ALDI was selling these HR monitors for a measly $20, and seeing as I have never known what my heart is doing during activity I thought it would be wise to find out. And what a bargain I got.So on looking at it and assessing the pro's and cons:
- PRO'S
- the design and colour are nice. Big hit in my eyes.
- the watch band is not made of very hard plastic and sits nicely on my fine wrist.
- chest strap is about 2cm in width and made of soft rubber.
- has adjustable elastic to be able to get the right fit around your diaphragm.
- comes with a bike clip so you can check what your doing cycling. BIG BONUS.
- CON'S
- The part on the chest strap that holds the battery is hard and slightly uncomfortable.
- I know this works on the principle of moisture to conduct a signal but it's going to make me sweat even more than I already do.
- How does one go about disinfecting it.
A friend of mine Eoin from Eoin's journey - jump on over and become a follower of his great blog, will be loaning me his book on HR training. We will be meeting this Thursday with other fellow DailyMiler's Jaydub - another great Aussie blogger who is documenting his training to his first marathon and beyond, Andrew - who also documents about his running and some of my other DailyMile friends as well. I can't wait to meet them all, should prove to be an interesting night.
I wish I had the heart rate monitor yesterday when I did the spin class in the morning. It would have been screaming warning alarms throughout our hill climb I'm sure. Everytime I go now I try to increase the intensity and not miss a single gear change when the instructor ask's of it. I stick hard and fast to all my sprints and hill climbs. If my legs start to burn I simply close my eye's, regroup my thoughts and keep repeating in my head "this will make me stronger, this will make me stronger". And before I know it interval one is over and I have another one to look forward to. I love it.
So swim session is on for this afternoon. Looking forward to more hard sessions in the water - or maybe not. I am thinking it is going to hurt this afternoon. Oh well, suck it up princess .
I think you'll enjoy the HR training...wearing the strap takes some getting used to but no long.
ReplyDeleteI just wipe mine down with a wet nap or similar after use...
Here's something else. I get a lot of chafing in the area where the battery access pops off.
ReplyDeleteYou can try a little lub, like maybe bodyglide, but on long runs, I predict you will chafe.
By the way, remember, don't forgot to also use Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
if you want to improve using a little science, HR training wil get you there guaranteed! I have used it and made huge changes all around and it is easy. You have a lot of time before your A race and you could incorporate it into your training easily. Good luck!
ReplyDeletePatrick: Good idea. Will keep some antibacterial wipes in the car.
ReplyDeleteFlatout Jim: BodyGlide - check. Thanks for that. I was even thinking of maybe sticking a piece of soft material on the back too.
Skierz: thanks. I look forward to learning alot about my body and how it's coping during training.
I second the bodyglide, they have bodyglide for women too.
ReplyDeleteHRM training is a great source of training, I do not fully understand it, but it is something I am going to study in the off season