sim
i am just starting on my exercise routine and was wondering if it would be good to get a heart rate monitor? if yes then which is like the cheapest one that i can get? i dont want to spend a lot on it..
Answer
Congratulations on starting an exercise routine. Your interest in using a heart rate monitor is a great way to start. It will give you feedback on the intensity of your training and can be kind of like your coach or personal trainer whether you're walking or doing intervals. My clients use heart rate training to stay engaged in their cardiovascular training, get feedback on the intensity of their workouts, and to keep track of their progress.
There are so many heart rate monitors out there, how do you choose the right one for you?
First of all, you should look at the ones that DO feature a chest strap. The strap has electrodes inside of it and transmit a digital or coded signal from your heart to your watch. The type without the chest strap takes heart rate from your wrist and will require you to touch and/or hold a button on the watch while you wait for your heart rate to appear on the screen. If you are running stairs, intervals, riding a bike, or doing something where it would be inconvenient or dangerous to touch a button, you will soon find that this type of monitor will be frustrating and rather useless to you. The wrist heart rate watches are often cheaper than the chest strap versions, but safe yourself the frustration and check out some of these brands first:
Polar: These are very well known heart rate monitors. There are plenty of styles for beginners who don't need anything but heart rate only to advanced triathletes and olympic cyclists where the watch will practiacally cook you dinner!
***The disadvantage of Polar is that you MUST send the watch/chest strap back in to the company for the battery to be replaced. There is a small fee for this. There is no consumer access to the battery compartment on the strap and they will not guarantee water resistance if the watch compartment has been opened. If a unit has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, the battery may be "old" and go sooner than you may expect.
Nike: Nike makes some good and attractive HR monitors with many different price ranges, features, and styles that are marketed to women, men, and both. User may change the batteries
Timex: They make some very versatile HR monitors and they are tough watches that are very well made. I own a women's Timex. User may change the batteries in both chest strap and watch. I use my HR monitor watch as a regular sports watch even when I'm not using the strap.
NOTE: shop around at a sporting goods store for a watch that you like, try it on, ask the associate questions about them. Then check out EBAY, AMAZON, etc. I just purchased another BRAND new women's Timex HR monitor on Ebay for $26 plus shipping.
HOW to use your HR monitor: One of the most comprehensive sites for heart rate training is http://www.heartzones.com. There are short educational articles about HR training and some training templates. They will also tell you what a heart rate zone is and how to find out which ones to exercise in and for how long as well as how to progress your workouts. You will notice that the more fit you become, the longer it will take for your HR to rise, it will take more effort to make it go as high as it did when you first started exercising, and the faster it will drop, or recover, when you rest.
Heart rate training is a great way train whether you are a beginner or an Olympic athlete. Your heart rate is unique to you and getting familiar with it is a wise way to go. Congratulations with starting your exercise routine. Stick with it with your new coach-your HR monitor and the best of luck to you.
Congratulations on starting an exercise routine. Your interest in using a heart rate monitor is a great way to start. It will give you feedback on the intensity of your training and can be kind of like your coach or personal trainer whether you're walking or doing intervals. My clients use heart rate training to stay engaged in their cardiovascular training, get feedback on the intensity of their workouts, and to keep track of their progress.
There are so many heart rate monitors out there, how do you choose the right one for you?
First of all, you should look at the ones that DO feature a chest strap. The strap has electrodes inside of it and transmit a digital or coded signal from your heart to your watch. The type without the chest strap takes heart rate from your wrist and will require you to touch and/or hold a button on the watch while you wait for your heart rate to appear on the screen. If you are running stairs, intervals, riding a bike, or doing something where it would be inconvenient or dangerous to touch a button, you will soon find that this type of monitor will be frustrating and rather useless to you. The wrist heart rate watches are often cheaper than the chest strap versions, but safe yourself the frustration and check out some of these brands first:
Polar: These are very well known heart rate monitors. There are plenty of styles for beginners who don't need anything but heart rate only to advanced triathletes and olympic cyclists where the watch will practiacally cook you dinner!
***The disadvantage of Polar is that you MUST send the watch/chest strap back in to the company for the battery to be replaced. There is a small fee for this. There is no consumer access to the battery compartment on the strap and they will not guarantee water resistance if the watch compartment has been opened. If a unit has been sitting on the shelf for a long time, the battery may be "old" and go sooner than you may expect.
Nike: Nike makes some good and attractive HR monitors with many different price ranges, features, and styles that are marketed to women, men, and both. User may change the batteries
Timex: They make some very versatile HR monitors and they are tough watches that are very well made. I own a women's Timex. User may change the batteries in both chest strap and watch. I use my HR monitor watch as a regular sports watch even when I'm not using the strap.
NOTE: shop around at a sporting goods store for a watch that you like, try it on, ask the associate questions about them. Then check out EBAY, AMAZON, etc. I just purchased another BRAND new women's Timex HR monitor on Ebay for $26 plus shipping.
HOW to use your HR monitor: One of the most comprehensive sites for heart rate training is http://www.heartzones.com. There are short educational articles about HR training and some training templates. They will also tell you what a heart rate zone is and how to find out which ones to exercise in and for how long as well as how to progress your workouts. You will notice that the more fit you become, the longer it will take for your HR to rise, it will take more effort to make it go as high as it did when you first started exercising, and the faster it will drop, or recover, when you rest.
Heart rate training is a great way train whether you are a beginner or an Olympic athlete. Your heart rate is unique to you and getting familiar with it is a wise way to go. Congratulations with starting your exercise routine. Stick with it with your new coach-your HR monitor and the best of luck to you.
Can you use a heart rate monitor if you're under 18?
Alexa
I found a Polar Woman's Heart Rate Monitor that I want to get for when I exercise because I want to be able to tell how many calories I'm burning, what my target heart rate should be etc. The only problem is that I'm 15 and for all Heart Rate Monitors you have to put in your age, weight, height, gender etc. I'm afraid that my age won't be on there since I'm only 15. Does anyone have a HR monitor and know if people under the age of 18 can you use them? Thank you!
Answer
Iâm using a Polar too. Youâll get a kick out of it when you need new batteries. They have good customer service (you cannot change the battery yourself or it would lose the waterproof quality). Every day, I knew exactly where my watch was. Polar is the opposite of Chinese made crap (my chest strap says âmade in Finlandâ).
Do the 220 minus age method so you can calculate your THR (Target Heart Rate) zone whatever your age is.
220 â 15 = 205 would be your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate).
The Heart Healthy Zoneâ¦50-59% MHR
The Temperate Zoneâ¦60-69 MHR
The Aerobic Zoneâ¦70-79% MHR
The Anaerobic Threshold Zoneâ¦80-89% MHR
The Redline Zone 90-100% MHR
A heart rate monitor is not about calorie expenditure, itâs about staying in your THR zone, knowing when to walk and when to jog so you donât get exhausted and get the best workout without getting up to the Anaerobic Threshold Zone (above 80% of your MHR) where fat burning shuts down.
Your heart rate is not about your gender and weight and height. Itâs not the BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) based on gender, weight, height and age or about calorie expenditure with exercising based on your weight, speed and duration (you should know your average per minute and just time yourself).
A heart monitor is only about your age and also if you have a naturally lower heart rate (10% of people) or a naturally higher heart rate (10% of people). Most people, like me, are among the 80% of the people who can use the simple 220 minus age method.
In studies, you can have RHR (Resting Heart Rate) with 40 beats difference between two people having the same height and weight and age and fitness level, like 2 guys on the same football team, one with a higher natural RHR and the other with a natural lower RHR.
Know your own personal RHR (you can only take it in the morning when waking up, over several days to get an average, before getting out of bed...never during the day).
Even when you know your THR zone, you should adjust them depending on how you feel.
You can always adapt your THR zones (lowering your bpm...beats per minutes) for that particular day when youâre a little under the weather or did not sleep so well so you still need to know how you should feel. If you cannot say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious without having to take a couple of breaths...you need to slow down and walk for a minute.
Once you get out of breath, you would enter the Anaerobics Threshold Zone (80% MHR) where fat burning shuts down (itâs used to improve cardiovascular health). Hopefully your goal is not to burn body fat. But if it is, you need to slow down and stay in the Aerobic Zone.
You walk/jog, using walking as a warm up at the beginning, a cool down at the end, and in between to get back down in your THR zone.
Your body does not really care if youâre walking or jogging but cares about your heart beats. When walking fast while recuperating from jogging and to stay in your zone, you get the same fitness benefits as when jogging. Some people like to think of it as âtrickingâ their body because theyâre walking but itâs the same as jogging for their body. Others see it as HIIT (interval training). I see it as trying to control a wild horse if my heart starts to beat too fast and get above the Aerobic Zone (which I donât need).
They are so many variables (age/weight/gender, fitness level, endurance, stamina, strength, health as of today, diet...) so itâs a good idea to rely on your heart so you donât have to worry about your speed, which should slightly improve automatically as you get stronger, for the same physical effort.
Once you figure out how to program your heart rate monitor for your THR zone and choose the zone that fits you...you just have to listen to your watch to know when to speed up and when to slow down, while getting the most efficient workout without ever feeling like youâre out of breath or exhausted, just naturally winding down when youâre running out of blood sugar so you need to cool down, stop and eat to replenish.
My watch beeps, I slow down...then it beeps again, I speed up, then it beeps again, I slow down, then it beeps again, I speed up unless Iâm in my cooling down mode.
You choose your THR zone depending on your goal and your fitness level. Your goal could be burning body fat (79% of MHR or less) or improving cardiovascular health and endurance (if youâre in great shape, training for speed or a marathon...80 to 89% of MHR when fat burning shuts down). What counts is how fast your heart beats. You need to constantly speed up or slow down to stay in the same zone.
If youâre gasping for air in your aerobic zone, progressively adjust the heart beats range by 5bpm down increments or if youâre cruising along when youâre supposed to be in the anaerobic Threshold zone (when fat burning shuts down), add a few heart beats to your range.
Iâm using a Polar too. Youâll get a kick out of it when you need new batteries. They have good customer service (you cannot change the battery yourself or it would lose the waterproof quality). Every day, I knew exactly where my watch was. Polar is the opposite of Chinese made crap (my chest strap says âmade in Finlandâ).
Do the 220 minus age method so you can calculate your THR (Target Heart Rate) zone whatever your age is.
220 â 15 = 205 would be your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate).
The Heart Healthy Zoneâ¦50-59% MHR
The Temperate Zoneâ¦60-69 MHR
The Aerobic Zoneâ¦70-79% MHR
The Anaerobic Threshold Zoneâ¦80-89% MHR
The Redline Zone 90-100% MHR
A heart rate monitor is not about calorie expenditure, itâs about staying in your THR zone, knowing when to walk and when to jog so you donât get exhausted and get the best workout without getting up to the Anaerobic Threshold Zone (above 80% of your MHR) where fat burning shuts down.
Your heart rate is not about your gender and weight and height. Itâs not the BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) based on gender, weight, height and age or about calorie expenditure with exercising based on your weight, speed and duration (you should know your average per minute and just time yourself).
A heart monitor is only about your age and also if you have a naturally lower heart rate (10% of people) or a naturally higher heart rate (10% of people). Most people, like me, are among the 80% of the people who can use the simple 220 minus age method.
In studies, you can have RHR (Resting Heart Rate) with 40 beats difference between two people having the same height and weight and age and fitness level, like 2 guys on the same football team, one with a higher natural RHR and the other with a natural lower RHR.
Know your own personal RHR (you can only take it in the morning when waking up, over several days to get an average, before getting out of bed...never during the day).
Even when you know your THR zone, you should adjust them depending on how you feel.
You can always adapt your THR zones (lowering your bpm...beats per minutes) for that particular day when youâre a little under the weather or did not sleep so well so you still need to know how you should feel. If you cannot say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious without having to take a couple of breaths...you need to slow down and walk for a minute.
Once you get out of breath, you would enter the Anaerobics Threshold Zone (80% MHR) where fat burning shuts down (itâs used to improve cardiovascular health). Hopefully your goal is not to burn body fat. But if it is, you need to slow down and stay in the Aerobic Zone.
You walk/jog, using walking as a warm up at the beginning, a cool down at the end, and in between to get back down in your THR zone.
Your body does not really care if youâre walking or jogging but cares about your heart beats. When walking fast while recuperating from jogging and to stay in your zone, you get the same fitness benefits as when jogging. Some people like to think of it as âtrickingâ their body because theyâre walking but itâs the same as jogging for their body. Others see it as HIIT (interval training). I see it as trying to control a wild horse if my heart starts to beat too fast and get above the Aerobic Zone (which I donât need).
They are so many variables (age/weight/gender, fitness level, endurance, stamina, strength, health as of today, diet...) so itâs a good idea to rely on your heart so you donât have to worry about your speed, which should slightly improve automatically as you get stronger, for the same physical effort.
Once you figure out how to program your heart rate monitor for your THR zone and choose the zone that fits you...you just have to listen to your watch to know when to speed up and when to slow down, while getting the most efficient workout without ever feeling like youâre out of breath or exhausted, just naturally winding down when youâre running out of blood sugar so you need to cool down, stop and eat to replenish.
My watch beeps, I slow down...then it beeps again, I speed up, then it beeps again, I slow down, then it beeps again, I speed up unless Iâm in my cooling down mode.
You choose your THR zone depending on your goal and your fitness level. Your goal could be burning body fat (79% of MHR or less) or improving cardiovascular health and endurance (if youâre in great shape, training for speed or a marathon...80 to 89% of MHR when fat burning shuts down). What counts is how fast your heart beats. You need to constantly speed up or slow down to stay in the same zone.
If youâre gasping for air in your aerobic zone, progressively adjust the heart beats range by 5bpm down increments or if youâre cruising along when youâre supposed to be in the anaerobic Threshold zone (when fat burning shuts down), add a few heart beats to your range.
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