Is it normal to feel your heart beating?

Heart rate is a term used to describe the frequency of the cardiac cycle. It is considered one of the four vital signs. Usually it is calculated as the number of contractions (heart beats) of the heart in one minute and expressed as "beats per minute" (bpm). See "Heart" for information on embryofetal heart rates. The heart beats up to 120 times per minute in childhood. When resting, the adult human heart beats at about 70 bpm (males) and 75 bpm (females), but this rate varies among people. However, the reference range is normally between 60 bpm (if less termed bradycardia) and 100 bpm (if greater, termed tachycardia). Resting heart rates can be significantly lower in athletes. The infant/neonatal rate of heartbeat is around 130-150 bpm, the toddler's about 100–130 bpm, the older child's about 90–110 bpm, and the adolescent's about 80–100 bpm.

The pulse is the most straightforward way of measuring the heart rate, but it can be deceptive when some heart beats do not have much cardiac output. In these cases (as happens in some arrhythmias), the heart rate may be considerably higher than the pulse rate.

Auscultation is also a method of heart rate measurement.