BPM (beats per minute) and pulse are closely related but not technically the same thing. BPM is a unit of measurement, like miles per hour for speed. Pulse is what you’re measuring when you press two fingers to your wrist or neck and count the throbs you feel. In most healthy people, the pulse rate in BPM will match the heart rate in BPM exactly. But they’re measuring two different physical events, and in certain medical conditions, the numbers can diverge.
What BPM, Pulse, and Heart Rate Actually Mean
Your heart rate is the number of times your heart squeezes per minute. Each squeeze is triggered by an electrical signal. Your pulse, on the other hand, is the number of times your arteries expand and contract in response to that squeezing. When your heart pushes blood out, a pressure wave travels through your blood vessels. That wave is what you feel at your wrist or neck.
BPM is simply the unit both are expressed in. When a fitness tracker says “72 BPM,” it could be reporting your heart rate or your pulse rate depending on the technology inside. The number is the same for most people, but the source of that number differs.
Why the Numbers Match (Most of the Time)
In a healthy person with a normal heart rhythm, every electrical signal produces a heartbeat, and every heartbeat produces a pulse wave that reaches the arteries. So if your heart contracts 72 times in a minute, you’ll feel 72 pulses at your wrist. For everyday purposes, using “pulse” and “heart rate” interchangeably is perfectly fine.
When Pulse and Heart Rate Don’t Match
The gap between the two is called a pulse deficit. It happens when some heartbeats are too weak to push enough blood to create a detectable pulse wave in your arteries. In conditions like atrial fibrillation, the heart’s upper chambers quiver chaotically, and some contractions don’t move enough blood forward. A stethoscope on the chest might count 110 beats per minute while the wrist pulse registers only 90. That 20-beat gap is clinically significant and one reason doctors sometimes check both.
Peripheral artery disease can also dampen pulse readings. Narrowed or blocked arteries reduce the pressure wave before it reaches your wrist or foot, making pulses weaker or absent at certain locations even though the heart is beating normally. Roughly 30% of patients with a specific type of aortic dissection show diminished or absent pulses in one or more limbs.
How Fitness Trackers Measure BPM
Most smartwatches and fitness bands use a light-based sensor on the underside of the device. Green LEDs shine into your skin and detect tiny changes in blood volume as each pulse wave passes through the capillaries in your wrist. This is pulse rate, not heart rate, because the device is reading pressure changes in blood vessels rather than the heart’s electrical signals.
Devices with EKG (electrocardiogram) capability, like certain Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy models, detect the actual electrical impulses that trigger each heartbeat. That’s a true heart rate measurement. The distinction rarely matters for healthy users, but light-based sensors can lose accuracy during intense exercise, cold weather, or if the watch shifts on your wrist. Cold exposure, for instance, constricts blood vessels near the skin and makes the pulse wave harder for the sensor to detect.
Normal BPM Ranges
A normal resting heart rate for healthy adults falls between 60 and 100 BPM. Well-trained endurance athletes often sit in the 40s or 50s because their hearts pump more blood per beat. Below 60 BPM is generally classified as bradycardia, and above 100 BPM at rest qualifies as tachycardia. Neither label automatically means something is wrong. A resting rate of 55 in someone who runs regularly is expected. A rate of 105 after two cups of coffee and a stressful email is also unremarkable.
Children and infants have significantly higher resting rates. A newborn’s heart commonly beats 120 to 160 times per minute, gradually slowing as they grow.
How to Check Your Pulse Accurately
The two most accessible spots are the wrist and the neck. For the wrist (radial pulse), turn your palm face up and place your index and middle fingers on the outer part of the wrist crease, just below the base of your thumb. Press firmly until you feel a steady throb. For the neck (carotid pulse), place the same two fingers beside your windpipe, just under the jawline. Only press on one side at a time.
Use your index and middle fingers, never your thumb. Your thumb has its own pulse, which can mix with the count and throw off your number. The CDC’s standardized procedure for clinical measurements counts beats for 30 seconds and then doubles the result. Counting for a full 60 seconds is even more accurate, especially if your rhythm feels irregular. Shorter windows, like counting for 10 seconds and multiplying by six, amplify any counting error.
If you can’t find a pulse at the wrist, try the inside of your elbow (brachial pulse). Straighten your arm slightly, place two fingers on the inner third of the elbow crease, and press firmly for at least five seconds before adjusting your position.
Other Pulse Points Worth Knowing
Beyond the wrist and neck, you can feel a pulse at the top of the foot near the ankle (useful for checking circulation in the lower legs), and in the groin crease where the thigh meets the abdomen. Healthcare providers check these during physical exams to assess blood flow to specific parts of the body. If you can feel a strong pulse at your wrist but a weak one at your foot, that contrast can signal a circulatory issue worth investigating.