Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute (bpm). Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during physical exercise or sleep.
The measurement of heart rate is used by medical professionals to assist in the diagnosis and tracking of medical conditions. It is also used by individuals, such as athletes, who are interested in monitoring their heart rate to gain maximum efficiency from their training. The R wave to R wave interval (RR interval) is the inverse of the heart rate.
Read more about Heart Rate: Measurement, Resting Heart Rate, Maximum, Target Rate, Heart Rate Reserve, Recovery Heart Rate, As A Risk Factor
Famous quotes containing the words heart and/or rate:
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We all run on two clocks. One is the outside clock, which ticks away our decades and brings us ceaselessly to the dry season. The other is the inside clock, where you are your own timekeeper and determine your own chronology, your own internal weather and your own rate of living. Sometimes the inner clock runs itself out long before the outer one, and you see a dead man going through the motions of living.”
—Max Lerner (b. 1902)