Home » How to Lower Heart Rate While Running: 5 Ways

How to Lower Heart Rate While Running: 5 Ways

by Katie McDonald
peak heart rate by age table

How to keep your heart rate low while running

Have you started running and feel like your heart rate is incredibly high on your run? You can try and lower your heart rate. I personally find the below really helpful. I may look red and puffy at the end of my run and can feel that my heart has had some good exercise. But I don’t feel like it’s struggled to any negative level. I’ve not been uncontrollably or uncomfortably out of breath.

So if you do, try these tips to bring your running heart rate down.

1. Be conscious of your breathing

It seems obvious, but learn to become conscious of your breathing. I started running years ago. And if I had a penny for every time since I ‘forgot’ how to breathe during a run, I’d be a millionaire. It’s not that you don’t breathe.

It’s that if you start your run a little mindlessly, and don’t pay any attention to how you’re breathing, you can’t remind yourself to actually breathe properly.

For example, I now try and find a good rhythm within minutes of starting a run of breathing. So I’ll make sure I’m aligning my legs with my breath. I’ll breathe in for 2 breaths (or 2 strides), and out for two breaths/strides. That way, it’s sustainable.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ll have to have regular check ins with myself during my run and re-align if I realize my breathing is a bit all over the place. And I suddenly feel more in control of my heart rate, and my run.





A lot of people will say “slow down” as the first tip to reduce your heart rate when you’re running. And I get why, obviously. But I think the above breathing technique works wonders for me. Of course, if you’re sprinting through a 3 mile run, you will be out of breath. So, yes, consider pace. But breathing is important too.

2. Don’t do short, shallow breaths

If you take little inhales as you run, it’s not going to cut it. You need to be filling your lungs with oxygen a lot more than that. Obviously if you’re just getting started as a beginner runner, and you’re doing a couple minutes, then it might not seem as important. But that can be the best time to start building good breathing techniques in your running journey.

Breathe in relatively deeper than you think. Do that for 2 strides, and then exhale for 2 strides. Or, you can do it for 3-4 strides. Find the counts that work for you. But make it sustainable.

You want to get yourself in what’s called “zone 2 training”. So your heart rate is up because you’re exercising, but you’re keeping it ‘low’ still.

3. Improve your cadence

Hang on, what’s cadence when running? It’s your stride rate. So how many strides you take per minute, also known as SPM.

How to work out cadence? Count how many times your right foot steps on the ground in 1 minute. Times that by two. So for example, if you count 50 in 1 minute, your running cadence is 100. Improving your cadence is about shortening your stride.

How does a higher cadence help lower your heart rate?

Dr Greg at Rehab 2 Perform explain that if you take shorter strides (and therefore more steps, and a higher cadence), your heart rate stays lower. Obviously, your heart rate will still be high because you’re exercising. But the theory still stands.

If you’re taking huge leaps every time you stride in your run (lower cadence), that’s going to contribute to a higher heart rate because you’re using so much more energy!

4. Add weight lifting to your exercise routine

Weight training can help reduce your running heart rate because it gets your body used to the higher effort, without needing to raise your heart rate as much. It makes sense.

If you’re running 1-2 times a week and sitting on the couch the rest of the time, your heart rate could have room for improvement (although doing some cardio is better than none!). But if you’re also adding strength training in there a couple of times too, your heart is going to get used to pumping blood and oxygen round your body.

And your muscles will get stronger too. So, next time you run, it won’t feel as much of a shock to your system.

Health Partners talk about a study in Texas that showed the impact of weight training on your heart health. The study looked at over 12,000 people who did some weight training every week.

The results?

40-70% decrease in heart disease risk factors.

5. Build consistency

Consistency is under-rated in my opinion. Let’s say you balance strength training into running, you work on your cadence,  and improve your breathing. You do that for a few weeks or maybe even months. You might start noticing an improvement in your heart rate. But if you then stop, and throw the towel in for whatever reason.

Or maybe you’ve not given up. Life changes and you can’t commit to as much any more. You’ll then notice the difference if you fall out of the habit.

Consistency is just as important as everything else. If you stick to the training, and keep getting better, and that becomes your life and your running journey. Your training age improves. So, you’ll get to 50, 60, and 70, and won’t feel your age.

How does more running lower your heart rate?

Dr Augustine spoke to Runner’s World tells us that if you’re doing more than 3 hours of some exercise a week, your heart will see changes, and it explains how that happens.

… the heart itself becoming bigger in size so it doesn’t have to beat so fast to increase the cardiac output. Also, we all have a pacemaker in our heart called the sinus node, and through regular exercise it’s believed that the sinus node down-regulates slightly and lowers the heart rate.

What else can affect heart rate?

1. Age

Your heart rate tends to drop when you get older, Dr Augustine explains. You can use this very loose rule of thumb to work out your ‘peak heart rate’: 220 minus your age.

Here’s a table I’ve put together based on Runner’s World’s data.

peak heart rate by age table

 

You can download ‘peak heart rate by age table‘ here.

2. Nutrition

If you’re eating a well balanced diet and enjoying the fattier, greasy, foods as treats a little less often, that’s good. If you’re consuming foods that make your heart work harder a lot more often, then your heart will have to do exactly that.

3. Weather (or temperature)

We all know when it’s that bit warmer, it’s that bit harder to run (or do any exercise!). But did you know that:

For every degree your body’s internal temperature rises in the heat, your heart rate increases by about 10 beats per minute?

That’s according to Cleveland Clinic. So make sure you’re hydrated before, consider taking some water or sports drink for during your run, and re-hydrate properly after your run.

I’m not a lover of running through the summer because I just don’t enjoy the feeling of being stifling hot and running at the same time. So, I’ll often run much earlier or later in the day.

And then have a nice cool shower afterwards to bring your temperature down a little.

That’s a wrap on how to lower your heart rate when you’re running

You can do it! With regular exercise, a higher cadence, and some weight training in there, there’s definitely room for a lower heart rate when you’re running.

How do you know if your running heart rate is too high?

You can judge this by feel. If you’re gasping for breath and you feel dizzy or something’s not right, then I (as a runner, not a medical professional) would say you’re pushing your heart too far. Maybe consult your doctor if you’re worried!

Bring your heart rate down a little (it won’t come all the way, remember), and you’ll become a better runner, and likely enjoy the whole process a lot more too!

Written by Katie McDonald, 13th November 2024, Updated 27th April 2025.

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