44% off personal heart rate monitor

Taking the pulse

19.08.11

But how do heart rate monitors work and, more importantly, why would you consider buying and using one?

The usefulness of heart rate monitors is based on the concept of heart rate target zones. Much like cricket bats and tennis racquets, exercise has heartbeats-per-minute "sweet spots".

And when you hit the sweet spot for an entire workout, you are more likely to reach the required physiological outcome.

The heart rate zone to burn off excess fat, for example, is different to the level needed for increased aerobic fitness, which is different again from the zone that will allow you to build up speed, or increase lung capacity.

As well as displaying your beats per minute on the watch's screen, most monitors will emit an audible beep when the heart rate is headed above, or below, a predetermined range, allowing you to "stay in the zone".

Which brings us to the first major benefit of heart rate monitors -- helping you to train smarter and more effectively. Leaving behind a warm couch for a run, swim or cycle can often be enough of a slog without the possibility your strain will be for naught. But this is a real risk when exercising by "feel" alone.