Your heart rate is simply a measurement of how many times your heart beats in one minute. Your heart typically beats 60 to 80 times in a minute. When your need for oxygen changes—say, during exercise or sleep—your heart rate changes to supply oxygen-rich blood to the body.

The resting heart rate is a measurement of how many times your heart beats when your body is at rest (this is best taken when you wake after a night's sleep and before you get out of bed). Your resting heart rate is lower when you're physically fit and it rises as you get older. If you're an athlete, resting heart rate is a useful measurement when you want to establish, with your doctor, a target heart rate that you want to reach during physical training.

These heartbeats per minute, or pulse, can be counted by special medical equipment, or you can check it yourself by pressing the index and middle fingers of one hand against an artery—usually done on the neck or on the wrist. Blood pressure monitors typically supply a pulse reading, or you can listen to your heart through a stethoscope and count the beats in one minute. Fitness and sporting goods stores also sell a variety of strap-on heart rate monitors. Sometimes you will find a heart rate monitor built into cardiovascular training equipment such as a treadmill or an exercise bike.

Doctors regard resting heart rate as an important indicator of cardiovascular health. A number of factors can raise your resting heart rate, including overweight, caffeine, stress, smoking, exercise, lack of physical activity, and some cold medicines. Also, if atherosclerosis is narrowing your arteries, your heart has to pump harder to distribute blood, and your resting heart rate rises. If you find that you have a resting heart rate over 80, consult your doctor.

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