A heart rate monitor (HRM) watch is a very useful tool to determine the intensity of your exercise, and whether it is intense enough to achieve your aims. One of the earliest findings of the NASA space program is that human muscles and bones need to experience stress and force in order to maintain their strength. Under weightless conditions, the loss of muscle and bone in the absence of stress is accelerated, and several months without exercise is enough to weaken an astronaut dangerously. Under normal gravity, the body weakens much more slowly without exercise. Nonetheless, if you go a few years without regular exercise, you probably can clearly detect a loss of muscle strength and physical endurance in your body. Therefore, some minimal level of physical activities is necessary just to maintain your current fitness, and of course, a greater intensity of exercise can help you lose weight or increase your fitness.
Reasons to buy a HRM watch:
A HR monitor watch may help you control training intensity.
How intensely should one exercise? For exercise with the aim of increasing general fitness and endurance (that is, not targeting a specific muscle group), sports physiologists generally use the maximum heart rate (MHR) as the measure of its intensity. The MHR is the maximum safe heart rate, measured in beats per minute, and is usually calculated as 220 minus your age (so for a 30 year old, the MHR is 190 beats per minute). In case you want a gentle workout just to maintain your current level of fitness, the target rate is 50-60% of the MHR. If you would like to lose weight, the target is 60-70% of MHR. If you want to increase your aerobic fitness and endurance, you need to reach 70-80% of your MHR. Professional and competitive athletes need to reach a target heart rate of 80% and higher for serious training.
A HRM watch can help you track your progress in physical exercise.
A HR monitor is very useful for measuring your HR and thus checking your training intensity. It is also a very sensitive way to check the increase in your fitness as you progress in your exercise. If you are very out of shape when you first start to exercise, you’ll start feeling winded when you hit about 50%-60% of your maximum HR. However, within a week of regularly trying to hit 50% of MHR, you should start to see your sustainable HR creep up. Way before you start to lose weight or feel stronger, you should be able to tell that you are able to hit a higher and higher heart rate. Within a month of regular exercise, you’ll be able to hit 70-80% of your MHR and hold it for at least 5 min. And once you hit that intensity, you’ll start losing weight, breathing easier, and feeling stronger. Therefore, a HR monitor is a very valuable tool while you are embarking on an exercise regimen, especially if you haven’t exercised for a while and are just starting again. If you are interested in the various types of exercise heart rate monitors available, please see my following posts.
In conclusion, a heart rate monitor watch is a must-have for people who want to have a safe and efficient physical exercise.