How to Check Your Heart Health at Home

By Richard Asa @YourCareE

January 24, 2024

There are plenty of ways to monitor your heart at home and keep it healthy, but they are no replacement for visits with your doctor. Here's what you should do.

You can keep your heart healthy at home with some simple steps.

Check your blood pressure

First, you can self-monitor your blood pressure with a home device, especially if you have hypertension. It’s helpful to bring your machine with you to your doctor’s office so he or she can make sure the readings are accurate.

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Under the most recent guidelines, your blood pressure isn’t normal unless it’s lower than 120 systolic (the top number) and 80 diastolic (the bottom number). In between, your blood pressure could be elevated (120-129/less than 80) or in stage one of hypertension (130-139/80-89).

You should see your doctor right away if you’re concerned your blood pressure is consistently high.

Find your pulse

Another way to take stock of your heart health is a self-heart rate, or pulse, readings. You can find your pulse any place an artery passes close to your skin, such as your wrist or neck. Most adults have a resting heart rate of between 60 and 100 beats per minute. The fitter you are, the lower your heart rate is likely to be.

It’s an easy procedure in which you hold out one of your hands with the palm facing upward, your wrist slightly bent. Put the first finger and middle finger of your other hand on the inside of your extended wrist at the base of your thumb.

Press your skin lightly until you can feel your pulse. The figure you get is the number of times your heart beats per minute. Contact your doctor if you have a heart rate of 120 or above.

A continuous irregular heartbeat could be a sign of atrial fibrillation, which can often cause a faster than normal and irregular heartbeat and should warrant a visit to your doctor.

Physical tests of heart health

Two simple physical tests can help you test your heart health. Both involve how you heart deals with vigorous exercise.

To test your maximum heart rate, check it after exercising as hard as you can for three minutes. How close does it come to 80 or 90 percent of the maximum for your age? To calculate the maximum, subtract your age from 220. If you're 40 years old, your maximum heart rate should be about 180 beats per minute; 80 percent would be 144; 90 percent would be 162.

Right at the end of the most strenuous workout you do, note your heart rate. Then stop all exercise ( don't cool down), and check your heart rate two minutes later to check recovery time.

Measure your middle

Another way to check heart heath is to measure your waist circumference.

To measure your girth, wrap a tape measure around your waist at belly button level, let out an easy breath, then look. In general, your waist should be no more than half your height. Most women should make less than 35 inches their goal; most men should strive for a waist circumference of 40 inches or fewer.