A heart rate monitor can be a great help when working out or getting back in shape. Knowing your heart rate can help you stay in the proper workout zone, whether you are aiming to lose weight or improve your cardio endurance. However, it is important to know how to choose.
The people who benefit most from heart rate monitors are walkers, joggers, runners, hikers, and those on a quest for weight loss. If you fall into any of these categories, it is a good idea to consider purchasing a heart rate monitor.
There are two main types of heart monitors: chest strap models and finger sensor models. Chest strap models are by far the most common and popular; they fit around the chest and broadcast the data they receive to a wristwatch display. The basic models give you an average of your heart rate over a set period, while the advanced models can record things such as location, distance traveled, speed, and more.
The finger sensor model is a bit different. Unlike the chest strap model, it does not monitor in real time. You must touch your finger to the sensor in order to record a measurement, and it is only around 95% accurate. However, these are more comfortable than the chest strap models, offering a good alternative for those looking for comfort. These do require you pause your workout to take a measurement, though. Finger sensor models also do not allow you to monitor your location and distance traveled.
Either model, however, will work for the purposes of a workout. You just need to know your heart rate so you can stay either in the aerobic, endurance, anaerobic, or in VO2 max zones. The percentage of your heart rate used during the workout determines these zones – in other words, how many beats per minute.
There are a number of places to purchase heart rate monitors online. HeartRateMonitor USA, for example, makes it easy to find exactly the heart rate monitor you need. This website offers some of the best pricing and variety of any place on the web. With heart rate monitors for sports applications, for home health observation, and many other purposes. They even have the newer models that link up to your smart phone, making it easy to record information over a long period and export detailed graphs of your highs and lows to monitor improvement.
