I have been researching different monitors for quite some time. A friend of mine has Polar heart rate monitor and when we were working out together, I found it very fascinating. So today before I started my workout I asked if I could borrow hers. She showed me how to operate it and off I went. I started it at the beginning of my workout and was very impressed with how it kept up with what I was doing. A downfall of this is that I was constantly watching the monitor to see what i was doing instead of focusing on my workout. So while it gave me a good insight as to how intense my workout was, I'm not overly convinced that having one of these on is productive.

I think they could be productive when you are first working out so that you can be sure how intense your work out is, but after a week, I feel you would want to shed these so that you can focus on your training. If you change your training up down the road, then you may want to wear it again. This would also be handy the first time you did your workout outside, to make sure that the intensity of the route you are taking is indeed intense enough for your workout.

The watch I used was able to tell me how many minutes I worked in my targeted zone and what my heart rate was at any given minute. It also told me how many calories I had burned. In our text book it talks about wearing one of these each time you work out to make sure you are in your target zone. I still feel that after you know what your target zone feels like you will be able to determine yourself if you are close at least.  

There are several different kinds on the market, whether you want one that goes around your wrist and finds your heart rate from there or one that has a separate band around your waist and sends a readout to a monitor that looks like a regular watch. The only problem I have with one that has a separate band is that the band sometimes slips off or comes undone. In those cases you have to stop your workout and refasten it. The ones that are all self contained in the wrist watch seem to be easier...one piece of equipment...always seems to be more user friendly, but is it more reliable. When I was looking into one for myself, there was a lot of talk on the different exercise websites and such that maybe they weren't as accurate as the ones with the band around your waist. I can see where the one that was self contained around your wrist my loose your heart beat if it spun around or was a little loose. They even have ones that talk to you to tell you to increase your intensity or lower your intensity. The one I was using would beep when I got to the top end of my max heart rate I had set for it, and it would also beep if I got to low.

I went to consumer searches website and they felt the best one the market was the Polar FT60, but did say it probably was more then the average person needed. They covered three different monitors from a basic monitor to the top of the line in their book. They also have a section to tell you what they feel you should look for when shopping for a heart rate monitor.

about.com. (2009). Heart Rate Monitors. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from Consumer Search: http://www.consumersearch.com/heart-rate-monitors

Susie Snyder