What’s the Difference Between Heart Rate and Blood Pressure?
Key takeaways:
Heart rate and blood pressure are both vital signs that get checked at most healthcare appointments. They may seem like numbers that overlap, but they represent different things.
A normal heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute. A normal blood pressure is less than 130/80.
Heart rate and blood pressure work together to make sure your heart is pumping enough blood and oxygen to the rest of your body. Sometimes they increase or decrease together, but sometimes they change in opposite directions to counteract each other.
Access savings on related medications
Table of contents
At most healthcare appointments, your healthcare professional will check your vital signs. These include heart rate and blood pressure. You also may have an electronic blood pressure cuff at home, which typically checks both blood pressure and heart rate at the same time. These numbers can sometimes overlap, and it can be confusing.
In this article, we’ll review what’s a heart rate and blood pressure, why they’re different, and why they matter for your health and life goals.
What do heart rate and blood pressure measure?
Heart rate and blood pressure are vital signs that give you information about how your heart and blood vessels are working. And they let your healthcare professional know if you need any treatment for new or long-term conditions. Even though heart rate and blood pressure are usually recorded at the same time, they measure two different things:
Heart rate: Also called a “pulse,” heart rate measures how many times per minute your heart beats.
Blood pressure: It measures how strongly (with how much “pressure”) your heart and blood vessels pump blood to the rest of your body.
How do you measure your heart rate?
These days, many people wear watches and devices that will measure their heart rate. There are also electronic tools — like a pulse oximeter or blood pressure cuff — that can measure your heart rate.
But you don’t need a device to do this. You can measure your heart rate by finding your pulse on the inside of your wrist. You may need to hunt for it a little bit, but you can usually feel the artery beating below the base of the thumb by placing two fingertips there. Count how many times it beats in 60 seconds, and that’s your heart rate. You can also count the number of pulses over 10 seconds, and multiply that by 6.
What is a normal resting heart rate?
A normal resting heart rate for most people is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. There are several reasons resting heart rates can be outside of this, including physical fitness level and medication use. We’ll cover this in more detail later in the article.
Read more like this
Explore these related articles, suggested for readers like you.
How do you measure your blood pressure?
Blood pressure is a bit more difficult to measure than heart rate. It requires a blood pressure cuff. There are both manual cuffs (where your healthcare professional will squeeze a handheld air pump to inflate the cuff) and electronic cuffs (which inflate after pushing a button). When the air pressure is slowly released from these cuffs, medical professionals (or an automatic cuff) can find your blood pressure.
A blood pressure reading consists of two numbers:
Systolic blood pressure: This is the higher number, which is first or on top. Systolic blood pressure is the pressure in your blood vessels when the heart is pumping blood out.
Diastolic blood pressure: This is the lower number, which is last or on the bottom. Diastolic blood pressure is the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart is relaxed.
Both of these numbers are important. Your target or goal blood pressure depends on your other medical conditions and health goals. Your primary care professional or cardiologist will help you know the best range for you.
What is a normal blood pressure?
For most people, a reasonable blood pressure goal is a systolic (top) pressure of less than 130 and a diastolic (bottom) pressure of less than 80.
Do heart rate and blood pressure increase and decrease together?
No, heart rate and blood pressure don’t necessarily change in the same direction. It’s true that in some instances they’ll increase and decrease together. For example, when you’re stressed or exercising, both tend to increase. When you’re sleeping or digesting food, both tend to decrease. In other instances, like if you’re sick with a bad infection, your blood pressure may drop, and your heart rate may increase to make up for it. We will discuss more about this below.
What does it mean if you have a low heart rate and high blood pressure?
Blood pressure and heart rate work together to make sure enough blood and oxygen are circulating in your body. Your blood pressure can be very high from uncontrolled hypertension. This is when you have long-term high blood pressure that isn’t treated well. To compensate, your heart rate may be lower than normal.
Your heart rate can also be abnormally low if your heart has issues with the electrical pathways that control heart rate — called an arrhythmia. Or if you’re on medications that affect your heart rate, like beta blockers. Otherwise, having a high blood pressure and low heart rate is relatively rare.
What does it mean if you have a high heart rate and low blood pressure?
Your blood pressure can be low for reasons like:
Severe infection
Blood loss
Severe dehydration
Medications, particularly blood pressure medications
Your heart rate can usually increase during these periods to compensate. This means your heart is beating faster to make sure you’re getting enough blood and oxygen to your other organs. Sometimes this is happening and you don’t even know it because the high heart rate and low blood pressure are working together to try and keep things balanced.
Can blood pressure medications affect heart rate?
Yes, some blood pressure medications can affect heart rate. The main medications that can affect your heart rate are beta blockers, such as:
Metoprolol (Lopressor)
Carvedilol (Coreg)
Bystolic (Nebivolol)
Also, certain calcium channel blockers can affect your heart rate, such as:
These medications have several different functions, including decreasing your blood pressure and slowing down your heart rate.
The bottom line
Heart rate and blood pressure are both measurements that give you and your healthcare team information about how well your heart is working. Keeping track of these measurements from time to time can help to keep you healthy and in touch with your body. And when your heart rate and blood pressure increase or decrease, it can help you know when something is wrong and when to reach out for help.
Why trust our experts?
References
Unger, T., et al. (2020). 2020 International Society of Hypertension Global Hypertension Practice Guidelines. Hypertension.
