Children should start developing healthy habits from a young age. Kids who are raised with a focus on fitness will develop a habit of living a healthy lifestyle more profoundly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children and teenagers to engage in physical activity for at least one hour each day. Many activities qualify as physical activity; however, if you’re not sure, you can check your kids’ heart rates to see if they’re exerting themselves enough. What should the heart rate for a 13-year-old exercising regularly be?

What’s the ideal heart rate for a child, though? Unfortunately, this isn’t as simple to pinpoint as one would think. However, one thing is clear: children should exercise regularly in order to strengthen their bones, build muscle, and improve their young hearts.

What You Need to Know About the Traditional ‘Maximum Heart Rate’ Formula for Children

Many people believe that an effective way to calculate a target heart rate is to subtract their age from 220. Therefore, if you were 50 years old, for example, your target zone would be 170 (220 – 50 = 170). 

Does the same principle apply if you’re working with children? Unfortunately, not. Most children would not get the heart rate given from the equation, and this result would certainly be too high. In fact, many children between the ages of 8 and 17 average in the 190s.

However, The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends another useful method for measuring heart rate after exercise. This involves multiplying your maximum heart rate by 50% to 85%, depending on your age. 

Checking a Child’s Heart Rate By Taking a Pulse

You can check your child’s pulse by putting your index, middle, and ring fingers. Either place your fingers on your child’s wrist or on the side of their windpipe, right below the base of the child’s thumb. When you begin to feel the blood pulsing, gently press. Count your child’s heart beats for 10 seconds using a clock or watch with your free hand. To find your child’s heart rate, multiply the result by six.

When Should I Take a Pulse?

Ideally, you should plan to take your child’s pulse when they’re engaging in exercise or physical activity. To get the most effective results, take their pulse before leaving the house. Once they arrive at the park, sports field, or wherever else they’re partaking in the physical activity, take their pulse every 10 minutes. Make sure to record the results!

Why Does a Child’s Heart Rate Differ from an Adult’s?

Because of their smaller hearts, smaller stroke volumes, and lower blood volumes, children typically have greater resting heart rates than adults. Children cannot accurately use the formula because of these qualities, which leads to inaccuracies.

In fact, a child’s maximum heart rate might differ dramatically from one person to the next because of nutrition and diet, medications, or medical conditions, including thyroid difficulties or heart disease. Genetics could also play an important role. 

If you want to know the figure, your doctor can perform a formal activity test to determine your child’s actual maximum heart rate, but it’s usually not necessary.

When Should You Be Concerned About a Child’s Heart Rate?

Children’s resting heart rates normally increase during their younger years and subsequently decline as they approach puberty. During their teen years, heart rate readings start to look more like those of adults. 

Average resting heart rate ranges, broken down by life stage, are:

• Adolescents (13-17): 60 – 100 beats per minute (bpm)
• School-age children (5-12): 75 – 118 bpm
• Preschool children (3 – 5): 80 – 120 bpm
• Toddlers (1 – 3): 98 – 140 bpm
• Infants (4 weeks – 1 year): 100 – 180 bpm
• Newborns (0 – 4 weeks): 100 – 205 bpm

You should check out any resting heart rates that are above these levels. This often results in using a Holter heart monitor for one to two days to monitor heart rhythm and rate. Additionally, you will need to keep a period activity journal to compare what is happening with monitor data.

Judging a Child’s Physical Activity

If there’s no set way to determine what a child’s maximum heart rate should be, how do you know if they’re too physically active? While you might not be happy to hear this answer, it will be based on how the child feels. 

According to specialists, most children know their limits and will stop when they feel they can’t handle it. However, a few useful signs to gauge whether a child is exerting themselves too much and creating exercise stress are:

• Feeling lightheaded
• Dizziness
• Showing difficulty breathing

Children should be stopped and given a break if they start exhibiting these symptoms. A great solution is to rehydrate and lie down so that the head and heart are at the same level so that blood can flow to the brain.

Exercise Intensity

Based on the heart rates they generate, exercises can be classified into zones of varying intensities. While more intense workouts, such as resistance training, sprinting, and interval training, push you into a higher anaerobic heart zone, lighter or moderate-intensity exercises, such as field sports and jogging, put you in an aerobic energy zone. To allow for enough rest and recuperation, children and teenagers should only engage in high-intensity anaerobic activity two days per week.

What Should Your Child’s Heart Rate Be When Exercising?

The age of your child affects their heart rate. A child between the ages of 3 and 4 should exercise at a heart rate of about 137 beats per minute. However, the heart rate falls to just 133 beats per minute by the ages of 5 to 7. It drops even more, to 130 beats per minute, between 8 and 11. Lastly, the heart rate during exercise is significantly lower in adolescence. When exercising, a 12- to 15-year-old only needs to reach a heart rate of 115 beats per minute.