Many of our Fitness students and fighters wear heart rate monitors (HRM’s) in our Muay Thai and Boot Camp classes.
WHY?
Heart rate monitors are incredibility useful in tracking different factors which can contribute to better training and faster results. Did you know that your resting heart rate can be one of the best indicators in determining your fitness level? (Take a look at Miguel Indurian’s stats under “Physical Attributes” here – quite impressive to say the least. His resting heart rate was 28 beats per min (bpm)!).
It is important to track stats and measure your progress if you want to stay motivated and advance in your conditioning and training. Many first time users of HRM’s become addicted to using them and find it enables them not only to track their progress, but to push themselves during class. Imagine you are doing a drill and you take a look at your HRM on a short break – it shows your heart rate at 145bpm but you know from previous experience your max heart rate is 170. For most people this is a motivator to push harder and reach your personal best. Conversely, it could also serve as a guide to pace yourself if you’re just starting out.
You’re also able to see how quickly your heart rate “recovers” or goes back down when you have pushed hard and then take a break. Recovery is another great indicator of fitness level, and another way to benchmark your progress.
WHAT MODEL TO GO WITH?
We have been using this model for about 4 years the Timex T5G971 It’s a bit older now so there may be better ones out there but we’ve battle tested this model and it is cheap and very durable. There are many models out there, some that get really fancy with features and come with the price tag to match. But, our recommendation would be to stick to something simple with the basic features, and a more moderate price tag. We know people who have purchased the $200 – $300 models and they are really not much better.
So, if you want to make your workouts more interesting and motivating, consider buying a heart rate monitor to help you stay motivated and track progress in conditioning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsrhiZjnURk
Kwest Kickboxing Muay Thai and Fitness Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada