Heart Rate Monitor – Getting The Most Out Of Your Fitness Training
One of the best ways of getting the maximum out of your cardio-vascular exercise routine is to use a heart rate monitor. These devices are worn like a watch around the wrist during a strenuous session of exercise. Most sportsmen and professional trainers consider the device an essential part of their daily exercise sessions. A basic set includes a strap to be wound around the chest. The strap has a sensor that transmits data to the watch device.
Up to a few years back, most people used the traditional method of feeling their pulse for a minute or so to record their heart rate after a workout. But the method does not give an accurate reading because your heart tends to slow down when you pause to check the pulse. Using a heart rate monitor does not interfere with your movements and you get a much more accurate measurement of your aerobic endurance - a critical factor in evaluating your fitness level.
Most people tend to work out a tad bit too much out of sheer enthusiasm and then spend three days relaxing to get over the fatigue. A heart rate monitor can prevent over-exercising. While the monitor will let you know if you are not working out enough, it will also serve as a reminder to stop when you cross your body's endurance level and check injury.
Two values are to be calculated before you employ a heart rate monitor during your workouts. These are the rest heart rate (RHR) and the max heart rate (MHR). Both define the lower and higher limits for your heart rate during exercise and at rest. Once you have these two values, you can use the heart rate monitor almost as a biofeedback unit keeping track of how intensely you exercise.
Usually, a basic formula for calculating the MHR takes your age into account. For those who are just embarking on an exercise routine, the age has to be subtracted from 220 for men and 226 for women. For those who have already maintained an active lifestyle, MHR can be calculated by subtracting their age from 205 - for both men and women.
The MHR is used to divide your exercise routine into sessions of maximum burn and rest. Your trainer will be able to help you prepare a suitable chart for this or you can check some excellent website on the Internet for scheduling your fitness routine. The aim of tracking the heart rate is to reach a level of faster and intense exercise at a lower heart rate.
Some of the latest heart rate monitors come with highly advanced features like a memory bank, better backlight, complex formula calculations, altitude measurement, calorie burner meter etc. The latest heart rate monitoring devices may cost more but are more convenient to use than the basic units. Some monitors can be hooked to your computer to maintain a log book of your progress as well.
When buying a heart rate monitor do check if it has coded signals. This is essential because if you're in a gym and the person working out next to you is also using a heart rate monitor then some interference may take place in the data transmission from the sensor strap.
Alan Walker owns a best heart rate monitor blog. In his blog he has reviews for Garmin heart rate monitors, Nike heart rate monitors, Omron heart rate monitors and various other articles.
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