Heart Rate: How can it Affect You?

The heart is one of the most important organs in your body. Although it is small, it pumps about five quarts of blood, carrying oxygen, to each of your muscles in your body about one thousand times per day. The heart is a muscle controlled by electrical signals produced by the sinoatrial node which is part of the cardiac conduction system. Like all things, malfunctions happen through accidents, defects, and just plain neglect. When things go wrong with the heart, it can very easily become fatal, so it is very important to keep your heart healthy and know your heart rate, along with the factors that go with it.

Your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute; it ranges from sixty to ninety beats for the average adult at rest; however, it depends on whether you’re standing, lying down, moving, or sitting still. Heart rate in general can depend on stress level, amount of caffeine intake, and the amount of water—heart rate increases with dehydration. When you begin doing the work or physical exercise, your heart rate will go up because you need more oxygen, which is carried by your red blood cells. Heart rate during exercise can be calculated easily by just subtracting your age from 220. That is where your heart rate should be when doing physical work; however, it can vary some compared to the person and the resting heart rate of the person. It is when you are finished with the physical movement that the heart rate will go down, or recover. The recovery period is caused by the parasympathetic nervous system which allows the body to recover from the adrenaline release and bring the body back to natural functioning order.

The recovery time, also called the heart rate recovery (HRR), can be a determinant of heart...

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