Practice a Healthy Way of Life

Heart rate is a useful indicator of fitness (resting heart rate), and work intensity during aerobic/cardio workouts, but it can be difficult to find and maintain a sense of your pulse manually when resting, and doing so during workouts can be difficult because you may be distracted by what you are doing or because taking your pulse may take your focus off your exercise. That’s why some runners actually walk for a short distance while they take their pulse manually, while bicyclists either stop or coast with only one hand on the bars.

The solution is a heart rate monitor. The most reliable ones are those that sense the heart rate through a chest strap.  I have been using one to track my workouts for some time, and I recommend them. Whether you’re really trying to get into optimal condition for some reason, or just trying to get in better shape than you are, a heart rate monitor can be like a coach, providing instantaneous (right now) feedback on your exercise intensity that can tell you when you need to ramp it down a bit or when you need to get your butt in gear. There is an adage I’ve heard in the fitness field that says “people tend to work too hard on their easy days and too easy on their hard days.”  I didn’t realize how true this was until I started using a heart rate monitor, and from personal experience I can say that a heart rate monitor can help you remedy this, so you can achieve your fitness goals more efficiently and avoid overtraining. read more…

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