Buyers Guide

Heart rate displays used to be exclusively operated by physicians and nurses alone but that was soon rectified with today’s multi-tasking generation. Every person seemed to want to know about everything that was related to them and that, of course, included monitoring their own heartbeats.

What is a Heart Monitor?
Sometimes known as a cardiac monitor, a heart monitor is a piece of electronic equipment that can be used to track or observe heart function.

It allows people to place a numerical value on their healthiness based on their heart rate and have a target heart rate to work for.

The more complex versions of the heart monitor allow physicians to see any signs of deterioration or improvement and make the necessary adjustments immediately.

Types of Heart Monitors
Today, heart rate monitors are produced by the millions and designed to cater for specific types of individuals.

Some heart monitors are primarily designed for weight loss programmes while others are meant for the use of gymnasts or for fitness.

Some are wireless or come as a built-in feature of exercise equipment like a treadmill or an exercise bike.

Generally, it can be strapped to your wrist . It may or may not emit any electromagnetic waves, depending on its purpose. A fetal heart monitor, for instance, must not produce any waves at all as this may affect the health of the baby.

Factors on Selecting the Best Heart Monitor for You
ECG-Accurate Monitors with Chest Straps – Heart monitors that come with chest straps are highly accurate. The chest strap is strapped around your chest, a few centimetres below your breast. It contains a device that is able to detect electrical activity of your heart and transmits it to the brain of the machine – just like an ECG.

The results are shown on the display monitor, which most of the times is attached to your wrist like a watch.

Upon choosing heart monitors with chest straps, you need to remember to keep the strap constantly connected to your body lest you want the heart monitor to produce inaccurate readings.

The only alternative to heart monitors with chest straps are the ones that rely on pulses on your fingertips. These generally provide readings as accurate as those with chest straps.

Heart Monitor Features
Basic and lower end models tend to display only your heart rate and maybe the elapsed exercise time as well.

Higher end models will offer a wider range of features. Examples of such features are – but not limited to – heart rate zone alarms, timers and number of calories burned.

They may also allow users to set pre-programmed workouts along with a targeted heart rate.

Ease of Use
Lastly, you must purchase a heart rate monitor that you will have no problems of using. What good would a high end heart monitor do if it takes you an hour to operate it? Are the numbers and words appearing in the heart rate monitor readable? Can it be used in no-light situations? Are buttons well-labelled and ergonomically positioned?

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