A person's normal healthy heart rate should be somewhere in the range of forty to hundred beats per minute. These are the possible rates and ideal ones should lie within the range of sixty to ninety beats per minute. The resting heart beat for men and women differs as well. For a man it is around seventy beats and for a woman seventy five beats per minute in a resting state. Fitter people generally have a lower heart beat rate when at rest. When exercising the heart rate of a person generally increase and the more a person exercises the less the heart rate rises in subsequent exercise sessions. To know what your maximum heart rate simply subtract your age from 220. Any persistent variations in the heart rate should be reported to your doctor.