Strap on chest

[Boston170]

I see this strap that the fighters use during cardio that goes around their chest. What is it? What does it do?

[Cap'n]

A heart rate monitor.

[spirez]

Originally Posted by Alan Goode

A heart rate monitor.

Yep. Used to make sure that you are training in the required training zone, measured as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.

[Dontquit1]

Originally Posted by spirez

Yep. Used to make sure that you are training in the required training zone, measured as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.

What is a good price range to look for in getting one? I may consider buying one, if it is worth it and a decent price.

[Krossinc]

Unfortunately they're expensive. You can buy a wrist one starting at about $30 and going in to the mid 100's. I've heard the Polar A3 at bout 80 bucks is good. The straps across the chest tend to move more towards 150-300 dollars.

[FatTire]

my polar s120 works very well, has zones and interval timers, a chest strap, and a bike mount, i got it for $100 or so with shiping, it was on sale

[Beatyourmeat]

I use a HRM all the time. In fact I don't really work out without it. You should buy the cheapest one that feels comfortable. The more advanced they are, the more things they do, but honestly, all you need to know is the heart rate. You should be able t get one for less than 50$

Buy this book: Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot by John Parker. He gives very good, very simple instruction about how to use the HRM effectively.

The essence of it is that you need to find the target zone for your hard days and your recovery days. Once you figure that out with a simple calculation, you just adjust your workouts to fit that.

[Boston170]

What advantages does the one that wraps around your chest give you over the ones that you wear like a watch?

[steven6hyde]

it could also be a timer. kinda hard to tell without a picture.

[Beatyourmeat]

Well, the way it works is that you need the chest strap and the watch. the chest strap is a sender that reads your heart rate and sends the data to the watch. the watch has a display so you can read the heart rate and also time yourself. Fancier watches also calculate caloric use and other things as well. honestly, I have used mine for the last three years and I almost never use the extra functions. I used the book I recommended earlier to figuer out the 2 exercise zones (hard day and easy day) and I just run according to whatever the HRM says.

The key, I have read, is to really understand he difference between those two zones. Most people train too hard on their recovery days. It's very hard to overcome the perceived level of exertion and really know how hard you are working. You do a hard day at 90% and then you follow with a recovery day at 85%. That's no good. You need to keep our HR at 85% on hard days and under 70% on recovery days. But, if you get caught up in your workout, you might not realize how hard you are working. The HRM is the only way to really know how hard you are working, which is why so many top athletes, like Lance Armstrong and Randy Coture (and me), use them.