Heart rate is the number of times per minute that your heart contracts when it pumps blood into your body. Your pulse is what you feel over an artery as the pressure inside increases following each heartbeat. In healthy individuals, the heart rate is often synchronised with the pulse.
How to measure heart rate
Heart rate can be measured under the skin in certain places where an artery is near the surface, for example in the neck, inside of the elbow, inside of the wrist, in the groin, behind the knee and at the ankle joint. A stethoscope is used to listen to the heart rate directly and for counting the beats per minute (bpm). It varies a lot between individuals, but also through a person’s lifetime according to factors such as health, fitness level, gender and age.
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- A good indication of a healthy heart rate for children up to 10 years is 70 to 130 bpm. For children over 10 years and adults it is 60 to 90 bpm, while athletes’ heart rate might be as low as 40 to 60 bpm.
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- Factors that increase one’s heart rate include stress (long term or acute, eg being startled), reduced fitness, ageing and medication.
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- Factors that decrease heart rate over time are cardiovascular fitness, an increase in general activity level, general good health and wellbeing.
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- A person’s resting heart rate is the heart rate when someone is awake and not actively doing anything.
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- A person’s maximum heart rate is the highest possible heart rate during intense physical activity.
A heart rate at the lower end of the range mentioned above indicates good cardiovascular fitness. It can be a fun challenge to try and lower your heart rate over a period of time by taking part in physical activities and by leading a healthy lifestyle.
How to measure pulse
The pulse is usually felt with two to three fingers in places where the pulse is easy to locate, for example under the jaw next to the windpipe. When you count the number of pulses in 30 seconds and multiply it by two, you get the number of beats per minute.
Sources
www.heart.org
www.mayoclinic.org
www.netdoctor.co.uk