Aim: To study the elevated resting heart rate (RHR) represents a separate risk factor for mortality or only a sign of physical fitness. Material and methods: The sample size for this research was 410 males. All men were given a clinical examination by a doctor (FG) that included a discussion of their responses to a questionnaire and a test of their aerobic capacity (VO2Max) on a bicycle ergometer. Heart rate and labour load data from a bicycle ergometer were used to calculate estimates of physical fitness using the strand nomogram. Using a manometer created by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, BP was taken on the right arm of sitting subjects after at least 10 minutes of rest. The survey's questions on hypertension care led to the collection of useful data