- A heart rate monitor works by reading, or picking up, electrical signals generated by a person's beating heart. The heart muscle works by electrical stimulation; every beat, or contraction, is generated by an electrical impulse.
- Heart rate monitors relay electrical impulses to the receiver. The heart rate transmitter is normally attached to a thin belt and is worn around a person's chest. The transmitter is held firmly against a person's skin, and every heartbeat is picked up and relayed to the heart rate receiver.
- The receiver, which is normally worn around the wrist and connected to the transmitter by wires or by a wireless system, reads the incoming electrical impulses sent from the transmitter and ascribes numbers to each beat. These numbers, which represent the heart rate, are displayed prominently on the receiver face.
