Check your heart rate

To reduce the risk of injury while exercising, start slowly. Remember to warm up before you exercise. Cool down afterward. Slowly increase the intensity of your workouts.

Follow these steps to check your heart rate during exercise:

• Stop what you're doing briefly.
• Place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe and find your pulse.
• Or place the same fingers on the thumb side of your wrist and find your pulse.
• Count the pulse for 15 seconds.
• Multiply the number you get by 4 to determine your heartbeats per minute.

Here's an example: You stop exercising and take your pulse for 15 seconds, getting 37 beats. Multiply 37 by 4, to get 148 beats per minute.

Ask your healthcare team what your target heart rate should be during exercise and at rest.