by Stein, Eric's Son
Heart Rate Monitors
A heart rate monitor (HRM) is a device that is capable
of measuring the number of times your heart beats per
minute. If you are interested in increasing your fitness,
it's a valuable instrument to own. Its main benefit is
to let you quantitatively know how hard you are exercising.
It can also help you associate subjective feelings with
different ranges of exercise intensity. Knowing in what
intensity range you are exercising may be helpful in a
race or a long ski tour to avoid becoming over tired before
finishing. To learn more about heart rate ranges and how
to use them in training or conditioning, see Body Shop:
section 3 (specificity and heart rate monitoring) elsewhere
on the Ski Club webpage (under Nordic Skiing).
Although a very effective approach to improving fitness,
training based on heart rate (HR) monitoring has one drawback.
You need to know your maximum heart rate. You can assume
it is equal to 220 minus your age, if you want to trust
the averages. Far better, however, is to run some tests
to actually find out your maximum HR.
The best way to determine your maximum HR is in a lab
on a treadmill, as part of a VO2 max test; this approach
is an especially good idea for anyone new to exercise
or serious about training. MEDSPORT at U of M (998-7405)
can administer these tests for you.
Another way to find out your maximum HR is to monitor
your HR as you complete a series of difficult hill climbs
while running or riding a bike. The hill climb test works
like this: Find a steep hill that it takes you three to
four minutes to climb. Then, warm-up for 15-20 minutes.
When you are feeling limber and energetic, hit the hill.
Exert yourself at slightly less than maximum for the first
half of the climb and then go all out the rest of the
way. Note the maximum rate on your HRM or take your pulse
(number of beats in 15 seconds times 4) the instant you
reach the top of the hill and begin slowing down. If you
want to make sure you have a good reading, repeat the
event on different days until you get the same maximum
HR several times. A simpler way to obtain the same information,
if you have a HRM that will record and store maximum HR,
is to run or ride a challenging course and go all out
for as long as you can on a few sections.
HRMs have a variety of features available. The basic
models typically allow you to monitor average heart rate,
set high and low target zone heart rates, and have an
"out of zone alarm." More sophisticated models
allow you to also keep track of "time in the target
zone," " time above [and]below the target zone,"
" percentage of maximum HR," and "recovery
HR." In addition, many HRMs include a watch, stopwatch,
and interval timers. Prices vary from around $50 to $175.
For bikers, some HRMs come with a handlebar mounting adapter.
Sources of HRMs include Performance Bicycle (1-800-727-2453)
and Bike Nashbar (1-800-627-4227).
