High-Tech Heart Rate Monitors – How Do You Choose?

So many models of heart rate monitors are on the market, thanks to continuing advances in technology. And as technology continues to advance it is inevitable that the monitors will become both far more complex but at the same time much more versatile.
It is very exciting that such an ordinary product as a heart rate monitor can now have so many functions. In the same way, the ordinary telephone has also become a device of high-tech genius. But it can lead to some difficult decisions for the buyer. So many features are on offer that it is painful to even know what to select.
Here, then, is a basic guide to the main varieties of heart rate monitor.
The first sort is the most basic of all. It measures your heart beat and does not do a lot more than that. It is cheap and easy to use. As well as displaying your heart rate it will likely also double as a watch, and possibly also as a stop watch.
You can then move up to a slightly more advanced model which allows you to enter data and perform a modest amount of programming. For example, this monitor might tell you your heart rate recovery time after exercise, and it might warn you when you are reaching your peak heart rate.
A third kind incorporates a calorie calculator. You will need to enter information about your body type, and you will be able to get a read-out of the calories that you have burned during your work-out.
More advanced monitors allow you to store data about your work-out and they also let you download the data to a computer for storage and for processing using dedicated software.
Finally, there are the advanced models – and more and more of these are hitting the market – that perform a huge range of specialist functions. Some are for cyclists only, some for runners, some for those engaged in cross country activities. They may tell you your speed, the distance you have traveled, your oxygen intake, and much more. They might have the ability to transmit this data wirelessly to your computer.