Save this story Save Story Save this story Scroll through ATEAM, a new fitness-oriented dating and social app, and at first it might look like any old dating app. A blur of shirtless gym selfies, a list of favorite movies and podcasts, or a prompt about sauna habits. But browse a little longer and you’ll see something out of the ordinary: figures like 49 or 56 or 62—potential matches’ resting heart rates .
For the fitness-obsessed, especially those who consider themselves endurance athletes, the lower the number, the more impressive. On ATEAM , which is designed to connect people over fitness, disclosing the stat feels natural. Especially since, for many of its wellness-obsessed users, a number that represents health is arguably more justified than height. “We didn’t want the profiles to feel very data heavy,” says founder Dan Ilani. “But health and wellness have become a big part of people’s core identity, and so the resting heart rate feels to us like a fun conversation piece.” Per Ilani, about 20% of users have chosen to display theirs so far—the majority of them women.
Understanding your heart rate is crucial for more than just reaching optimal fitness–it can also help to reduce injury and stress, and even predict illness
The dating app isn’t the only place that a low resting heart rate (RHR) is becoming a fitness flex. People are also sharing screenshots of their health-tracker scores—data that was once pored over in private or shared in confidence with a fitness coach or health care provider—on social media. Even professional sports are putting the metric on display. During the Tour De France, Whoop broadcast the RHR of pro cyclists like Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar, whose numbers dipped into the high 30s, on live television. “It’s akin to rich people flexing with their Lamborghinis,” says Henry Lau , a strength coach in Providence, Rhode Island.
But unlike a Lambo, a resting heart rate isn’t just for show. A 2021 study in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology found that individuals with an RHR over 70 beats per minute (bpm) were at greater risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Jeffrey Hsu , MD, sports cardiologist at UCLA Health and team cardiologist for the Los Angeles Lakers, Sparks, and Dodgers, says that compared to other complex wearable stats like sleep score or heart-rate variability (HRV), RHR has some substance behind it as a status symbol: It can provide a snapshot of your cardiovascular fitness and, over time, hints at your risk for age-related diseases. “At its heart—no pun intended—the association of a lower resting heart rate with fitness comes down to efficiency,” he says. “The heart does remodel with training.” Specifically, a low RHR under 60 bpm can be a sign that the chambers of your heart are getting bigger and its muscles more powerful so it can pump more blood with each beat—resulting in fewer beats per minute to supply your body with oxygen.
That makes RHR satisfying for people who like to see their fitness tidily distilled into a single metric so they can watch the needle move. Roberto Clemente , a New York–based runner, takes pride in his low RHR and occasionally shares it to his private Instagram Stories. As he’s averaged running anywhere from 40 to 80 miles a week, he’s watched the number creep down over a couple of years. “It not only shows the amount of effort I’ve put into my training, but also shows my dedication to minimize stress in all aspects of my life,” he says. “It’s a sign of the lifestyle and healthy habits I prioritize every day.”
And in a dating context, that number is a glimpse into whether or not someone would be a compatible partner. Or, as Dale Moss , a former NFL athlete and partner at ATEAM puts it, how they “move through the world [and] what it’s like in their day-to-day.” Do they prioritize sleep ? Do they drink heavily every weekend? An RHR can’t answer those questions on its own, but it can offer one more clue about whether someone’s habits match the lifestyle they advertise on their profile.
Not everyone has to include that stat on ATEAM, though, so the decision to display your RHR may say more about the type of person you are than the number itself. “They’re probably wearing a wearable—a Whoop , an Oura , a Garmin ,” says Ilani. “They’re probably thinking about their data.” And the person who finds that attractive, he adds, is likely someone who values the same quantified approach to health and fitness. For others, this data obsession may be a reason to swipe left.
There is, however, a problem with using RHR as shorthand for someone’s entire healthy lifestyle: Some extremely fit people don’t have particularly low ones. Dr. Hsu says genetics, body size, age, and sex all play a role. Even among the elite athletes he works with, he sees some heart rates in the 70s, 80s, and even 90s.
While he wouldn’t advise people to train for the purpose of lowering their number, you can learn from your own heart’s trends. Clemente says he uses his data to compare to his baseline over time and “see if things are going in the right direction.”
Touting your RHR like a badge of honor can be problematic when the number turns into a goal in itself, though. “It has the potential to be incredibly counterproductive past a certain point,” says Kyle Parker , a New York–based personal trainer. “People can just do endless cardio in pursuit of a lower number on their watch, but they can destroy their joints, their cardiovascular fitness, and anything that resembles lifestyle balance along the way.” If people are piling on hours of running to achieve a number that will impress others, they also risk overtraining, adds Dr. Hsu.
He says that, ultimately, the habits that produce an impressively low number matter far more than the number itself. Those are just a lot harder to fit into the corner of a dating profile.
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