Where Is It And What Is A Normal Heart Rate
The best places to find your pulse are the:
- wrists
- side of your neck
- top of the foot
To get the most accurate reading, put your finger over your pulse and count the number of beats in 60 seconds.
Your resting heart rate is the heart pumping the lowest amount of blood you need because youre not exercising. If youre sitting or lying and youre calm, relaxed and arent ill, your heart rate is normally between 60 and 100 .
But a heart rate lower than 60 doesnt necessarily signal a medical problem. It could be the result of taking a drug such as a beta blocker. A lower heart rate is also common for people who get a lot of physical activity or are very athletic. Active people often have a lower resting heart rate because their heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt need to work as hard to maintain a steady beat. A low or moderate amount of physical activity doesnt usually change the resting pulse much.
Best Devices For Measuring Heart Rate
So now you know all the different kinds of heart rate and how to measure them using clocks and math. Even though the traditional methods aren’t all that hard, there are easier — and potentially more accurate — ways to measure and track your heart rate.
Of course, the most accurate readings will come from a lab test or other clinical method. But since most people don’t have access to and don’t need those methods, these devices will work just fine.
Stay Informed And Monitor Your Health
Resting heart rate is a measure of the number of times your heart muscle beats every minute. Its a good indicator of overall heart health and can be a useful tool for athletes and people who are trying to get in shape. Knowing your resting heart rate and target heart rate range can help you stay fit, get the most out of your exercise program and protect your healthy heart. It can also help you boost exercise intensity so you can target a fat-burning zone and build cardiovascular strength.
If your normal heart rate is too low or high, talk to a doctor and get medical advice. These numbers may be a sign of cardiovascular disease or another underlying health condition.
If youre interested in more health topics, weve got you covered. Check out our blog for more information on important health metrics from oxygen saturation level to sleep tips and more. Its a great way to stay informed and learn new ways to monitor and manage your health.
Erika Marty
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What Are Heart Palpitations
A heart palpitation is when you suddenly become aware of your heart beating, usually in an irregular way. Sometimes you can feel it in your ears or your chest when youre lying down. Your heart beat may feel:
- too fast or slow
- like its fluttering
- like its thudding, or pounding.
It is not unusual to feel heart palpitations occasionally and mostly they are harmless. However if youre experiencing them on a regular basis, see your doctor.
Is Resting Heart Rate Different By Age
For most of us , between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal.1 The rate can be affected by factors like stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and how physically active you are. An athlete or more active person may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute. Now thats chill!
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt have to work as hard to maintain a steady beat. Studies have found that a higher resting heart rate is linked with lower physical fitness and higher blood pressure and body weight.2
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Checking Mucous Membranes On Your Cat
Your cat’s mucous membranes, or gums, can tell you quite a bit of information during an emergency. Normal gums are pink and a bit moist. When you push gently into them with a finger, they blanch, but then turn pink again in 1-2 seconds.
The following situations with your cat’s mucous membranes indicate that there is a problem:
- Yellow, pale, blue, white, or brick red gums.
- Gums that take longer than 2 seconds to return to pink when blanched with a fingertip.
Knowing whether your cat’s gum color is abnormal requires being familiar with how they normally look. Making a habit of looking at your cat’s gums periodically is a good idea, so you will be able to recognize when there is a problem. However, some cats don’t like having their mouths handled and may bite, so use caution and don’t proceed if your cat becomes agitated.
What’s A Normal Heart Rate
Most adults have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100bpm.
The fitter you are, the lower your resting heart rate is likely to be. For example, athletes may have a resting heart rate of 40 to 60bpm, or lower.
See a GP to get checked if you think your heart rate is continuously above 120bpm or below 40bpm, although it may simply be that this is normal for you.
Visit the British Heart Foundation for more information on checking your pulse.
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Using Your Pulse To Monitor Your Heart Rate
How To Measure Your Heart Rate: 4 Ways And What’s Normal
How, when and why to measure your pulse.
The major secret to getting fit and tracking your fitness, your heart rate refers to how many times your heart beats per minute. While seemingly basic, your heart rate can actually offer a phenomenal amount of insight into your overall health, cardiovascular fitness, endurance and more.
Even if you’re not a serious or elite athlete, knowing your heart rate can help you determine proper intensity levels for your workouts and make sure you always get the most out of your workouts.
More so, knowing and monitoring your heart rate can help you spot current or developing health problems, such as arrhythmias or tachycardia .
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How To Calculate Resting Heart Rate
You can check your heart rate by using a wearable tracker or taking your pulse on your wrist or neck. To measure the number of beats using your wrist, place your pointer and middle fingers against the radial artery on the inside of your wrist. This artery is located just below your thumb. You can also check by placing these two fingers against your neck on the carotid artery, which is located just underneath the jaw and next to your windpipe.
You should be able to feel a faint pulsating as your blood pumps through your artery. Set a timer on your phone or stopwatch for 30 seconds and count how many times your heart beats in that time frame. Double that number to get your beats per minute.
Its important to note that measuring your heart rate using your fingers can be inaccurate, especially if you dont have a timer to track the 30 seconds. You may also miss a beat here and there, resulting in an inaccurate resting heart rate number.
A wearable tracker or heart rate monitor like Biostraps wristband takes the guesswork out of heart rate calculation. These trackers use an infrared or LED light sensor to measure your heart rate. Its more accurate and the Biostrap tracker includes an app that allows you to manage all of your health information from sleep to heart rate variability.
How To Measure Different Kinds Of Heart Rate
There are four different heart rate measurements you should know about. They all have some place in monitoring health and fitness, but your resting heart rate and max heart rate are the two most important.
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How To Check Your Cat’s Heart And Respiratory Rates And Temperature
To take your cat’s heart and respiratory rates, you will need a watch with a second hand or the timer on your phone.
Here are the steps for taking the heart rate of a cat:
- Place your hands on each side of your cat’s chest, just behind her elbows. Apply gentle pressure until you can feel her heartbeat. Count the beats for 15 seconds, and then multiply your result by 4 to calculate beats per minute.
- You may be able to feel your cat’s pulse by placing two fingers gently on the inside of her groin, where the back leg meets the body wall.
Note: It can be difficult to take a heart rate on a cat. If you have any concerns with your cat’s heart rate, go to the veterinarian. Using a stethoscope can make it easier for you to take your cat’s heart and respiratory rates.
Here are the steps for taking the respiratory rate of a cat:
- Watch your cat’s chest to see its rise and fall or place a hand on her chest to feel them.
- Count each chest rise for 15 seconds, and then multiply your result by 4 to calculate breaths per minute.
Practice taking heart and respiratory rates on your cat when there is no problem so that you will feel more comfortable and be more adept at it during an emergency.
Why Does Resting Heart Rate Matter
Resting heart rate is an indicator of overall health. Changes in resting heart rate can be among the first signs of an underlying issue. Having a lower resting heart rate doesnt necessarily indicate a cause for concern. Elite athletes and people who have a high fitness level tend to have lower resting heart rates. Medications and sleeping patterns can also lead to lower resting heart rates.
In some cases, low heart rates or significant decreases from your normal baseline can be a sign of an underlying problem such as heart disease. Additionally, heart attack, underactive thyroid, and some infections can also cause low resting heart rate.
Your heart rate varies when youre under stress during strenuous exercise and when youre just lounging. Its normal for your heart rate to be higher when you exercise because your heart has to pump oxygenated blood to your organs faster when youre exerting a lot of energy. Exercise and mood changes can cause an increase in resting heart rate. Think about the last time you were really excited or nervous. The feeling of your heart pounding in your chest is a reflection of an increased heart rate.
When your heart rate is consistently too high, you may have a health problem. Asthma and other breathing conditions can cause an increased resting heart rate. Anemia, heart problems, and medications can also raise heart rate numbers.
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Find Your Target Heart Rate
Monitoring your heart rate is a useful tool you can learn to use to guide your training and make sure youre getting the most out of your workouts. It can help make sure youre pushing hard on interval days and taking it easy on recovery days . But what do words such as light, moderate, and vigorous mean when it comes to exercise?
You can determine your exercise intensity using your maximum and resting heart rates. Then you can use the Heart Rate Reserve method to calculate your Target Heart Rate to determine what range your heart rate should be in for your desired exercise intensity. We provide a step-by-step process you can follow.
When To Call Your Doctor
If youre on a beta blocker to decrease your heart rate or to control an abnormal rhythm , your doctor may ask you to monitor and log your heart rate. Keeping tabs on your heart rate can help your doctor determine whether to change the dosage or switch to a different medication.
If your pulse is very low or if you have frequent episodes of unexplained fast heart rates, especially if they cause you to feel weak or dizzy or faint, tell your doctor, who can decide if its an emergency. Your pulse is one tool to help get a picture of your health.
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Get Your Heart Rate Reserve
Heart Rate Reserve is the difference between your Resting Heart Rate and your Maximum Heart Rate. It’s used primarily for determining heart rate zones during exercise, and the amount of cushion in heartbeats available for exercise. To get your HRR, subtract your heart’s resting rate from your maximum rate.
Your HRR is used in the PAI Health app to calculate activity intensity zones, which you can view by navigating into the PAI Earned section of the app. To get there, tap on the PAI Earned Today section of the Home screen, directly underneath your current PAI Score.
How It Is Done
You can measure your pulse rate anywhere an artery comes close to the skin, such as in your wrist or neck, temple area, groin, behind the knee, or top of your foot.
You can easily check your pulse on the inside of your wrist, below your thumb.
- Gently place 2 fingers of your other hand on this artery.
- Do not use your thumb because it has its own pulse that you may feel.
- Count the beats for 30 seconds then double the result to get the number of beats per minute.
You can also check your pulse in the carotid artery. This is located in your neck, on either side of your windpipe. Be careful when checking your pulse in this location, especially if you are older than 65. If you press too hard, you may become lightheaded and fall.
You can buy an electronic pulse meter to automatically check your pulse in your finger, wrist, or chest. These devices are helpful if you have trouble measuring your pulse or if you wish to check your pulse while you exercise.
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What Should You Know About Your Heart Rate
Even if youre not an athlete, knowledge about your heart rate can help you monitor your fitness level and it might even help you spot developing health problems.
Your heart rate, or pulse, is the number of times your heart beats per minute. Normal heart rate varies from person to person. Knowing yours can be an important heart-health gauge.
As you age, changes in the rate and regularity of your pulse can change and may signify a heart condition or other condition that needs to be addressed.
Target Heart Rates Chart
What should your heart rate be when working out, and how can you keep track of it? Our simple chart will help keep you in the target training zone, whether you want to lose weight or just maximize your workout. Find out what normal resting and maximum heart rates are for your age and how exercise intensity and other factors affect heart rate.
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When To See A Professional About Heart Rate
Certain medications or irregularities in your heart rate may warrant a visit to your doc. For example, many people on beta blockers are asked by their doctor to monitor and log heart rate. Keeping tabs on your heart rate can be helpful for your doctor when determining dosage or other treatment.
Additionally, if your pulse is very low, very high or switches frequently between the two, tell your doctor right away. Your pulse is an insightful tool into the status of your health and fitness level. Always check with a doctor before beginning an exercise program.
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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.