decreased thyroid function and some diseases that affect the sinus node.

Rapid Heart Rate

A heart rate above 100 bpm while your body is at rest, according to the Cleveland Clinic, indicates an irregular heartbeat -- or arrhythmia -- known as tachycardia. Symptoms of arrhythmia may include a pounding chest, discomfort, shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, palpitations in the heart and/or dizziness. Sometimes there are no symptoms, but a doctor may notice the irregularity when listening to your heart.

Rapid heart rate may also be the result of excitement, stress, exercise or anxiety, reports the Health Encyclopedia of Disease and Conditions. During these events, a rapid heart beat is normal, but if your heart rate stays above 100 bpm when you are at rest or are not experiencing any other event that would normally raise your heart rate, it's considered abnormal. According to the Health Encyclopedia, tachycardia may be caused by drinking too much caffeine, thyroid disease, fever, certain drugs, electrical disturbances in the heart, congenital heart defects, lung disease, heart attack and heart disease, among other possibilities.