You can take your heart rate by pressing two fingers against an artery, counting the beats you feel, and multiplying to get beats per minute. The whole process takes 30 seconds or less once you know where to place your fingers. A normal resting heart rate for adults falls between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
Finding Your Pulse at the Wrist
The wrist is the easiest and most common place to check your pulse. Turn one hand palm-up and place the pads of your index and middle fingers on the inside of your opposite wrist, just below the base of your thumb. You’re feeling for the radial artery, which runs along the thumb side of your forearm. Press gently until you feel a steady tapping against your fingertips.
Don’t use your thumb. Your thumb has its own pulse, and you’ll end up counting that instead of (or in addition to) the beat from your wrist. Use only your index and middle fingers, and press lightly. Too much pressure can flatten the artery and make the pulse harder to detect.
Finding Your Pulse at the Neck
The carotid artery in your neck carries a strong, easy-to-find pulse. Place the pads of two or three fingers on the side of your neck, in the soft groove between your windpipe and the large muscle that runs from behind your ear down to your collarbone. You should feel the beat clearly with gentle pressure.
One important rule: stay in the middle third of the neck. Pressing too high, near the jaw, can stimulate a pressure-sensitive area called the carotid sinus. This can cause your heart rate to slow reflexively, which gives you an inaccurate reading and can occasionally cause lightheadedness. Also, never press on both sides of the neck at the same time, as this can restrict blood flow to the brain.
Counting the Beats
Once you’ve found a steady pulse, look at a clock or start a timer. The Cleveland Clinic recommends counting each beat you feel for 30 seconds, then doubling that number. If you count 35 beats in 30 seconds, your heart rate is 70 beats per minute.
If you’re short on time, you can count for just 10 seconds and multiply by six. This is faster but less precise, because being off by even one beat means a six-beat error in your final number. The 30-second method strikes a good balance between accuracy and convenience. For the most precise reading, count for a full 60 seconds, which requires no math at all.
Other Places You Can Check
The wrist and neck work for most people, but several other pulse points exist throughout the body:
- Inside of the elbow: Press gently on the inner crease where you’d normally have blood drawn. This is the brachial artery, the same one used during blood pressure readings.
- Top of the foot: Feel for a pulse in the groove between the tendons of your first and second toes, on the top surface of the foot.
- Behind the ankle bone: Press just behind and below the bony bump on the inside of your ankle.
- Temple: Place your index finger on your temple, directly in front of your ear.
These locations are most useful when checking circulation in specific limbs rather than for routine heart rate checks. The wrist and neck give the strongest, most reliable pulse for everyday use.
Getting an Accurate Resting Reading
Your resting heart rate is the number that matters most for tracking your overall cardiovascular fitness, so the conditions under which you measure it matter. Sit quietly for at least five minutes before checking. Avoid taking your pulse right after exercise, climbing stairs, or even standing up suddenly.
Several things can temporarily push your heart rate higher even when you’re sitting still. Caffeine raises blood pressure at rest and can elevate heart rate during recovery from activity. Stress, anxiety, dehydration, a hot room, a recent meal, and nicotine all do the same. For the most consistent readings, check your pulse first thing in the morning before getting out of bed, or after sitting calmly for several minutes in a comfortable environment. Measuring at the same time each day helps you spot real trends rather than normal fluctuations.
Using a Smartwatch or Fitness Tracker
Most wrist-worn devices use a technology called photoplethysmography. Small green LEDs on the back of the watch shine light into your skin and measure how much light bounces back. Each heartbeat pushes a tiny wave of blood through your wrist, changing the light absorption. The sensor detects these changes and converts them into a heart rate reading.
Chest strap monitors work differently. They detect the electrical signals your heart generates with each beat, similar to a hospital ECG. Research published in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living found that for basic heart rate measurement, both technologies perform comparably well. The difference shows up in more advanced metrics like heart rate variability, where chest straps tend to be more accurate. Wrist-based optical sensors are more susceptible to errors caused by motion, ambient light, and darker skin tones, which can affect how light penetrates the tissue.
For a reliable smartwatch reading at rest, wear the device snugly (not tight) about a finger’s width above your wrist bone. Stay still while it measures. Most watches take continuous readings throughout the day, so you can simply check your resting heart rate in the companion app each morning.
What the Numbers Mean
A normal resting heart rate for adults 18 and older is 60 to 100 beats per minute. Well-trained athletes often have resting rates in the 40s or 50s because their hearts pump more blood with each beat, so fewer beats are needed.
A resting heart rate consistently below 60 is called bradycardia. For many people, especially those who are physically active, this is perfectly normal. It becomes a concern when it’s accompanied by dizziness, fainting, chest pain, confusion, or unusual fatigue. A resting heart rate consistently above 100 is called tachycardia. The same red-flag symptoms apply: chest pain, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, or feeling like you might pass out.
Over time, tracking your resting heart rate can reveal useful patterns. A gradual decrease usually reflects improving cardiovascular fitness. A sudden or sustained increase from your personal baseline, with no obvious explanation like illness or stress, is worth paying attention to.
Checking Your Heart Rate During Exercise
The American Heart Association provides a simple formula for estimating your maximum heart rate: subtract your age from 220. A 40-year-old, for example, has an estimated max of 180 beats per minute. During moderate-intensity exercise like brisk walking, your target is 50 to 70 percent of that maximum (90 to 126 bpm for a 40-year-old). During vigorous activity like running, aim for 70 to 85 percent (126 to 153 bpm).
Checking your pulse mid-workout manually is tricky because you have to stop moving and count quickly before your heart rate starts dropping. A wrist-based monitor or chest strap makes this far easier, giving you a continuous readout. If you do check manually during exercise, use the 10-second count and multiply by six, since your rate will change rapidly once you stop.