Monitor Your Heart Rate When You Exercise

When you’re exercising, it’s important to keep track of your heart rate so that you can make sure you’re working out in a range that is maximizing your calorie-burning potential. If you’re not working out on a machine that keeps track of your rate, you can either use a heart rate monitor or two of your fingers.

If you’re measuring manually, place two fingers gently just below the top of the jaw on the side of your neck over your carotid artery or over the radial artery located just where your wrist bends. Count for 15 seconds, then multiply the number of beats you felt by 4 to estimate your beats per minute (bpm). If you’re doing this when you’re at rest, this number represents your approximate resting heart rate.

If you prefer to have a monitor keep track of your heart rate – which is, admittedly, easier when you’re in the middle of a workout – find a heart monitor that includes a strap that goes around your chest and a watch-like device that will allow you to easily read the results.