Application
A heart monitor, also known as a "heart rate monitor," lets you know what your exercise intensity is while you work out. This can be a valuable tool that can keep you working at a desired level. A heart rate monitor comes equipped with a chest strap and a watch that you wear on your wrist. Although there are a lot of different companies that produce these, they all function the same basic way. The chest strap has electrodes with a built-in transmitter. These electrodes get moistened with water and the strap is snugly placed on your chest across the breast bone. The electrodes need good contact with your skin right next to your heart.
Transmission
The wrist watch that comes with the heart monitor has a digital screen similar to a regular watch. Once the chest strap has been put into place, it detects your heart rate and transmits a signal to your watch. Your heart rate then appears on the screen for easy reference. You will actually see a little heart symbol on the screen that pulses every time your heart beats. In order for this signal to be picked up, your wrist needs to be within three feet of the chest sensor.
Heart Rate Zone
Heart rate monitors can be adjusted to get you into a specific workout "zone." If you were to go above or below that zone, the monitor would detect this and an alarm would go off. You can then pick up your pace or slow down accordingly. To find a heart rate range, you need to find your maximal heart rate (MHR) by subtracting your age from 220. You then decide what percentage of your heart rate you want to be in. For example, if you were 30 years old and you wanted to be in the 70-percent to 80-percent range, then you would set your watch to 133 to 152. Once you get into this range, you can go at your pace until you hear the alarm go off.
Options
Heart rate monitors also have other functions like a global positioning system (GPS). With this feature, a signal is sent up into space to a satellite, where it is detected and then transmitted back down to your watch. This tells you your coordinates, it gives you your speed, and it also tells you how far you have traveled.
Strapless
Strapless heart rate monitors do the same thing as regular heart monitors, but they do not have the chest strap. To get your heart rate with this type of monitor, place your index finger and middle finger on two sensors located on the wrist watch. Hold for 30 seconds as the sensors read the pulse in your fingers. Your heart rate then appears on the screen.
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