Gone are the days when heart rate monitors were only used by your doctor or nurse. In these modern and fast pace times we all want to be able to be in control of monitoring our own heartbeats.
What is a Heart Monitor
A heart monitor, which is sometimes known as a cardiac monitor, is a piece of equipment that can observe our heart functions continuously. It allows you to monitor your heart rate and determine your body's healthiness. It also gives you a target heart rate to work for. Doctors generally have more sophisticated machines which are able to show signs of deterioration and assist in making the adjustments required.
Types of Heart Monitors
Heart monitors have been manufactured in their millions with various specific types available. Some have been developed for weight loss programs and others are for fitness programs or athletes. Many treadmills or exercise bikes have heart monitors built in these days. Some emit electromagnetic waves while others don't. For example a fetal heart monitors must not produce electromagnetic waves as this may damage the baby.
Factors on Selecting the Best Heart Monitor for You
There are various forms of monitors - some with chest straps which are sometimes not as accurate as others. The strap is placed around your chest just below your breast. It works by detecting the electrical activity of your heart and shows the results on a monitor usually strapped to your wrist - similar to an ECG at the hospital but on a smaller scale. Some monitors can transmit the results through audio messages attached to earphones.
If you choose a heart monitor with chest straps the strap must be constantly wrapped around you to produce accurate heart readings.
The alternative to chest strap monitors is ones that use the pulses on your fingertips. Be aware that the results of these are not as accurate as monitors with straps.
What they show depends on the type of monitor you have purchased - the more you spend the more results you will see. The basic models will show your heart rate and the amount of time spent exercising. More advanced models will help you to find out how much exercise you need to do to become a completely healthy person. Their features include number of calories burned, timers and heart rate zone alarms as well as users being able to work to set programs of workout and showing a targeted heart rate.
Remember you need to know how to use your heart monitor - if you don't know how to use it or are only using the most basic functions don't waste your money on a more advanced model. Will you be able to use it in all situations - for example if you are out at night can you read the screen? Do you understand what the monitor is telling you - if you don't there isn't much point having one!
The decision to buy a heart monitor varies from person to person. If you really must by a top of the range heart monitor, be sure that you really need to buy one in the first place. If you're not sure perhaps you should buy a low end model - the danger here is that you may get inaccurate results.
If you are already using a treadmill with a built in heart monitor, isn't this sufficient for your purposes? Remember instead of spending money on your own heart monitor why not visit your doctor regularly instead and let him monitor it for you and give you the correct results.
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"About The Author" below
About The Author
Barry Sheppard writes, as a hobby, for http://www.traintraveller.com
an online site informing readers how to travel throughout the world by train.
He has written and had published 15 books, and 100's of articles on a wide range of
subjects.He runs a 121 writing course by phone and email . You can get the details of this
course from Barry at Email:
He has also started writing and adding articles for content pages from
Heart Rate Monitors
