Each day, the average human heart beats about 100,000 times, pumping 2,000 gallons of blood through the body.

That’s a lot of work for an organ no bigger than a large fist and weighing 8 to 12 ounces.

In fact, the heart does more physical work than any other muscle over a lifetime.

Located between the lungs in the middle of the chest, the heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and veins known as the cardiovascular system. It pushes blood to the body’s organs, tissues and cells.