The cardiac cycle refers to a complete heartbeat from its generation to the beginning of the next beat, and so includes the diastole, the systole, and the intervening pause. The frequency of the cardiac cycle is described by the heart rate, which is typically expressed as beats per minute. Each beat of the heart involves five major stages. The first two stages, often considered together as the ventricular filling stage, involve the movement of blood from the atria into the ventricles.