What Are the Best Places to Measure Heart Rate?

By Michael Ferguson

Measuring your heart rate is important for a variety of reasons. It can help to monitor your overall cardiovascular health, assess how hard you are working out, and even detect potential heart problems. Knowing where to measure your heart rate is just as important as knowing why you should measure it in the first place.

Finger

The easiest way to measure your heart rate is on your finger.

You simply need to find the pulse on either your index or middle finger and count the beats by counting “one-one thousand, two-one thousand” up until you reach 30 seconds. Once you reach 30 seconds, multiply the number of beats by two and that will give you your beats per minute (BPM). It helps to have a partner when measuring this way, as it will be much easier.

Neck

Measuring your heart rate on your neck is very similar to measuring it on your finger, with the exception of where you are feeling for the pulse. The carotid artery can be found on either side of your neck just below the angle of your jawbone. As with measuring it on a finger, count up until 30 seconds and then multiply by two to get the BPM.

Wrist

Another popular way to measure one’s heart rate is through the use of a wristwatch or similar device that monitors BPMs using sensors and an LED light. These devices are generally easier to use than measuring manually and provide more accurate readings in most cases. Simply hold down a button on the device while it detects the pulse from either wrist and then wait for it to display an accurate BPM reading.

Conclusion

When looking for the best places to measure one’s heart rate, fingers, necks and wrists are all great options depending upon personal preference or convenience at any given time. Manual methods provide an easy way for anyone who does not have access to a wrist device or other technology that can detect a BPM reading quickly and accurately enough for most purposes such as monitoring cardiovascular health or assessing workout intensity levels.