Not such a long time ago, heart rate monitor was the equipment which belonged to a doctor's office or a sick room. Now, it is a necessary equipment for any serious athletic training. It is also a fashionable accessory for yuppie joggers. Heart rate monitors come in all sizes and shapes, and, as I have discovered, as part of sport clothes. When my doctor ordered exercising for my ailing heart, my sister bought me a NuMetrex Sports Bra with Polar FSI and WearLink Transmitter heart monitor.
Not only that this garment looks fantastic and really makes me eager to go jogging, but it easily measures my heart rate and helps me exercise optimally. Now I am not so critical of fashionable joggers, since I look like one of them.
The components of this heart monitoring system are actually sold separately and consist of a basic heart rate monitor, incorporated in a watch, a receiver, and a 'sensitive' sports bra.
The bra is made of a fabric with special sensors, which are knit into the fabric. The sensors in the textile are in constant contact with the body. They sense person's heart rate and send the data to a small transmitter. The transmitter is located in a pocket in the front of the bra. It receives the heart rate data and transmits it to a special watch, which is also a heart rate monitor. The watch instantly shows the heart rate on the dial. There are no wires at all, the whole system is really high tech.
The watch looks like oversize digital watch, and in fact does show time as well. It has large digits and one button for accessing different features. It shows real heart rate, exercise time and average heart rate. It also has a stopwatch. It can be set with visual and sound alarms.
My doctor said that I should exercise at 'moderate intensity' (50-70 percent of maximum heart rate) at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. With my new sports bra system, I can easily monitor my heart and make sure I do not overdo it (or under-do it, which is much more likely.)
Nice gift, very useful too, and it sells for $99 at Numetrex website.