Have a heart and monitor it!

Last night I burned 712 calories in Carol's class. Not bad!
I've really missed having this data at hand... or wrist, as the case may be. You see, the battery in my heart rate monitor died about a month ago and, since its a Polar brand monitor, I had to ship it to California to have the batteries replaced. Money and time well spent!

I was, seriously, lost without my HRM this past month. But, before I had one I was a little lost about what HRMs did, how they did it and why I would want one. Now I know how and why my HRM improves my workouts. It provides me with a measurable incentive (712 calories burned) which, in turn, moves me closer to my personal fitness goals. It also helps me regulate the intensity of my workouts, maximizing my efficiency by preventing over- and under-training. In other words, I can accurately measure when I move from aerobic to anaerobic effort and do so deliberately.

Heart rate monitors usually consist of two devices - a transmitter and a reciever. Transmitters are sensors situated over your pulse, most transmitters are embedded in a strap that you wear around your chest, just under the pectoral muscles. The second part of the monitor is the receiver which displays the information on a wrist watch. There are a few models that house the transmitter and receiver in a glove. I can imagine feeling like a mid-80s rock star wearing this little number, but I can't imagine gripping (ever so lightly) the handlebars of a bike with that glove on my hand.

In 1977, Polar made the first EKG-accurate, wireless heart rate monitor for use in training the Finnish National Cross Country Ski Team. It wasn't long before the device became a very useul tool for atheletes training in many sports. While Polar remains a very popular brand, ranking highest in reviews for value and overall performance, there are many manufactures and applications for these handy devices.

You can purchase monitors that cost anywhere from $49 to well over $300. There are models designed for runners, cyclists, swimmers and folks in cardio rehabilitation. You can get ones that include GPS features to tell you EXACTLY where you are and how you got there. You can download data to your computer from some models and still others that actually talk back to you during your workout. I can just imagine it might say something like: "Your heat rate is only 132 beats per minute - get moving!" While I don't know of any heart rate monitors that will make your coffee, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't one in R&D.

With so many options on the market, it can be a little confusing. So, what I've done here is describe some of the things I like about my heart rate monitor. I would be very interested to hear from other spinners about how your monitors work for you...please, comment on this post with your experiences. If you don't own a monitor and you have specific questions - please ask. Our instructors read this blog and will respond!

I opted for a Polar HRM. It's not a very fancy model but it does have a few extra bells and whistles that provide me with some excellent feedback that has helped shape how I work out. I spent about $100 when I bought my HRM, two years ago.

Like most models, my HRM is water proof and works when I swim. It has a back-light which means I can run in the dark (or spin in a room with no lights) and still be able to read my display. While I'm working out I can monitor the time, the number of calories I'm buring or the duration of my exercise session. One of the nice things about my monitor is that I can store my workout information for future reference. So, the information stored for last night's ride shows that I exercised for 1 hour, 6 minutes and 12 seconds; I averaged a heart rate of 146 beats per minute; burned 712 calories; and spent 45 minutes and 58 seconds in my "zone". My zone is determined by data that I program into the device including my weight, age and exercise level. While I wouldn't dream of sharing my monitor with anyone, it can be programmed to record information from two different users.

Another nice feature of my monitor is that it is "coded." That means my receiver is programmed to pick up only my heart rate. Sometimes a monitor will register the heart rates of people near you while you are exercising. It can be very confusing and dangerous when this happens. Imagine, you're at a perceived exhertion rate of 80% but your monitors says you're heart is beating 80 times a minute... either you're VERY FIT or your running next to someone who is standing still...

Follow this link to a great review of the reviews of heart rate monitors.
Follow this link for a really comprehensive collection of monitors for sale.
Follow this link for how a heart rate monitor can help you train for a triathlon.