How Do Heart Rate Monitors Work?

Timex Ironman T5J985 Unisex Trail Runner Bodylink Heart Rate Monitor Watch

A heart rate monitor has become an essential tool these days for everyone from the elite athlete to the individual who simply wishes to lose a little weight or is concerned about the health of his heart. By measuring your heartbeat the monitor allows you to control the intensity of an exercise session to ensure that you gain the maximum benefit from your fitness training.

But just how do heart rate monitors work?

The principle is very much the same as that of an EKG machine used in hospitals to measure electrical activity within the heart. A heart rate monitor consists of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter is placed in contact with the skin and detects electrical activity from the heart as it beats which it then sends to the receiver. Here the transmitted data is displayed on a screen for the user to see.

Today heart rate monitors are increasingly combining both the transmitter and receiver into a single unit which is worn as a watch and which indeed can carry out a whole variety of additional functions such as telling the time and acting as a stop watch. In addition however there are also units in which the transmitter is housed in a strap worn around the chest while the receiver again appears in the form of a watch. Some people argue that monitors which make use of a separate chest strap are more accurate but with advances in technology in recent years this is quite honestly questionable.

Heart rate monitors today are very accurate, simple to use and combine a variety of different functions into a single unit. In addition, monitors come in a wide range of prices to fit just about every budget and the middle of the market which is dominated by players like Garmin, Timex and Polar provides excellent quality at very affordable prices.

Click here to see the very latest in heart rate monitor technology.

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