Since I received my heart rate monitor a couple weeks ago, I have been monitoring my heart rate obsessively. I find checking my heart rate every minute to be fun and challenging. Challenging…why? Because the fitter you are, the lower the resting heart rate you have. Therefore, I try to keep my heart rate low in the morning before I go to the gym by sitting still on the couch while watching ESPN news. I get the thrill of seeing my resting heart rate fluctuating between 54 to 56 beats per minute. Enough said…why did I get the heart rate monitor in the first place?

Heart rate monitor helps me target my exercise heart rate, 70 to 80% of my maximum heart rate, which is estimated by 220 - 22 (220 - your age, if you want to estimate your maximum heart rate). Knowing your exercise heart rate will help you perform your workout more efficiently and effectively. As I might have mentioned in one of the previous entries, average-fit person should exercise at about 70% (moderate intensity) of his or her maximum heart rate. By monitoring your heart rate, you ensure that you don’t over-exercise that can cause injuries or under-exercise, which would be wasting your energy and time.

I purchased the Polar RS100 model heart rate monitor from Amazon.com, which cost me about 110.00 dollars with super saver free shipping. My heart rate monitor also provides other functions such as setting my own caloric expenditure goal, warm-up heart rate zone, etc. ( I haven’t even figured out half of the functions given in this piece of technology.) However, spending 110.00 dollars on a heart rate monitor is unnecessary according to your exercise goals, you may look up cheaper Polar monitors that range from 60 to 70 dollars. Trust me, your own health and enjoyment from exercising are worthy of at least 60 dollars if you cut down the hot dogs and sodas that you buy at the ballparks or movies.