Digital Heart Rate Monitor

Welcome to our website. Here you will be able to find suppliers of a digital heart rate monitor that will allow you to conveniently keep track of your heart rate and much more.

The first portable heart rate monitors were developed in Finland by Dr. Seppo Saynajakangas in 1982, and by 1990 Polar Electro had a full line of heart rate monitors that were being sold world wide. Today, many manufacturers produce a wide range of monitors from those with only a few features for under $25 to those that have all the bells and whistles and sell for over over $400.

The adult male's heart beats an averageof 60 times per minute at rest, while the adult female's heart rate is 10 to 20 percent higher. Exercise causes the heart rate to increase. To get optimum results from your exercise, it is important to to exercise at the right intensity for a certain duration. Exercise with too little intensity and duration and the exercise will not increase your fitness. Exercise with too much intensity and duration and your are not necessarily getting the most out of your training.

A digital heart rate monitor can ensure that you are working out at the appropriate intensity or exertion level, determined by your heart rate zone, for your chosen duration.

What is a Heart Rate Monitor?

One aspect of exercise is total energy consumption or metabolic rate.  Physiologists can directly determine an individual's energy consumption by measuring inhaled oxygen and exhaled carbon dioxide. This is usually accomplished in a laboratory with the person on a treadmill while measuring his oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Since the inhaled oxygen enters the blood stream and is pumped around the body by the heart, the heart rate is directly proportional to the oxygen intake and can be easily measured by a portable heart rate monitor.

You can take your pulse by placing your index and middle fingers over the carotid artery in the side of your neck and counting the number of pulses for ten seconds and multiplying by 6 to get your heart rate per minute. You then mentally check if you are in your desired heart rate zone. While this is relatively easy to do, you certainly wouldn't want to do it continuously. Fortunately, heart rate monitors are available.

A digital heart rate monitor is a device that measures and displays your heart rate. It usually consists of an elastic chest strap (or a special bra) that is attached to a wireless transmitter. With each heart beat, the heart generates electrical signals that can be measured on the skin. Electrodes mounted on the chest strap detect these signals. The heart beat information is sent to a display monitor on your wrist or bike handle. The display monitor calculates the heart rate. The more advanced heart rate monitors alert you when you are not in your heart rate zone, the number of calories burned and much more.

Monitors Without a Chest Strap There are also monitors that work without a chest strap. These are are usually called pulse monitors. They have sensor buttons that you must touch with one or two fingers. Since they don't provide continuous readings, they don't have many of the features of a regular heart rate monitor. They can also give erratic readings with cold fingers and of course they won't work when you're wearing gloves. But if you don't need the extra features and don't like wearing a chest strap, they are certainly more convenient than manually taking your pulse and mentally calculating your heart rate.

Before You Buy a Digital Heart Rate Monitor

There is such a variety of heart rate monitors, that it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. Start with your goal:

Do you want to use it to lose weight? Find one that tracks calories burned and the time you spend in your heart rate zone.

Just want to improve your fitness? Look for one that provides information about training zones and intensity.

Are you an athlete that participates in multiple sports such as running and biking? Consider one that is capable of keeping track of multiple activities, workout feedback, has a GPS and downloadable data.

Consider the following features when shopping for the perfect heart rate monitor for you.

• Watch
• Target Zone(s)/Alarm(s)
• Time in Zone
• Stopwatch
• Lap timer/splits
• Alarms
• Memories
• Recovery rate
• Calories burned
• Backlight
• Encoded wireless signal
• Computer download
• Programmable workouts
• Fitness test

Are the display numbers easy to read? Are the buttons labeled and easy to operate? Is it easy to navigate to the different screens? Does the watch and chest strap fit comfortably?

After you have compiled your list of must have features then look for a model that has those features at a price that you can afford.

The top five heart rate monitor manufacturers are Polar, Timex, Reebok, Oregon Scientic and Mio. Other manufacturers include Omron, Cardiosport, Ekho, Garmin, Phase, Sensor Dynamics, SportBrain, Heartmind and Sport Instruments.