How fast am I running?  What distance am I going?  What’s my heart rate?  The questions can go on and on.  Unless you are on a treadmill or have a buddy ride next to you in a car, some of the questions above may not get answered.

Here are a few quick tips as to what to look for when purchasing a heart rate monitor!

There are many heart rate monitors available on the market today.  While all offer similar features, they all are a bit different.  Below we’ll explore what some of those differences are.

Do you want to have a heart rate monitor function?  This will allow you to see if you are working too hard (or too easy) during workouts.  Some people train completely by HR and others do not.  I personally think that using a HR monitor for training is a good thing.  It allows a person to develop, over time, an idea as to how hard they are working and determine if it is too hard for the particular race a person is running.

Do you want to know how fast you are moving?  While only a few upper end monitors have GPS, this feature allows you to know your speed and the distance you have traveled.  I personally love this feature.  There are times I wear my Garmin just to know how fast I’m running.

Some of the heart rate monitors come with a workout program that can be followed and downloaded onto your computer as a tracking method.  Is this a training buddy?  I don’t use this feature much, but the really big techies may like this option.

Sooner or later the battery will run out.  Do you want an easily replaceable battery or do you prefer some sort of docking station with a rechargeable battery?  Either is fine and is mostly a personal preference.

Is it important for you to have a clock on your monitor?  Again, these items can be purchased with or without.  I’m not sure a clock is needed, but you may be like me and need a clock on your wrist or not be able to function.

Most HR monitors have the ability to count calories.  This is a great feature if you are worrying about weight loss or the ability to make sure enough food (or drink) is consumed to make up the balance later.  Other than the above reasons, this is not much of a necessity but fun to look at.

Have you thought about the size of the unit that will be strapped to your hand / arm?  Most men don’t have to worry too much about the wrist piece being too big, but some of the ladies may have smaller wrists that make the unit bulky.  For me, it depends on the day, but don’t have a problem with the bigger unit sizes (I have seen some complaints on this previously by other articles).  The only thing I don’t like is tan lines.  Usually, on longer rides I strap the Garmin to the bike to avoid the tan lines!

Bottom line; the item that comes with most of these features is the Garmin Forerunner (with GPS).  For a less expensive version of the HR monitor (with no GPS) check out Polar or Timex models. 

To try our favorites – go to TriNation