> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tryterra.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tryterra.co/faq/help-topics/data-api-sdk/data-model-fields-and-units/resting-vs-average-hr-scope.md).

# What's the difference between resting and average HR in sleep?

**The two fields cover different scopes within the sleep session.**

* `avg_hr_bpm` is the average heart rate across the night.
* `resting_hr_bpm` is usually the lowest heart rate of the night. Some providers supply their own resting value instead of the minimum, and not all providers populate both.

Resting HR carries more significance in **daily** payloads, where it reflects the user's normal day-level resting rate.

Small discrepancies against a source health app are usually a scope mismatch: the sleep payload's `resting_hr_bpm` is averaged across that sleep session, whereas the app typically shows a whole-day value (which corresponds to the daily payload). One-BPM differences can also be SDK rounding and are within normal variance.

Some providers (for example Polar) do not measure resting HR during sleep, so `resting_hr_bpm` is expected to be absent there. This reflects what the provider measures rather than data loss.

See the [data models reference](https://docs.tryterra.co/reference/health-and-fitness-api/data-models) for field definitions.