How Does a Wrist Heart Rate Monitor Work?
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Basics
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Wrist heart rate monitors are the same as regular heart rate monitors except they don't have a chest strap. They act as a regular watch, have a stop watch function and include a calendar so you can keep track of your training days. This gives them the added dynamic of being used as an everyday watch. You can use the stop watch function to time running intervals. For example, you can start the stop watch at the beginning of your run. After a 10-minute warm-up, you can sprint for 30 seconds and then jog for 60 seconds. During these times, you can reference your stop watch to know where you are in your workout.
Weight Training
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The stop watch feature can also be utilized when doing weight training. This allows you to be very specific with your rest intervals. For example, if you're doing a circuit workout and you want to keep your rest intervals short--say, 45 seconds--you can start the stop watch after a set, stop it at 45 seconds and then do your next set.
Heart Rate
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The wrist monitor comes with a sensor on the top and on the bottom, above and below the digital screen. To get your heart rate, place your index finger on the bottom sensor and your middle finger on the top. Then hold steady until your heart rate appears on the screen. If you're doing high-intensity weight lifting and want to know your heart rate, you can check it during your rest periods. When you're running or doing other cardio exercise, it's hard to check your heart rate while you're moving. This is especially true if you're running at a higher intensity or if you're cycling. In these cases, stop for about 30 seconds to check your heart rate.
Advanced Features
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Some wrist heart rate monitors have more advanced features depending on what grade and model they are. One of these features is caloric expenditure. To use this, input information such as your age, weight and gender. The monitor uses these variables to estimate how many calories you burn during a workout. This is dependent on what intensity you're working at, not necessarily what activity you're doing.
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