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How to count your pulse rate
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Written by George
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Saturday, 16 February 2008 |
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First, you'll want to find the best place to feel your pulse. Be active for a minute or so in any manner you wish—take a brisk walk, or climb a flight of stairs—in order to amplify your pulse. Now explore the following:
The radial artery in your wrist, just inside your wrist bone at the base of your thumb joint.
A carotid artery on one side of your throat, either just above your collarbone or below your jaw. Remember, don't close off the second carotid artery on the other side while you're doing this; you may shut down the blood supply to your brain.
A temporal artery at the side of your forehead (temple) just in front of your ear. Again, press on one side only.
Most people prefer the radial artery in the wrist. If that's the system you elect, use the following procedure:
Place your wristwatch on your wrist so that you can see its face when the palm of your hand is up. Next, place the wrist on which you have your watch in the palm of your other hand, so that the wrist falls into the crotch between thumb and forefinger. Let the tips of your fingers curl toward your thumb. Now your third and fourth fingers will rest over your pulse. The little pads at the ends of those fingers will fit right into the groove of the wrist. The pad on your middle finger is the pulse "feeler." If you press slightly against the wrist with your fingertip feeler, you should be able to find your pulse. Don't panic if you can't find the pulse at first; it takes a few minutes of practice.
What you feel at each beat is not blood flow, but a pulse wave that moves along the arteries about twelve to eighteen feet per second.
YOUR PULSE TEST
Doctors and nurses use one of several methods in taking the pulse: counting it for a minute, counting it for thirty seconds and multiplying by two, or counting for fifteen seconds and multiplying by four. We use still another method: counting for six seconds and adding a zero. We do this for a good reason. A longer count is more accurate in general terms and is ideal for taking the pulse of someone at rest. But a long count does not tell us about your exercise response as accurately as does a six-second count taken immediately after the exercise. Then the pulse (and heart) is beating at a rate that most nearly reflects the exertion you achived during your movements. Within fifteen seconds, the pulse has diminished from that peak, within thirty seconds still more, and within a minute still more. The variation between the pulse rate immediately after exercise and the rate one minuteTOTAL FITNESS
It's best to take the test a few hours after eating, smoking or drinking. All three will elevate your pulse. Coffee is to be particularly avoided.
If you've been physically active, rest for a few minutes before starting, so that your pulse has a chance to become steady at a low level.
You shouldn't talk to anyone during the test, because conversation increases the pulse rate. If you want to experiment, take your pulse, then count out loud to ten or talk to someone, and then take your pulse again. Your resting rate will now probably be ten beats a minute higher than before.
If you're shivery or overheated, you'll get a false resting pulse rate as well. Either condition accelerates the pulse rate.
Once you're seated and calm, repeated counts will give about the same score. This score represents your usual resting heart rate during a day. The only time you would find your basal pulse would be on awakening in the morning and before you had left your bed. The resting rate while seated comes closer to flee normal condition of wakefulness.
If during the test you have to clear your throat or cough, or you happen to yawn, wait a few minutes and start over. A fit of coughing, for example, can raise your heart rate twenty to thirty beats a minute. If you breathe deeply or forcibly, your pulse will speed up and slow down in rhythm with your respiration. Whilc you are quiet and breathing softly your pulse should have a regular rhythm. (If it is irregular—if you feel a missed beat or an extra beat once in a while—tell your physician about it before you step up your physical activity.)
When you think you have a steady resting pulse rate, try a series of 'biofeedback exercises" that can deliberately slow
your pulse rate by releasing a lot of the excess tension in your body. Instead of sitting on a chair, let yourself sit into the chair. Let all your weight go into the chair. Instead of holding your legs up off the floor, let the weight of your legs move into your feet so that your feet feel heavy on the floor. Now let your shoulders drop comfortably outward instead of holding them up. Let your face relax; feel that you are no longer furrowing your forehead, squinting your eyes or clenching your teeth. Finally, let your belly relax. Put your hands on your belly. Do they rise or fall as you take a breath? In two out of every five cases I have examined, the belly is drawn in as breath is drawn in. This is backward breathing. Your abdomen is moving in opposition to your respiration. You're creating excess tension. Try to reverse the pattern. As you take in a breath, let your hands move outward.
Now take your pulse again. If you've done all of the above properly, your pulse should be measurably lower.
In this relaxed, quiet state, you're going to register your lowest seated pulse rate. It should be less than loo beats per minute. ~~ your seated pulse rate is near ten counts in six seconds, you'd better remain seated and get a full minute count. If it's loo or over, try some more biofeedback relaxation to see if you can bring it down. If your pulse remains at loo or more, you may have a fever or an infection. If this is the case, you shouldn't continue with the pulse fitness test until your illness has disappeared.
But if you don't have a fever and can't explain why your pulse is higher than loo, then it's prudent to check with your doctor to be sure that the rapid pulse is normal for you and that there is no reason why you shouldn't go ahead with activity.
If your pulse rate is less than loo—ten beats in six seconds—you may proceed to Grade Two.
later can be as much as thirty beats.
You're flow going to determine your pulse rate by counting the number of pulses in six seconds and adding a zero to get the pcr-min^l^lte rate. Catch the rhythm of pulsations
It's best to take the test a few hours after eating, smoking or drinking. All three will elevate your pulse. Coffee is to be particularly avoided.
If you've been physically active, rest for a few minutes before starting, so that your pulse has a chance to become steady at a low level.
You shouldn't talk to anyone during the test, because conversation increases the pulse rate. If you want to experiment, take your pulse, then count out loud to ten or talk to someone, and then take your pulse again. Your resting rate will now probably be ten beats a minute higher than before.
If you're shivery or overheated, you'll get a false resting pulse rate as well. Either condition accelerates the pulse rate.
Once you're seated and calm, repeated counts will give about the same score. This score represents your usual resting heart rate during a day. The only time you would find your basal pulse would be on awakening in the morning and before you had left your bed. The resting rate while seated comes closer to flee normal condition of wakefulness.
If during the test you have to clear your throat or cough, or you happen to yawn, wait a few minutes and start over. A fit of coughing, for example, can raise your heart rate twenty to thirty beats a minute. If you breathe deeply or forcibly, your pulse will speed up and slow down in rhythm with your respiration. Whilc you are quiet and breathing softly your pulse should have a regular rhythm. (If it is irregular—if you feel a missed beat or an extra beat once in a while—tell your physician about it before you step up your physical activity.)
When you think you have a steady resting pulse rate, try a series of 'biofeedback exercises" that can deliberately slow
your pulse rate by releasing a lot of the excess tension in your body. Instead of sitting on a chair, let yourself sit into the chair. Let all your weight go into the chair. Instead of holding your legs up off the floor, let the weight of your legs move into your feet so that your feet feel heavy on the floor. Now let your shoulders drop comfortably outward instead of holding them up. Let your face relax; feel that you are no longer furrowing your forehead, squinting your eyes or clenching your teeth. Finally, let your belly relax. Put your hands on your belly. Do they rise or fall as you take a breath? In two out of every five cases I have examined, the belly is drawn in as breath is drawn in. This is backward breathing. Your abdomen is moving in opposition to your respiration. You're creating excess tension. Try to reverse the pattern. As you take in a breath, let your hands move outward.
Now take your pulse again. If you've done all of the above properly, your pulse should be measurably lower.
In this relaxed, quiet state, you're going to register your lowest seated pulse rate. It should be less than loo beats per minute. ~~ your seated pulse rate is near ten counts in six seconds, you'd better remain seated and get a full minute count. If it's loo or over, try some more biofeedback relaxation to see if you can bring it down. If your pulse remains at loo or more, you may have a fever or an infection. If this is the case, you shouldn't continue with the pulse fitness test until your illness has disappeared.
But if you don't have a fever and can't explain why your pulse is higher than loo, then it's prudent to check with your doctor to be sure that the rapid pulse is normal for you and that there is no reason why you shouldn't go ahead with activity.
If your pulse rate is less than loo—ten beats in six seconds—you may proceed to Grade Two.
for a while. When your pulse coincides with an easy time interval (at one of the five- second marks) start counting. Begin with "Zero" as the second hand crosses over the fivesecond mark. If you don't say ''Zero" you'll miscalculate. Then count the number of pulses in six seconds.
The test has six grades.
Grade One is to record and interpret your pulse at rest. Grade Two is to do the same when you're standing. Grades Three, Four and Five determine your reaction to mild exertion. Grade Six tests your rate of recovery.
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