Monday, October 5, 2009

Purchasing A Heart Rate Monitor

By Henry Calhoun

Once you have decided to shed some pounds through workouts, a heart rate monitor is a good thing to have. Several heart rate monitors are on the market and each has their own set of functions. Some are basic and only record the heart rate, but others have more capabilities and can do things such as calculate calories burned or warn you when you are no longer working out in your targeted heart rate zone.

Due to the many kinds of heart rate monitors available, it is often difficult to choose the one best suited for your needs. Also, since a heart rate monitoring device is like an investment, you want to make sure you take many factors into consideration before spending your money.

The heart rate monitor that you will buy will depend largely on the level of your fitness. A general heart rate monitor has a single button, but there are models that can provide fitness information which is great for a general workout. If you are trying to lose some weight, a heart rate monitor that tracks time and burned calories will be good for you. If you are an athlete, choose on that has advanced features, like global positioning system, downloadable data, and others for multiple support in many sports.

Your budget is yet another important consideration to make and keep in mind that not just having enough money is important, but also the willingness to spend it on a heart rate monitor. Purchasing a cheaper model will mean that you have to do without many functions, but spending several hundred dollars is also a mistake if you do not need most of the integrated functions and won't use them. Generally speaking, with a $100 or less you can purchase a heart rate monitor that only monitors the heart rate, keeps time and counts the number of calories burned.

If you are able and willing to spend $100 to $200 on a heart rate monitor, then you are allowed to have higher expectations. These monitors most likely will include more advanced functions, such as the ability to download data and keep track of your progress over time. If you have a budget of $200 or more than you can purchase the most advanced devices with features such as GPS, multi-sport tracking and comparing of workouts.

Once you have determined budget and needs, the final factor to keep in mind would be how easy the heart rate monitor is to use. More features make a device more complicated and that is a potential problem when working out. If this is the case then you will need time to first be comfortable using the device and therefore take a good look at the monitor in question before purchasing it.

Women also need to take into consideration how comfortable a chest strap may or may not be. Often the heart rate monitors are on the bulky side, but newer models are now made with women in mind and are therefore smaller in size. Strapless monitors are also available now.

Basically, in regards to heart rate monitors you must first look for what you really need and not what you just want. Purchasing a model with many features that you don't need will only cost you a lot of money and you will never use most of what is available. Staying healthy means finding a heart rate monitor that will help you and provide you with the necessary information, and not just spending a lot of money.

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