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.
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