Whatever your health and fitness goals are it is vital to know what intensity you are working at to make sure you are working at the level that will help. Exercise Heart Rate Monitors allow you to do this and can be one of the most effective items in your fitness kit bag. They have developed over the years from basic heart rate measurement into GPS devices and now there are so many on the market. We have assembled this article to help you decide which one is right for your. First though below are a few reasons you might consider buying one:
Allow you to stay in the right 'zone'
Can measure speed, distance, calories
Extremely Portable - take it anywhere
Helps structure a fitness session (aerobic, intervals, anaerobic)
I could go on but those are the best reasons to have exercise heart rate monitors and there are others including they can act as a training partner of personal training aid. Imagine not knowing how hard you are working, you may be falling short of the mark leading to under training or working too hard leading to over training. There are many makes of exercise heart rate monitors to choose from but the most famous is Polar. However, there are some very good alternatives out there that have caught up in terms of functions and compatibility to exercise machines.
Below is a list of things to look for when choosing exercise heart rate monitors:
Compatibility to Exercise Machines - Does the heart rate strap work with your exercise bike or treadmill?
Ease of use - Can you simply put it on and press go?
Programming - Some now have very advanced settings to help you get the best out of training.
Features - Does it work with your goals? Cycling, Running, Swimming are all different so you may need a different model
Features pt 2 - Some GPS, does this work with your goals , measuring distance and altitude
Features pt 3 - Some interact with your PC. Personal Trainers use these for recording clients progress.
Reliability - Some just are not that accurate so make sure of the returns policy
Warranty - Some have very good after sales and support
Exercise heart rate monitors should be in your kit bag, its the only piece of kit you can take anywhere. If you want more information or fitness advice then we have an article about Cardiovascular Exercise you may find helpful.
