Somatics
Heart Rate Monitor
Physical trainers are always urging women clients to speed up and men to slow down. A heart rate monitor can help you find your ideal exercise level. Some exercise equipment (e.g., treadmills) comes with built-in monitors. But there are three portable varieties you can use while jogging, biking, rowing, etc: chest strap plus wristwatch, wristwatch only, and chest strap plus earphones. Polar offers twenty different chest strap plus wristwatch models (from $60 to $400--better prices at eBay). The watch connects via wireless to the chest band. A dab of messy conducting gel may be required, but they give a continuous readout of your heart rate, so you can vary your exercise level on the fly. You can also learn a lot about what calms you (e.g., petting a dog or cat) or stresses you out (e. g., most business phone calls). A wristwatch-only model like the Micro Touch MIO Heart Rate Monitor watch ($129) doesn't require a chest strap. You put two fingers on its terminals to take a reading. But it doesn't provide a continuous reading. And the HearTalker Heart Rate Monitor ($60-$80) does away with the watch altogether. A disembodied voice whispers your pulse rate in your ear via earphones that connect to the chest strap. And it comes with an optional splitter so that you can listen to CDs or books on tape while you work out.
-- Tom Ferguson, M.D.
Polar A1 (basic model)*
$60
Available from
Bodytronics
Or $74 from Amazon
[*according to the Bodytronics site, the Polar F1 is the replacement model for the discontinued A1-- sl]
HearTalker
Previously available from Fitness Smart
Model # 60182
$75
[This product may not be available; when/if we determine another source, we will update the post; in the meantime, if you use a more readily-available model that is similar, please let us know -- sl]
Mio Shape (Heart Rate Monitor Watch)
Fitness Smart
Model # 61104
$130
608-735-4718
