Heart Monitors for healthier exercise
Listen to this articleFour years ago I got my first heart rate monitor watch. I used it during all my sporting activities and it really helped me figure out how I was achieving my best fitness. Two years ago I traded the well worn watch in for a FitBit, but after just six months I lost interest in that because it did not give me heart rate tracking, and I became obsessed with calorie counting rather than my fitness levels.
It’s been a while since I’ve worn anything during my fitness regimen until I came across the Dakota Heart Rate Monitor. I’d been looking for something that would bring me back on track and help me reach the peak of fitness again.
Now, I’m one of those people who cannot set electrical or digital things up — TVs, DVD players, you name it, it becomes my husband’s turn to sort it out because I am not especially good at working out the instructions. I got half way with the Dakota, but had to call on said hubby to come and do the rest. My advice on these instructions is TAKE IT SLOWLY because when you get there it’s worth it!
Once it was set up, I admired my sporty styled black and orange (the other color is on-trend black and yellow) watch on my wrist and took it to work. The digits on the screen are really easy to read so no peering and squinting required. It has a soft, waterproof rubber sports band which is 100m water resistant. If I swam deep, it would be great!
The watch measures your pulse and records your heart rate and lap record just by using your finger to access it. The finger-touch ECG measures your pulse and you can save your lap time if you’re into running. It works for me!
In exercise mode it can also measure cumulative calorie consumption and fat burned during your workouts, so I get the benefit that the FitBit did not offer me.
I tailored the watch with my personal information (age, gender, weight, height, target calorie consumption, resting heart rate and upper heart rate). I’m very impressed that it can do all this. That’s a lot of storage info! It also has dual time features, Moonglow EL light, stopwatch, countdown timer, hourly chima and lap memory.
I’d rate the Dakota over a FitBit anytime. The watch is a nice bit of added bling for the gym or your training and it’s a great tool to help athletes find their exercise hot spot, where the body is being pushed just hard enough.
You can buy the Dakota watch on the Dakota site or via Amazon.The one I used retails at $49.95.
Claire Bolden McGill is a British expat living in Maryland, which means she still drinks tea, but now has it with a corn muffin instead of a crumpet. Coming from a full- time job as a communications and PR manager in the UK, Claire and her family made the move the States in August 2012 and haven’t looked back since. Claire is a fitness instructor and blogger. She blogs about fitness and what it’s like to be a Brit in the USA, as well as trying to find time to write her novel and short stories, make lists about things she should do like clean the house and bake things, and be an utterly doting wife and mother. @ukhousewifeusa