All heart?

Do you really need a heart-rate monitor?

Various factors, from fatigue to terrain and emotional state, influence how hard we think we’re working out versus how hard we really are. A heart-rate monitor (HRM) is the most reliable way of gauging the amount of effort you’re actually putting in. It also helps to measure your fitness as it progresses. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you should notice that the pace you’re doing, at, say, 145bpm, is gradually increasing over the weeks. For runners, a HRM is most useful for ensuring you do the majority of your endurance training relatively slowly – rather than bursting along at 200bpm to chase a Strava record. A HRM can also check that you’re not overtraining, by comparing your average resting heart rate).