At one time, heart rate monitors were the exclusive property of physicians and nurses, but that’s all changed as the technology has become available to just about anyone who wants it. Got an afternoon workout scheduled? If your treadmill doesn’t have a built in heart rate monitor, you can still use the heart rate monitor built into your watch or the newest model that clips to your belt.

Also known as a cardiac monitor, a heart monitor is a piece of electronic equipment that can be used to continuously track or observe heart functions. It allows you to place a numerical value on your healthiness based on your heart rate.

Today, heart monitors are produced by the millions and designed to cater to specific individuals with specific needs. Some heart monitors are primarily designed for weight loss programs, while others are meant for the use of athletes or fitness programs. Some are wireless or come as a built-in feature of exercise equipment such as a treadmill or an exercise bike. In addition, heart rate monitors may or may not emit electromagnetic waves, depending on their purpose. A fetal heart monitor, for instance, doesn’t produce any waves, since electromagnetic waves 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 more often not the most accurate. The chest strap is secured around your chest, a few centimeters below your breast. It contains a device that detects your heart’s electrical activity and transmits it to the brain of the machine - the same as an ECG. The results are shown on a display monitor, which is often attached to your wrist like a watch. Other monitors transmit the results audio messages via earphones.

When choosing heart monitors with chest straps, remember to keep the strap continually connected to your body or else you risk the heart monitor producing inaccurate readings.

Finally, the only alternative to heart monitors with chest straps are those that rely on pulses from your fingertips. However, these rarely 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 your elapsed exercise time). This lacks sufficient information for those want to know how much they need to improve before they can be considered healthy. Higher end models offer a wider range of features, including heart rate zone alarms, timers and the number of calories burned. They may also allow users to set pre-programmed workouts along with a targeted heart rate.

Ease of Use - only consider heart rate monitors that are easy to use. A high-end heart monitor has little value do if it takes you an hour to set up. Are the numbers and words appearing on the heart rate monitor easily readable? Can it be used in no-light situations? Are the buttons well-labeled and ergonomically positioned?

To Buy or Not To Buy a Heart Monitor

Heart monitors can be especially costly, more so if you’re intent on purchasing higher-end models. If you have a limited budget, ask yourself whether or not you truly need a heart monitor. You can, of course, purchase one of the lower-end models. However, a low quality heart monitor can render inaccurate results, which essentially defeats the purpose using a monitor.