So you’re interested in athletic heart rate monitors but not really sure how having one will benefit you. Well, you aren’t alone. Many people know it’s beneficial to take their heart rate mid-workout but aren’t entirely certain why. You may see trainers wearing them in your workout videos or people using them at the gym. But, what are the real benefits of athletic heart rate monitors and how can you use them to benefit your workouts and your overall fitness?
Monitoring your heart rate is a good way to track your cardiovascular fitness. Even when you aren’t working out, your heart rate can tell you how hard your heart has to work to keep blood pumping throughout the body. Your heart rate is measured in Beats Per Minute (BPM). As you get more and more fit, you will find that your resting BPM decreases. This means your heart has gotten so strong with cardio training that it doesn’t have to pump as often to keep your body supplied with life giving blood flow. For example, marathoners and those ultra cardio athletes sometimes have resting heart rates as low as 30 while the average adult is typically between 60 and 80 bpm.
Depending on your workout program of choice, you will see just how important using athletic heart rate monitors is. The higher your heart rate, the more fat you burn. In workout programs like Insanity, working out at your max is ideal. This system is heavy on the cardio and wants to keep that heart rate as elevated as safely possible. Other programs like P90X, for instance, don’t want the heart rate too high. Tony Horton and the others on P90X are consistently checking their athletic heart rate monitors as they don’t want to burn too much when they are concentrating on muscle building.
Whether you use athletic heart rate monitors to keep track of how hard you are working during your workouts or to track your progress in cardio health, there are many potential uses for these high tech gadgets. Here at ExtremeBody Workout we carry three different Bowflex heart rate monitors. Each has a series of great features including alarms, night vision, and water resistance. Take a look and as always, let us know if you have a question.
Sep 10, 2010 @ 03:48:28
I’ve been using a Polar heart rate monitor since 1985 – mostly for rowing on my Concept2 (see concept2rowingmachines.org/concept-2-rowing-machines.html for more on these Indoor Rowers) and it helps me stay within my target zones & that definitely helps me get fitter quicker.
When I’ve ignored my Heart rate monitor, I’ve not got to my peak performance as quickly as needed, so I definitely recommend using one.