Sports heart monitor

[Kuikentje]

I've just joined a gym in order to keep up with my twice-weekly spin class. My old class was fine and I'd been going there for three years, but the guy had changed the times and it wasn't really convenient for me. The gym is nearer home and for the same price per month I'm getting more flexibility of times and more variety of activities, should I want them.

The bikes are fab, very much nearer the top of the range, I think, easier to pedal yet I'm working much harder. So I've sent for one of those wristwatch style heart monitors just to see how hard I actually am working. They are supposed to estimate your calorie consumption as well but I'm not too fussed about that - I know you have to run about a thousand miles to work off a bar of chocolate so I'm not going to pay much attention to that - but it will be interesting to see if my heart rate does improve over time.

I am still wearing the same old top and trackies that I've been wearing for the last three years, though, so not getting too carried away.

[fabindia]

I have a fancy watch I use when out running that actually tracks my route, calculates calories, etc. It also comes with a heart rate monitor that straps round the chest and can then display beats per minutes on the watch as I run.

But actually, you don't really need all of that. A good measure of cardio fitness is resting heart rate. So as you continue to exercise you should find that your resting heart comes down.