The American Heart Association has found that exercising within one's target rate zone is the best way to lose weight, get healthy and increase fitness levels. A heart rate monitor is designed to measure heart rate during exercise, preventing athletes from having to stop to check their pulse. This provides an easy and accurate way to monitor heart rate, prevent injury and improve overall fitness.
Target Heart Rate
Target heart rate zones differ from person to person, however, on average the target heart rate zone is between 50 and 85 percent of the maximum heart rate. A general guideline for determining the maximum heart rate is to subtract the age of the athlete (number in years) from 220. From there, finding the target heart rate zone is simply a matter of deciding what percent of their maximum heart rate an athlete wants to maintain. It is recommended that beginners start at the lower end of their target heart rate zone and push themselves harder as their fitness levels increase.
Monitoring Fitness
Heart rate monitors can help gauge fitness levels by monitoring pulse over a set distance. Unlike stopping a workout to check pulse rates, heart rate monitors keep track of heart rate throughout the entire workout making it easier to regulate training. The continual awareness of heart rate keeps athletes informed as to where in their target heart rate zone they are training. This prevents under- and over-training; under-training is training below the target heart rate zone, thus, hindering improvement. But over-training can lead to injury as athletes push themselves past their target heart rate zones.
Monitoring Pace
Heart rate monitors are useful tools for monitoring pace while training or competing. In order to benefit from exercise, it is important to keep a steady pace without tiring too quickly. By using the target heart rate zone as a guide for setting and maintaining a steady pace, athletes can adjust their speed to fit the terrain, their energy levels and varying distances. Measuring how fast the heart is beating is a more accurate measure of how hard athletes are working and how much effort they are putting into each mile.
Interval Training
Interval training is a training technique that can improve fitness levels, burn calories and keep training plans interesting. By alternating bursts of intense activity, like sprinting, with intervals of lighter activity, like jogging, interval training pushes the heart rate into the upper range of the target heart zones for short periods of time before giving it a chance to recover. Using a heart rate monitor allows the participant to gauge how hard they are pushing themselves during the intense phase of interval training and how long it takes them to recover afterward.
Types of Heart Monitors
Ranging from the simplest devices that only measure heart rate to more advanced models which are capable of complex data analysis, there are many types of heart monitors available. The very basic feature of a heart monitor is that it can accurately measure heart rate and display it in a readable manner. These are usually worn like a watch and have all the functions of a sports watch plus a feature that allows target heart rate zones to be adjusted. Features on more advanced models can include the ability to measure overall averages, disparities between high and low heart rates, the number of calories burned, distance traveled, altitude, and ambient temperature.
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