Heart rate monitor basics will make it easier to reach your fitness goals. Heart rate monitors are not only for athletes. Monitoring your heart rate during exercise can help you lose weight, get fit, and reduce your chance of injury.
By keeping your heart rate within your individual range (heart rate zone), you can lose weight more efficiently. It begins with knowing your maximum heart rate. Heart rate zones are determined by calculating a percentage of that maximum. By staying between 60% and 75% of your maximum heart rate, your body will fuel itself with not only the bagel you had for breakfast (carbohydrates) but also the fat you've had for a long time. You burn both calories and fat.
When training for an endurance event—5K , 10k, marathon runs, bike tours, triathlons—you need to train correctly to increase your chance of success and reduce the chance of injury. Training starts out with a period of time where you keep a steady lower heart rate to create a base. As your body can handle it, you add interval training to increase speed.
Using a heart rate monitor helps you see exactly how hard your body is working and if you can, or need to, work harder. For detailed instructions on how to use a heart rate monitor, including how to create a base, check out Rusty Squire's free e-book, "How to Successfully Use a Heart Rate Monitor."
How a heart rate monitor works
A heart rate monitor measures electrical impulses from your heart and counts your heart beats per minute (bpm). The information is transmitted to a receiver that displays and records your heart rate and other information about the workout. Commonly the receiver is a watch that can display your current and average heart rate, has a stopwatch to track how long you have been working out, and may tell you how many calories you have burned.
Types of heart rate monitors
Chest strap and watch monitor - The most common type of monitor is a cloth strap that is worn around your chest and transmits to a watch-like receiver. Some chest straps have a better quality fabric. Different types of transmitters work better than others. Polar's Wearlink hybrid chest strap sends the signal further and can work in water. Many watch-receivers have advanced display features, are programmable and can sync with an online account.
Chest strap and smartphone app - This type of heart rate monitor sprung onto the market in early 2011. Robust running apps that track your runs can also pair with ANT+ connectivity or Bluetooth chest straps. A small receiver connects to your iPhone to receive the heart rate information from ANT+ transmitters. The ANT+ WAHOO strap will pair with the Runkeeper and MapMyRun apps. Your heart rate is displayed along with your speed, distance and how long you have been working out. Voice feedback reports your heart rate along the way. Android phones use bluetooth, pairing with bluetooth-enabled straps. Polar makes a bluetooth strap that can be paired with Android and Blackberry phones.
Because this is a relatively new technology, we can expect more products, apps and advances in the near future.
All-in-one wrist heart rate monitor - Mio makes a number of "strapless" heart rate monitors. Instead of a strap, the inside of the watch-receiver has sensors. To get your heart rate, you touch the Mio. The Mio is contacting the skin under the watch; your touch completes an electrical circuit and your heart rate appears. The Mio does not show continuous heart rate like a chest strap model. Instead, it will read your heart rate "on demand."
All in one finger heart rate monitor -Tested to be only slightly less accurate, if you are only looking for a readout of your heart rate, this is available from Lifespan.
Now that you know the heart rate monitor basics, learn what features are available to to make it easy to follow your zones and get an individualized workout.
Do you have a heart rate monitor and for what activities do you use it?
