Your heart rate is one of the most effective ways to measure your fitness and health. Knowing your heart rate can help determine blood flow to the rest of your body during exercise. For many people, measuring heart rate is a difficult procedure that is done incorrectly and therefore inaccurately, but several simple methods are available.
Carotid Artery
One of the most common methods for determining your heart rate utilizes your carotid arteries. Your carotid arteries carry blood from your heart to your brain and run on either side of your throat. To find your heart rate, take you middle and index fingers and place them to the side of your neck on the carotid artery. Feel for a strong pulse and center your fingers there. Use a watch or clock to keep track of time and count the number of beats per minute.
Wrist
Another heart-rate measurement method that requires minimal equipment is taken at the wrist. The veins on the underside of your wrist, just below your palm are concentrated and very near to the surface of the skin, making them easy to read. Again, place your middle and index fingers on these veins and feel for a pulse. The wrist pulse is weaker for most people and may prove more difficult to find. Use a clock to help you keep time as you count the number of pulses or beats in one minute.
Heart-Rate Monitors
Heart-rate monitors are often used by exercise enthusiasts who train according to their heart rate. These monitors include those that are integrated into treadmills, wrist monitors and chest-strap monitors. When your heart needs to beat, your body sends a tiny electronic pulse from your brain that causes the heart to contract. Modern heart-rate monitors are able to detect this minor electronic pulse and send it to an electronic display. Other heart-rate monitors use infrared technology to "see" the flow of blood through your skin, but these are often the most inaccurate.
EKG
The most complicated and most accurate method of measuring heart rate is an EKG or electrocardiogram. An EKG works in the same way that most heart-rate monitors do, but with a multitude of electrodes that are more sensitive to the electronic pulses of the heart. EKGs are used in hospitals to constantly measure a person's heart rate over several hours, tracking their progress and highlighting any problems. EKGs provide the most thorough reading of a heart rate and are capable of detecting slight imperfections like heart murmurs and inconsistent rhythm.
Stethoscope
One of the most direct ways to measure a heart rate is simply to listen to it. Stethoscopes are used by doctors for quick and efficient heart-rate measurements. Stethoscopes use a very sensitive membrane that greatly amplifies sounds. The stethoscope is placed on the skin directly over the heart. Beats are then counted as they are heard in units of beats per minute.
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