• The average resting heart rate for adults over 18 should fall between 60-100 beats per minute.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Louise Docker
  
  

Pulse Rate Levels

• Your highest normal heart rate is 220 minus your current age.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Andrew Magill
  
  The Cleveland Clinic explains the change in pulse rate when you become more active as the need for more oxygen-rich blood by the whole body as you exercise. Heart rates differ from person to person, but there are general guidelines that a typical pulse rate should fit in to. Healthy pulse rates in infants younger than 1 ye to -10 should have a resting heart rate of 100 to 120 BPM. The resting pulse for children ages 11 to 15 should remain between 70 to 100 BPM, and the pulse rate for adults age 18 and older should be anywhere between 60 to 100 BPM at rest.
  
  T get an accurate measurement of your highest normal heart rate during physical activity, the American Heart Association says to subtract your age from 220. For instance if your current age is 45, your maximum heart rate would be 175 BPM.
  
  

Pulse Points

• The inner wrist is the most common of the 6 pulse points in the bodyImage by Flickr.com, courtesy of Claire Powers
  
  There are six places on your body where an artery lies close to the skin, allowing you to feel your pulse. These are your neck, temple, wrist, groin, inner side or top of your feet, or on the backs of your knees. Measuring the pulse at the wrist and neck are the two most common places to check for a pulse.
  
  

How to Measure Pulse Rates

• Pulse rates are measured in beats per minuteImage by Flickr.com, courtesy of Brittany Culver
  
  To measure your pulse rate on your wrist, put your middle and index fingers on the underside of the opposing wrist along the thumb side. Press fingers down flat and firm until you feel the beating under your fingertips. To measure the pulse in your neck, place your middle and index fingers on one side of the neck in the soft, hollow area below and between your chin and the back of your jaw bone. Press until you can feel the pulse on your fingertips.
  
  Once the pulse has been located, hold and count the beats for 30 seconds, then multiply that number by 2. This number is your pulse measured in beats per minute.
  
  

Oximetry

• The amount of oxygen in your blood is referred to as oxygen saturationImage by Flickr.com, courtesy of sookie
  
  Oximetry refers to the percentage of oxygen being carried through your arteries in your blood. This is also called oxygen saturation and is often written as SpO2. Each hemoglobin molecule is capable of carrying up to four oxygen molecules at one time. If 100 of your hemoglobin molecules were carrying four oxygen molecules each, your oxygen saturation would be at 100 percent. If they were only carrying 375 total, then your oxygen saturation level would be 93 percent. In mathematic terms, it would break down as 375 / 400 = 0.9375 x 100 = 93%.
  
  

Measuring Blood Oxygen Levels

• Pulse ox probes are typically placed on a finger tip, but can also get accurate readings from toes and earlobes.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Kevin Dooley
  
  A device called a pulse oximeter, more commonly known as a pulse ox, is used to measure this amount through the use of a non-invasive probe that shines infrared lighting through a finger, toe or earlobe. The amount of oxygen in the blood will affect the blood coloring, so the infrared right makes a reading based upon the color of the blood in the arteries. Although there is no exact target percentage rate, PulseOx.info says that a healthy young adult should expect to have a pulse oximeter reading of 95 percent to 99 percent