Listen to Your Love Muscle

You've beep exercising for some time so you're fitter, yes? But how fit? How hard are you working? How do you know if you're in the fat-burning zone or working at your threshold?

The problem

We all exercise because we're looking for some kind of benefit - lose weight, look better in a T-shirt, drop a clothes size, dodge that heart attack, live longer to enjoy more time with the grandchildren. The problem is that of these admirable goals some are easier to measure than others. When you fit into smaller clothes, weigh what you did when you were in your twenties or see new muscle definition, then you know you got there. But what of those less obvious but often more crucial goals. How do you know when you are fitter? What is fit anyway? Sooner or later as you plug away on a treadmill or stepper, you'll start to wonder if it's really doing any good. And if you can't tell, then what's the point in giving up your precious time when you could be down the pub.

The solution

The answer is to listen to your heart, and the way to do that is to invest in a heart rate monitor. There's nothing that complex about heart monitors - at their simplest you have a transmitter on a chest-strap that broadcasts your heartbeats to a small Computer/sports watch on your wrist.

How does it work?

Simple though it sounds, having an accurate idea of your heart rate opens a whole new world of accuracy in training. You can now tell exactly how hard you are working, which is often surprisingly different to how hard you think you are working. BY seeing how long it takes for your heart to recover from bursts of exercise you now have access to one of the best indicators of how fit you really are.

In practice

The first thing with heart rate monitoring is to establish your maximum heart rate. There's a rule of thumb that 220 minus your age gives your maximum. On that basis a 40 year old would have a maximum heart rate of 180. That's a little imprecise, and there are many other formulae that take account of sex and bodyweight. Because there is this slight variation it's best to follow the instructions that come with your heart monitor.

Once you're at your maximum heart rate, the next step is working out the different training zones. Roughly speaking there are three main training zones: 60-75 per cent of max which is considered easy and often called the 'fat-burning zone', 75-85 per cent of max which is moderate and sometimes referred to as the 'cardio-training zone'; and 85-95 per cent which is giving it some welly and normally only of interest to those going for peak performance and ever-diminishing times.

What the monitor does, and how to choose one

The simplest monitors consist of a stop watch (well you don't want to have two things strapped to your wrist) and will tell you what your rate is. The next step up feature alarms that can be set for zones so, for example, the monitor will beep at you if you get out of the fat-burning zone, or if you drop below a certain level of workload. This is one of the best uses for a monitor and well worth having.

Beyond that level monitors start sprouting all sorts of functions...

• A graphical readout showing a chart of your heartbeat is handy to see how long it takes for your heart to recover after rest.
• A memory of different sessions makes it easy to compare and see your progress.
• Downloadable details are a delight for the number crunchers who like to plot their progress on a spreadsheet.
• 'Shielded' transmitters mean you can workout alongside a partner without their monitor interfering with yours.
• Calorie counters can be programmed with your physical details to monitor how many calories you bum during the day.
• Programmable sessions mean you can choose an interval session and never look at your watch again - the monitor beeps at you when you have to slow down/speed up and keeps an eye on how hard you're working.
• GPS is considered the king of the crop right now - the monitor doesn't just watch your heart, it uses satellite tracking to tell you exactly how far you have run/cycled when you're out doors and what speed you are doing at any moment.