How to measure your resting heart rate: take your pulse at the wrist or neck

What does your pulse tell you?

Your pulse is the number of heartbeats per minute. MedlinePlus defines it that way and adds that measuring it gives important information about your health, because any change from your normal heart rate can indicate a health problem.¹ The NHLBI uses the terms pulse and heart rate for the same thing.²

Resting heart rate is the pulse taken when your body is calm, not just back from the stairs. It is the baseline against which exercise and recovery are judged. This guide covers how to take the measurement. For what counts as typical, read the guide to normal resting heart rate, which holds the reference values.

You do not need equipment for a first reading. A watch or phone timer and two fingers are enough. That is also the best way to check what a wrist sensor tells you.

How to take your pulse at the wrist

The wrist, or radial, pulse is the usual choice. MedlinePlus says to place your index and middle fingers over the underside of your opposite wrist, below the base of the thumb, and press with flat fingers until you feel the pulse.¹ The Cleveland Clinic describes the spot as the groove beside the wrist bone, and says to press gently and add slightly more pressure if you feel nothing.³

1. Sit and rest. To determine your resting heart rate, MedlinePlus says you must have been resting for at least 10 minutes.¹
2. Turn one hand palm up. Rest the arm on a table or your lap so it is relaxed.
3. Place two fingers on the wrist. Use the index and middle fingers of your other hand, not the thumb, on the thumb side of the inner wrist.¹³⁴
4. Press lightly until you feel a tapping. If you feel nothing, add a little pressure or move the fingertips slightly.³
5. Set a timer for 30 seconds and count. Count every beat you feel, then double the result to get beats per minute.²³
6. Write it down. Note the number, the time and whether you were sitting or lying.

Use the fingertips, not the thumb.³⁴ The Cleveland Clinic and the NHLBI both give 30 seconds doubled as the standard count.²³ MedlinePlus accepts a full minute, or 30 seconds doubled, and says shorter counts of 10 or 15 seconds multiplied by 6 or 4 are usually accurate too.¹

How to take your pulse at the neck

The neck, or carotid, pulse is easier to feel in some people, but it needs more care. MedlinePlus says to place the index and middle fingers just to the side of the Adam's apple, in the soft, hollow area, and press gently until you locate the pulse.¹

The same page gives three cautions. Sit or lie down first, because the neck arteries in some people are sensitive to pressure and fainting or slowing of the heartbeat can result. Never take the pulses on both sides of the neck at the same time, which can slow the flow of blood to the head and lead to fainting.¹ The Cleveland Clinic goes further and says to check with a healthcare provider before trying it, noting that pressing too much on the carotid artery is not safe in some cases, such as when the artery is narrowed by plaque.³

The Cleveland Clinic lists the pulse points as the inside of the wrist near the base of the thumb and either side of the neck next to the windpipe, and says to check only one side of the neck at a time.⁴

Conditions that change the number

Resting heart rate is a measurement under rest. MedlinePlus separates it from the exercise reading: take the resting rate after 10 minutes of rest and the exercise rate while you exercise.¹ That means a count taken right after stairs, coffee or an argument is not a resting rate.

None of the pages read for this guide set a time of day. The Cleveland Clinic notes that you can check whenever you want.³ What matters for comparing readings is to repeat the same conditions. A practical routine:

• Same position each time, for example seated at a table.
• Same rest period before counting, at least the 10 minutes MedlinePlus requires.¹
• Same count window, for example always 30 seconds doubled.
• Same time of day, since the sources do not name an ideal one and consistency is the aim.

Write down the date and result. A line of numbers over a few weeks tells you more than a single count.

How accurate is a short count?

A pulse count can only be a whole number of beats. Missing or double-counting one beat changes the answer by the multiplier you use. A longer count dilutes the error.

MedlinePlus calls the shorter counts usually accurate.¹ If you want a number that is steadier from one day to the next, use 30 seconds or a full minute.

What an optical wrist sensor measures and what it does not

Bands and watches usually read pulse optically. The systematic review by Koerber and colleagues describes it as analysis of reflected LED light on the skin, and notes that melanin alters skin light absorption.⁵ The sensor does not feel the artery with fingertips the way you do. It works from light.

What the same review found about skin tone is mixed. Of 10 studies with 469 participants, four reported a significant reduction in accuracy of heart rate measurement in darker-skinned people, four found no effect and two had mixed results. The authors called the evidence inconclusive and asked for larger, better-designed studies.⁵

So a sensor is useful for what a manual count cannot do: it takes many readings, including during sleep, and shows a trend. A manual count is useful for a spot check of the sensor. If your hand count at rest and your band differ by a few beats, one or both of them may be a little off. If they differ a lot and you feel unwell, speak to a clinician rather than trusting either.

For how sensors compare, see the guide to wrist versus chest strap heart rate. For what resting heart rate says about recovery overnight, see heart rate variability.

What to do with an unusual pulse

MedlinePlus says to discuss resting heart rates that stay unusually high or fall below the normal values with your health care provider. It adds that a very firm, bounding pulse lasting more than a few minutes, or an irregular pulse, should also be checked.¹ A pulse that is hard to locate may mean blockages in the artery, according to the same page.¹

The Cleveland Clinic gives symptom-linked guidance: a slow pulse with fatigue, dizziness or fainting needs a provider's attention, and a fast resting pulse with dizziness or palpitations should be discussed with one. It also says to tell a provider about an irregular pulse that jumps, pauses, skips or races, even when you are calm.³

Once you have your resting figure, you can use it to set exercise ranges, covered in the guide to heart rate zones, and to follow how quickly you settle afterward, covered in heart rate recovery.

Frequently asked questions