Heart disease affects both men and women in huge numbers; although men have a greater risk of heart attack than women and have attacks earlier in life, coronary disease is still the top cause of death for American women. Your heart rate can be an indicator of heart health; if it's too fast, get it checked out by a doctor. Some heart rate indicators are the same for men and women, and some are different.
Pregnancy Myth
There's a longstanding myth about fetal heart rate during pregnancy. The normal range is 120 to 160 beats per minute; the folk tale is that heart rates above 140 bpm indicate the mother is carrying a girl and lower rates indicate a boy. Medical studies have not conclusively proved this. A child's heart rate in the womb depends on the same factors as it does outside the womb -- age and activity level at the time the heart rate is monitored.
Exercise and Heart Rate
A healthy heart operates at three levels: resting heart rate, or the rate at which the heart beats just to keep the body operating; target heart rate, where the heart gets a workout during exercise; and maximum heart rate, the level you shouldn't exceed in order to avoid overworking your heart. When you exercise, your heart rate should be between 65 and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.
Changes for Women
In 2010, the maximum heart rate calculation formula for women changed slightly. In the past, the guideline for both men and women was to subtract your age from 220 to find your maximum heart rate. However, researchers at Northwestern University discovered women should use a slightly different formula: 206 minus 88 percent of your age. A 40-year-old women should now use 171 beats per minute instead of 180 as her maximum heart rate and adjust her target heart rate accordingly.
Resting Heart Rate
In most cases, a lower resting heart rate indicates good cardiovascular health -- this means the heart doesn't have to work as hard to pump blood throughout your body, so the muscle won't "wear out" as quickly. Normal resting heart rates for adults range from 60 to 100 beats per minute; athletes' resting heart rates may be as low as 40 beats per minute. There's no difference in resting heart rate recommendations between men and women.
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