Minds On
Resting heart rate
What is your resting heart rate?
Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats and pumps blood to the rest of your body during rest.
Have you ever tried to find your pulse or resting heart rate? Let’s try right now!
There are two places you can find your pulse. The first place is your carotid artery. Your carotid artery is located on your neck, just off either side of your midline.
The second place is your radial artery. The radial artery is located on your wrist just below your palm on the side of your thumb.
How to find your pulse:
- Find your pulse using your index and middle finger. Make sure to not use your thumb.
- Place your index and middle finger on top of either your carotid artery or your radial artery.
- Count the number of beats during a 15-second countdown, then multiply that number by 4 to find your resting heart rate.
You can check your heart rate at diverse times of the day to check if it changes!
Calculating a heart rate
Action
Tracking results
A person’s pulse, or heart rate, is the number of times the heart beats per minute. It will change depending on things like activity, stress, body temperature, medicines, and illness.
Normal heart rates vary from person to person.
During rest, your heartbeat will slow down. With exercise, your heartbeat will beat faster.
What’s a resting heart rate?
Your resting heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute when you are at rest.
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart muscle is in better condition and doesn’t have to work as hard to maintain a steady beat.
Time to exercise!
Try the following activity routine called the 30/30.
Think of five exercises that you can perform. Record those exercises using any method of your choosing.
For example, let’s say you chose the following exercises:
Five exercises
Let’s learn how the 30/30 routine works. After choosing your five exercises, you will perform the first exercise for as fast as you can for 30 seconds, and then for as slow as you can for 30 seconds (the 30/30 workout). In the example you explored previously, this means you would perform jumping jacks as fast as you can for 30 seconds and then for as slow as you can for 30 seconds.
Then, you will follow the same sequence for the remainder of the exercises.
Once you have completed this circuit, record your heart rate (record it for 15 seconds and then multiply by 4), rest for two minutes, and then repeat this same circuit again two more times.
Record your heart rate by completing the 30/30 Heart Rate Chart in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.
| Circuit of 5 exercises |
Heart rate (check pulse for 15 seconds then multiply by 4) Heart rate is measure in beats per minute (bpm) |
|---|---|
| Circuit 1 | |
| Circuit 2 | |
| Circuit 3 |
Press the ‘Activity’ button to access 30/30 Heart Rate Chart.
Consolidation
30/30 routine
Continue doing the 30/30 workout routine three times a week for next three weeks.
Record your pulse before, during, and after the workout. Also, record how you felt.
Come back to this information every week and comment on any changes you notice or feel.
Keeping track of your heart rate
Reflection
As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.
I feel…
Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.