Get a Heart Rate Monitor

Get a Heart Rate Monitor

 These days, heart rate monitors are cheap.  Today at Amazon, the Timex brand is $59.99.

Do you do Zumba?  Insanity?  Boot camp?  Cycling?  Running?  Read on.  You will want to.

I purchased a Timex a few months back to begin training for some long bike rides coming up this summer.  I liked it so much that I got one for my wife so she can do Zumba and Insanity and track her intensity. 

What do you need in a heart rate monitor?

(1)   Average Heart rate

(2)   Maximum heart rate

The Timex model my wife and I have gives the following:

• Total Exercise Time
• Time In Zone (in your target heart rate zone)
• Average Heart Rate
• Maximum Heart Rate
• Calories burned
• Alarm beeps when you are outside your Target Heart rate zone

The benefits of this type of information are large.  How much do medical bills cost?  Well, when you consider that medical bills can be in the tens of thousands of dollars, the cost of a $60 heart rate monitor is miniscule.

When I begin my workouts, I hit the “go” button.  After I am done, I hit the “stop” button.  I record in my exercise journal all the information I described above, and compare that over several days and several weeks to monitor my progress.  I can also gauge during exercise whether I am not going hard enough or whether I am going too hard.

For example, during a bike ride, I may want to go up a steep hill for sprint training.  Well, I get at the bottom of the hill and let my heart rate slow to below 115.  Then, I begin the ascent, and monitor my heart rate as I climb.  Unless I get close to the max heart rate, I know I can push hard and not stop.  Knowing this is golden!

Freddy Martini