Who trains with a heart rate monitor?

[nortac]

Do you use a heart rate monitor when you train/casual exercise? Are you striving to maintain your HR in a certain "zone" or are you just "keeping an eye on things"? Do you adjust your work out routine based on your heart rate? I used to use a HR monitor when I was cycling years ago and tried to keep my HR in a certain zone except for cool down periods. Now days, I'm an old fogie and merely want to monitor my general fitness and not exceed a max suggested HR. How about you?

 

[DesertIguana]

Use to have one for Cycling, it was Performance Bicycle Brand, pure junk that got returned for refund.

 

[NorthernSoul]

I used to use it when doing intervals on a rowing machine, things like that. Didn't wear it all the time, just helped to gauge how hard you were working.

 

[beginish]

I have one and actually used it in the spring as I got back into running shape. There’s this whole school of thought on heart rate training being a good way to build up ndurance and use it as a measure to control how hard you work. The theory is that as you get in better condition, you can go faster and maintain the same aerobic heart rate. It worked well for me.

 

[mr_eleven]

I'm old(ish) and I still cycle and run - a lot - and have been using a Garmin HRM for a long time. For me it gives me an idea of how hard I can go given the terrain and distance, especially during long climbing efforts. Over time I've become a good at knowing how hard and how far I can hold an effort based on my HR. I also use the built in HRM in my Garmin watch to keep tabs on my resting HR.

 

[Legion]

When I am walking/hiking I use the one on my Apple watch. It can then track and record the info, along with how far I went, elevation, ect.

That kind of thing are the main features the Apple watch has over a regular watch, so I might as well make use of it.

 

[The Blackadder]

Not really. I just go all out when jumping rope for 20 seconds and then recover for one or two minutes at moderate pace and then start another interval

 

[LuckyR]

I use my Fitbit to make sure that I don't flip into A Fib during a work out.

 

[Dodger59]

I used to use the Polar HRM back when I was running and cycling more. Read a few books and was a bit of a nerd about it. Now I’ll use it on a treadmill to keep myself in Zone 2 or Maffetone training zone. I don’t track it if doing intervals.