Selecting a Heart Rate Monitor

For the millions of my blog readers who have dutifully absorbed these posts you know that I'm a huge advocate of treadmills for general aerobic fitness.  You also know that to maximize the effectiveness of your workouts you should monitor adjustable parameters like degrees incline and speed.  Since most of us aren't 35 year old, 150-pound people you should also enter your age and weight.  However, as  you now know  from my award winning posts that the resulting calories burned is a rough estimate only.  Depending on your diligence the error rate could exceed 40 percent.  So if  you're serious about health and fitness perhaps it's time to invest in a more accurate means of determing the intensity of your aerobic workout.  I came across this article as a nice introduction to the subject. 

Before You Buy a Heart Rate Monitor
By Wendy Bumgardner, About.com Guide
Updated December 25, 2009
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

A heart rate monitor senses and displays your heart rate. Walkers can use heart rate to adjust the intensity of their walk -- speeding up or slowing down to stay in their chosen heart rate zone. Two walkers going the same speed may be in different zones -- one barely working at all, the other near maximum and straining. As your fitness improves, you can walk faster at the same heart rate.

ECG-Accurate Monitors with Chest Strap

The most accurate heart rate monitors use a chest strap which fits snugly around your chest just below the breast. The transmitter detects the electrical activity of your heart just like an ECG. It relays this to a display, usually worn like a wristwatch, although some use earphones instead. It is important for the strap to maintain contact or you get wild readings.

Heart Monitor Features

Basic models display only your heart rate, and perhaps elapsed exercise time. With increasing price you get a variety of useful features such as: Heart rate zone alarm: Set the zone and it alerts you when you are high or low. Timers: Countdown timer, stopwatch, interval timers, clock, alarm. Calories burned. Time in zone, splits. Fitness test. Computer link. Pre-programmed workouts.

Display and Ease of Use
Besides features, shop for how easy it is to use. Can you read the numbers easily? Does it have a backlight for use in low light? Are there so many features that you will have to carry the manual to figure out how to use it each time? Are the buttons well labeled and easy to find and push?

Price
Once you have chosen which features you want, it comes down to price. Sales are common and you can find a wide variation in the price of the same model. Shop around and you may be pleased to find your dream monitor for much less than suggested retail price.

These monitors work by detecting your pulse -- usually by placing one or two fingers on sensor buttons. They cannot give you a constant reading of your heart rate, you have to take it on demand instead. They are also trickier to use than the chest strap monitors -- cold fingers, etc. can give you no reading or wild readings.