Fitness

Taking Your Pulse

Taking your pulse is an easy way to measure your heart rate. Your heart is pumping blood through the arteries and veins of your body. Some of these arteries are close to the surface of the skin and when you place your hand on these spots, you can feel the blood pumping. The best places to feel your pulse are:

• the inside of your wrist, in line with your thumb
  
• on your neck, either side of your windpipe (Don’t press too hard or you could become dizzy!)

Take your pulse by placing two fingers lightly on the spot. Don’t use your thumb—it also has a pulse and this could confuse you. Count how many beats you can feel in 30 seconds (half a minute). Multiply this number by 2 to get the number of beats per minute (60 seconds).

Sites about the Heart and Lungs

See the heart pumping blood. Try using a stethoscope.
http://www.smm.org/heart/heart/top.html

See how the diaphragm causes the lungs to breathe air in and out.
http://www.smm.org/heart/lungs/top.html

See how the heart rate speeds up as you become more active. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/keeping_healthy.shtml