Do
you want to increase the effectiveness of your exercise? Get more out
of each workout? Spend less time, but get better results? Then you owe
it to yourself to learn more about today's heart rate monitors.
Today's heart rate monitors have made it easier for athletes of all
levels to get the same feedback they would get from a high-priced
trainer. It's like having a personal coach strapped to your wrist.
Until you get a heart rate monitor, you measure your effort by time or
distance. With a heart rate monitor, however, you can now get a better
indication of effort. And it comes from the heart. Literally. Your
heart will tell you how hard you are exercising, how fit you are, and
how you are recovering. Knowing these things will make you training
more effective.
A heart rate monitor consists of a watch unit worn on the wrist and a
chest transmitter strap. The watch can be worn as a regular sports
watch, and when not connected to the transmitter strap, will still give
you time of day, alarms, stopwatch functions, etc. The chest
transmitter senses your heartbeat and constantly transmits that
information to the watch.
There are some units that don't use a chest strap. These normally
measure the pulse when the user places two fingers on each of two
buttons on the watch face. Pulse is a decent measurement, but does not
give you the same level of continual information a chest strap will.
One of the first things you need to know when using a heart rate
monitor is what your maximum heart rate is. The standard formula used
is to subtract your age from 220. You can then calculate at what
percentage of maximum you should be exercising at.
When doing cardiovascular training, research says exercising at 60-70%
of your maximum heart rate will be best for fat loss and to build
endurance, while exercising in the 70-80% of maximum range will
increase your fitness.
There are a number of features available in modern heart rate monitors.
Some are more useful than others. Of course, a constant measurement of
heart rate is vital. It is helpful to be able to set zone alarms or
otherwise be able to see where you are compared to your maximum heart
rate. Some will do all the calculations for you, telling you when to
ease up or to pour it on, depending on your workout for that day.
Others will just show a heart rate number, and you will need to know
what the upper and lower limits are for your workout.
It pays to shop around for the features you need, and not buy a lot of
things you don't need. Too many extra features may confuse you and
discourage you from using your heart rate monitor regularly. That's
bad. It's better to get something simple that you can commit to using
regularly. Still, if you can handle it, there are some sweet features
available.
Whatever heart rate monitor you choose, use it regularly. It will
provide you so with much detailed information about your training;
you'll wonder what you ever did without it, and you'll never want to be
without one again.
