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“Find out why your resting heart rate is so high in the first place,” says Dr. John Elefteriades, who directs the Aortic Institute at Yale University. Someone struggling with heart or lung problems, for example, will have an elevated pulse that needs to be corrected immediately with medicine. But even with no serious health problems, lowering the number of times your heart beats in a minute can decrease its burden. Once you determine your resting heart rate by making several measurements — count the beats for 30 seconds, then double that number — start exercising regularly for a long period of time. “If you’re a couch potato, your pulse rate might go up just by doing normal activities,” Elefteriades says.
“For someone who is not inclined toward exercise, just walking is great,” he says. Walk one to two miles, five times a week, or bike three times as far as you would walk or run. In addition to reducing your resting heart rate, such exercise will improve the efficiency with which your heart pumps blood to various bodily tissues. But don’t overdo the workouts. “Endurance athletes use lowering heart rates as a badge of honor, which is not necessarily a good thing,” Elefteriades says, adding that the heart wasn’t made to operate for much more than one hour in a high aerobic state.
A temporarily elevated pulse caused by panic attacks, anxiety or sudden heart palpitations can affect resting heart rates. To relax your heart, try the Valsalva maneuver: “Quickly bear down as if you are having a bowel movement,” Elefteriades says. “Close your mouth and nose and raise the pressure in your chest, like you’re stifling a sneeze.” Breathe in for 5-8 seconds, hold that breath for 3-5 seconds, then exhale slowly. Repeat several times. Raising your aortic pressure in this way will lower your heart rate. Yoga, meditation and other relaxation techniques also provide relief. Chronic stress, which can lead to an overactive sympathetic nervous system (the one that produces flight-or-fight reactions), can be detrimental over decades. “If the rapid heart rate is related to anxiety,” Elefteriades says, “treat the anxiety.”