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[[File:HeartRateSimplified.svg|right|thumb|500px|A simplified chart of heart rate against exercise intensity showing [[Maximum Heart Rate]], [[Heart Rate Reserve]], [[Resting Heart Rate]], [[Orthostatic Heart Rate]], [[Zero Power Heart Rate]], and [[Heart Rate Deflection]].]]
Resting Heart Rate (HR<sub>rest</sub>) is how fast your heart beats when you are not expending any energy beyond simply being alive. Finding your HR<sub>rest</sub> is easy; just check your heart rate while sitting still or lying down. Early morning is a good time, before any exercise or taken caffeine, both of which will raise your HR<sub>rest</sub>. A low HR<sub>rest</sub> is normally a sign of fitness, as endurance training tends to increase the size of your heart, and a large heart needs to beat less often to pump the same amount of blood. HR<sub>rest</sub> is used to calculate [[Heart Rate Reserve]].
=Measuring Resting Heart Rate=
It is possible to take your pulse with your finger, but most people find this tricky and inconvenient. A [[Heart Rate Monitor]] will provide an accurate and simple way of checking your heart rate, but putting one on first thing in the morning (possibly before you get out of bed) is a bit of a pain. A blood pressure meter will also record heart rate, but can be a little noisy and awkward to put on. My preferred approach is to use a simple [[Pulse Oximeter]], which is the easiest technique. [[Optical Heart Rate Monitors]] included in watches can be fairly accurate for resting heart rate, even if they have problems during exercise.
=Testing Position=
There's no consensus on which position to measure resting heart rate, with about half of studies using sitting and about half using lying down<ref name="PalatiniBenetos2006"/>.Note that Heart Rate when standing is [[Zero Power Heart Rate]]
=Zero Power (Orthostatic) Heart Rate=
While resting heart rate is well established, there is often a difference between this value and the heart rate when generating no power output, such as sitting stationary on a bike or standing still. While this difference is small, it does change the calculation for [[Heart Rate Reserve]].