You can find your heart rate in about 30 seconds using nothing but two fingers and a clock. Place the tips of your index and middle fingers on the inside of your wrist, just below the base of your thumb, and press lightly until you feel a steady pulse. Count the beats for 30 seconds, then multiply by two to get your beats per minute (bpm).
The Wrist Method Step by Step
The inside of your wrist is the easiest and safest place to check your pulse. You’re feeling for the radial artery, which runs along the thumb side of your inner wrist. Use only your index and middle fingers, never your thumb, because your thumb has its own pulse and can throw off your count.
Press gently. You want just enough pressure to feel each beat, not so much that you compress the artery and block flow. Once you’ve found the rhythm, watch a clock or timer. Counting for a full 60 seconds gives the most accurate number, but 30 seconds multiplied by two works well for a quick check. If your heartbeat feels irregular, count the full 60 seconds since multiplying a short count can magnify errors.
Using the Neck Instead
Your carotid artery carries a strong pulse that’s easy to find, which makes the neck a good backup when you can’t feel your wrist pulse clearly. Place your index and middle fingers in the soft groove beside your windpipe, just below the angle of your jaw.
A few safety points matter here. Press on one side only. Pressing both sides of the neck at the same time can make you dizzy, lightheaded, or cause you to faint. Use light pressure, the same as the wrist. And if you’ve been told you have plaque buildup in your neck arteries, skip this site entirely and stick with your wrist.
Other Places You Can Feel a Pulse
If the wrist and neck aren’t working for you, several other arteries sit close enough to the surface to feel:
- Inside of the elbow: Press gently on the front of the elbow crease, where blood is typically drawn.
- Temple: Place your index finger on your temple directly in front of your ear.
- Top of the foot: Feel in the groove between your first and second toes on the top of your foot.
- Behind the ankle bone: Press just behind and below the inner ankle bone.
These sites are less commonly used for routine heart rate checks, but they’re helpful in situations where the wrist or neck pulse is hard to locate, such as during cold weather when blood flow to your extremities decreases.
What Your Number Means
A normal resting heart rate for adults (18 and older) is 60 to 100 bpm. “Resting” means you’re sitting or lying down, awake, and haven’t just been exercising. Athletes often have resting rates in the 40s or 50s because a well-conditioned heart pumps more blood per beat and doesn’t need to work as fast.
Children run higher. Newborns range from 100 to 205 bpm, and even school-age kids (5 to 12) typically fall between 75 and 118 bpm. By adolescence the range settles to the adult norm of 60 to 100.
A resting rate consistently below 60 bpm is considered bradycardia, and one consistently above 100 bpm is tachycardia. Neither is automatically dangerous. Bradycardia in a fit person is often a sign of cardiovascular efficiency, not a problem. But if a slow or fast rate comes with dizziness, shortness of breath, or fainting, that’s worth a medical conversation.
Getting an Accurate Resting Measurement
Your heart rate shifts constantly based on what your body is doing. To get a reliable resting number, check it first thing in the morning before you get out of bed, or after sitting quietly for at least five minutes. Caffeine, stress, nicotine, and even standing up all push the rate higher. Tobacco use, in particular, can raise your resting heart rate over time, not just in the moment.
Take your pulse on a few different mornings rather than relying on a single reading. A pattern over several days gives you a much more useful baseline than any one measurement.
How Accurate Are Wearable Devices
Smartwatches and fitness trackers use light sensors (called photoplethysmography) to detect blood flow through your skin. For resting heart rate, most dedicated apps and chest straps are quite accurate, with error rates under 2.5% compared to medical-grade equipment. Smartphone camera-based apps, on the other hand, performed far worse in testing, with one popular app showing an average error rate above 17%.
The type of light sensor matters. Devices using infrared light, like some smart rings, penetrate the skin more deeply and tend to give more reliable readings than those using green LED light, which is what most wrist-worn watches use. Green-light sensors are more affected by motion, skin tone, and how tightly the band fits, which is why your watch may struggle during intense exercise even if it’s accurate at rest.
For a simple resting heart rate check, a well-fitting wrist device is reliable enough for everyday use. If you’re tracking more detailed heart rhythm data, a chest strap with electrical sensors consistently outperforms wrist-based optical sensors.
Estimating Your Maximum Heart Rate
Your maximum heart rate is the fastest your heart can beat during all-out exertion. You don’t need to measure it directly. Two common formulas estimate it by age:
- Traditional formula: 220 minus your age
- Tanaka formula: 208 minus (0.7 × your age)
The Tanaka formula, developed from a meta-analysis of over 18,000 people, is generally more accurate across age groups. The older 220-minus-age formula underestimates max heart rate by about 7 bpm in older adults and by roughly 9 bpm in younger adults. It’s only reasonably accurate for people in their 30s.
For a 45-year-old, the traditional formula gives 175 bpm while the Tanaka formula gives 176.5 bpm, a small difference at that age. But for a 25-year-old, the gap widens: 195 vs. 190.5. Neither formula is perfect for any individual, since genetics, fitness level, and body composition all play a role. But the Tanaka formula gives you a better starting estimate if you’re using heart rate zones for exercise.