Listen to Your Heart Rate Monitor

• Measure the intensity of your workout. Exercise intensity is very important. When too low, you’re not burning that many calories or achieving the health benefits of exercise; when too high, you could be risking injury or HURTING your body’s ability to burn fat efficiently. Using a heart rate monitor shows you exactly where you stand at every moment of your workout so you can quickly assess and readjust if necessary—without stopping, counting your pulse, or doing any math calculations.
   
• Calculate your target training zone. A proper aerobic training zone varies between 55% and 85% of your maximum heart rate, depending on your health status and fitness level. Most monitors allow you to input information such as your age, weight, gender and resting heart rate to calculate your training zone. Some even test your heart rate during exercise to assess your fitness level before recommending a training zone. By using a heart rate monitor, you'll know when to change up your routine to continue challenging yourself once the same activity becomes easy for you.
• Calculate how many calories you burn during exercise. Not all models offer this feature, but calculations from a HRM are much more accurate than other methods that tend to overestimate calorie burn (such as the readout from a machine or an online calculator). Knowing the number of calories you're burning is particularly important when trying to lose weight.

In addition, the data from a heart rate monitor can be useful when reporting back to your doctor about your fitness program; the receiver (watch) usually offers other useful tools, such as a timer for your exercise session, data storage, and programmable features, such as a beeping alarm that will sound when your intensity is too low or too high. Most models will allow you to monitor your heart rate in both beats per minute and percentage of max, depending on which method is easiest for you to understand.

How do I choose a heart rate monitor?
There are hundreds of different models and styles to choose from, so think about the features that are most important to you before making a purchase. Do you want a heart rate monitor that is water resistant for swimming; that will save workout information you can upload to your computer; that offers different training programs; or one that counts calories?

The more features the monitor offers, the more complicated it can be to program and the higher the cost. A heart rate monitor can cost anywhere from $20 to $600 depending on the features you want and need.

• Basic models ($20 to $70): Some of the most basic monitors are a combination sports wristwatch and heart rate monitor. Typically a simple model can program your target training zone, display time of day and act as a stopwatch. Basic models usually show your heart rate in beats per minute instead of percentage max. You can use the watch even when you aren't exercising, but there are few style and color options.
   
• Intermediate models ($70 to $100): These monitors will include the features above, as well as calculate your calories burned based on your body weight, gender, and heart rate during exercise. Some models display your calories burned during an exercise session or total calories burned at the end of the workout. A middle-of-the-road model will usually show your heart rate in both beats per minute and percentage max, and offer some additional perks like water resistance and your choice of color and style.
   
• Advanced models ($100+): These monitors give you a detailed summary of your workouts such as average heart rate, lap times, time spent in/below/above your target training zone, calories burned, etc. They also store this information for future reference so that you can track progress over time. Some of the most advanced models allow you to download the information to a computer, where a program will analyze your exercise sessions and make recommendations.