To check your pulse manually, place your index and middle fingers on the inside of your wrist, just below the base of your thumb, and count the beats you feel for 30 seconds. Multiply that number by two, and you have your heart rate in beats per minute. It takes about a minute from start to finish, and once you know the technique, you can do it anywhere without any equipment.
Where to Find Your Pulse
The two easiest spots to feel your pulse are your wrist (the radial pulse) and the side of your neck (the carotid pulse). Most people find the wrist more comfortable and straightforward for routine checks.
For the wrist, turn one hand palm-up. With the other hand, place your index and middle fingers in the groove on the inner wrist, just below where your thumb connects to your wrist. You’re pressing the artery gently against the bone underneath. You should feel a rhythmic tapping against your fingertips. If you don’t feel anything right away, slide your fingers slightly toward or away from your thumb until you land on the right spot.
For the neck, place your index and middle fingers in the soft groove just beside your windpipe, under the edge of your jaw. The pulse here is often stronger and easier to detect, which makes it useful if you’re trying to check your heart rate during exercise or if you have trouble finding it at your wrist. Two important safety rules for the neck: never press on both sides at the same time, because this can make you dizzy or cause you to faint, and don’t check your neck pulse at all if you’ve been told you have plaque buildup in your carotid arteries.
Why You Should Never Use Your Thumb
Your thumb has its own pulse. If you press it against your wrist or neck to count beats, you may end up counting your thumb’s pulse instead of (or mixed in with) the one you’re trying to measure. Always use the pads of your index and middle fingers. Some sources suggest using your ring finger as well for a wider contact area, which can help if the pulse is faint.
How to Count and Calculate
Once you feel a steady beat under your fingers, watch a clock or start a timer. Count the number of beats you feel over 30 seconds, then multiply by two. That gives you your beats per minute (bpm). If you want a quicker estimate, you can count for 15 seconds and multiply by four, though a longer count tends to smooth out any irregularities. For the most precise reading, count for a full 60 seconds. Research published in The American Journal of Medicine found that counting for 15 or 30 seconds produces results comparable in accuracy to a full minute for most people, so 30 seconds is a practical sweet spot.
If you notice the beats seem uneven, with skipped beats or irregular spacing, count for the full 60 seconds. An irregular rhythm is worth noting separately from the rate itself, since it can signal conditions that a simple number won’t capture.
When and How to Get an Accurate Reading
The best time to check your resting heart rate is in the morning, after a full night of sleep, before you get out of bed or have coffee. This gives you the closest thing to a true baseline. If that’s not practical, sit quietly for at least five minutes before measuring.
A surprising number of everyday factors can temporarily shift your heart rate. Caffeine, nicotine, dehydration, stress, poor sleep, and even the temperature of the room all influence the number you’ll get. A reading taken after climbing stairs or during an anxious moment will be noticeably higher than your actual resting rate. For tracking purposes, try to measure under similar conditions each time so you’re comparing like with like.
Your body position matters too. Heart rate is typically a few beats higher when standing compared to sitting or lying down. Pick one position and stick with it for consistency.
What Your Number Means
For adults (18 and older), a normal resting heart rate falls between 60 and 100 bpm. Athletes and people who are very physically active can have resting rates as low as 40 bpm, which reflects a heart that pumps efficiently and doesn’t need to beat as often to circulate blood.
Children have naturally faster heart rates. Newborns range from 100 to 205 bpm, toddlers from 98 to 140, school-age kids from 75 to 118, and teenagers settle into the adult range of 60 to 100 bpm. These numbers apply when a child is awake and calm.
A resting rate consistently above 100 bpm in an adult is called tachycardia. A rate below 60 bpm is called bradycardia. Neither is automatically a problem. Context matters: a well-trained runner at 52 bpm is healthy, while someone at 52 bpm who feels faint or exhausted may not be. Similarly, a rate of 105 after a stressful phone call is unremarkable, but a resting rate that stays above 100 day after day is worth investigating. Certain medications can also push your rate higher or lower as a side effect.
Troubleshooting a Hard-to-Find Pulse
If you can’t feel anything at your wrist, the most common fix is adjusting finger position. Slide your fingers a few millimeters in either direction, especially toward the thumb side, while pressing gently. Many people press too hard, which actually compresses the artery and blocks the flow you’re trying to feel. Use light, steady pressure, just enough that you can feel each beat tapping against your fingertips.
Cold hands can make a wrist pulse harder to detect because blood vessels constrict in the cold. Warming your hands for a minute or two often helps. If your wrist pulse remains elusive, switch to the neck, where the artery is larger and the beat is stronger. You can also try the inside of your elbow, pressing into the crease on the pinky side of the tendon you feel when you flex your bicep.
What to Pay Attention to Beyond the Number
When you check your pulse, you’re actually gathering three pieces of information, not just one. The rate (how fast), the rhythm (how regular), and the strength (how forceful each beat feels) all tell you something. A steady, even rhythm with beats spaced equally apart is typical. If you notice beats that come early, feel like they skip, or seem to alternate between strong and weak, make a note of it. Occasional skipped beats are common and often harmless, but a persistently irregular pattern is useful information to share with a healthcare provider.
Tracking your resting heart rate over weeks or months can reveal trends that a single measurement can’t. A gradual decrease over time often reflects improving cardiovascular fitness. A sudden or sustained increase from your personal baseline, especially paired with fatigue or shortness of breath, can be an early signal that something has changed, whether it’s overtraining, an emerging illness, dehydration, or increased stress.