When you exercise, your heart starts beating faster because it has to meet the muscle's need for blood and oxygen. The intensity of training is thus commensurate with the speed of the heart.

The heart rate or heart rate, indicates how hard training is for the body. When you exercise, your heart starts beating faster because it has to meet the muscle's need for blood and oxygen. The intensity of training is thus commensurate with the speed of the heart.

Why is it important to monitor my heart rate?

By monitoring your heart rate, you can check that you have reached the intensity necessary to burn fat and calories. Also, proper training improves heart strength. Lastly, monitoring your heart rate helps you figure out how much energy you are consuming.

If your heart rate during training is too slow, exercise will not have enough, or even have any beneficial effect. On the other hand, if your heart rate is too fast during training, you will get tired quickly, which will again reduce your training results and extend your recovery time afterwards. Frequent side effects of too intense training are severe muscle inflammation, and in addition, such workouts can be dangerous. So, if you are planning to engage in a more strenuous type of training, we recommend that you consult your doctor first.

How is the target heart rate determined?

To know when to exercise properly, or rather - within the target heart rate, we need a device called a heart rate monitor (known as a heart rate monitor). This device measures the heart rate and motivates us to exercise in a controlled manner according to the target pulse rate, ie. in the zone that best suits the body. A lot of fitness devices have built-in meters that, among other things, register the pulse of the user, but you can also buy this device separately, at sports equipment stores.

Where to put a heart rate monitor?

A classic pulse rate monitor usually consists of a laptop with a belt that we put on the chest at heart rate, and a receiver - a clock, which shows the heart rate values. Of course, some monitors also measure the pulse across the handles of the devices, or look like a wristwatch.

In any case, this way we can reliably monitor what is happening in our body during and after training. At the same time, the device helps us plan further physical activities and exercises according to the duration of the training and the level of effort.