Heart Rate Monitor Guide for Beginners

What is a Heart Rate Monitor?

A heart rate monitor is a little device that comes in the form of a wrist watch which allows you to check and monitor your heart rate as well as other things.

It measures this by calculating the time it takes for blood to pump through the blood vessels in your wrist. With this information it can then output additional information such as calories burned and optimal heart rate zones based on your age and weight.

In order for the wrist watch to get the best possible accurate data about your heart beat measurements, a chest strap must be worn. The chest strap is a small and lightweight piece of fabric that is breathable, comfortable and very safe to wear. It receives data from your body using electrodes then sends the signals wirelessly to your heart rate monitor.

You can also connect your heart rate monitor to any piece of exercise equipment, such as an exercise bike which will also display the heart rate back to you. Although you may find that most exercise machines today already come pre-built with their own monitors due to popular demand and ease of use.

Who can use a Heart Rate Monitor?

These watches can benefit just about anyone, whether you are struggling with health problems, trying to get into basic fitness, or an endurance athlete looking to step up their game.
Although be warned, there is such an extensive range of watches available that it is essential you pick the best heart rate monitor suited to your own needs and requirements, as not all of them are suited for everyone.

If you are someone who is having difficulties with heart or blood pressure problems, then owning a heart rate monitor should be an essential part of your exercise routine. You will now be equipped with the tools to determine how much physical effort your heart will be able to cope with.

You can check your heart rate in beats per minute or as a percentage and then adjust the settings so that your heart rate will stay in a specific zone. You can then enable an alarm to go set off an alert every time you are training outside of this zone (ie. let’s say between 45-55% target heart rate). This will warn you to slow down or speed up depending on what end of the zone you are training outside of, which will ensure that you are training safely at all times.

If you are simply looking to get into basic fitness or you are an athlete that needs to monitor their conditioning then using a heart rate monitor should be an essential part of your training program. You will be able to accurately track how your body is reacting to different types of exercise by having access to all sorts of information such as low , average and peak heart rates, calories burned, whether you were training in a fat burning or fitness zone and much more. You can also plug all this information into a computer to keep track of your statistics allowing you to check your fitness history, which is important for anyone trying to lower their overall rested heart rate and improving overall health.

What is the best heart rate monitor for me?

If you are a first time buyer and you are unsure which the right one for you is, then we highly recommend you read our Polar heart rate monitor reviews. Polar is the leading brand in heart rate technology and was the company who set the trend by producing the first ever wireless heart rate monitor back in the 70′s. They have the best heart rate monitors suited for just about anyone, each coming with a wide range of features from low to high budget prices, which in our opinion makes it the best choice for your first ever watch.

 

Having the best heart rate monitor watch suited to your own needs is a significant step forward in any training environment. Not only can they help improve your fitness levels, they are beneficial to your overall health by preventing cardiac problems, over training, and fatigue. Even though they can determine your ideal heart rate levels and how hard you should be training around them, we still recommend you consult your doctor before taking up any type of exercise regime.