One way of monitoring physical activity intensity is to determine whether a person’s pulse or heart rate is within the target zone during physical activity.
Generally, to determine whether you are exercising within the heart rate target zone, you must stop exercising briefly to take your pulse.
You can take the pulse at the neck, wrist or chest, but we recommend the wrist.
How to Take Your Heart Rate – Checking Your Pulse
- You can feel the radial pulse on the artery of the wrist in line with the thumb.
- Place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery and press lightly. Do not use the thumb.
- Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.
- Start the count on a beat, which is counted as “zero.”