will pick up heart rates from all the transmitters which are in range. So if you run in company, keep your distance!Outside interferenceGroup training isn’t the only potential hazard. Overhead power cables will disrupt your heart rate readings, as will any

your progress very safely as part of your routine. It’s easiest on a training course you use regularly, and though you could assess yourself each time you’re there, it’s best to do it every three or four weeks.Choose a heart rate that will keep you

on your first few runs back, to give them a chance to strengthen up. Your resting heart rate may have risen, and your pace for each of your training heart rate zones will almost certainly have dropped. You should pay attention to what your HRM tells you

Getty ImagesThe conundrum: push yourself too hard and run yourself into the ground. Don’t push yourself hard enough and never improve. The answer: start listening to your heart, not your head, by using a heart rate monitor (HRM). What does a HRM do?Training

Whatever type of runner you are, you should give serious consideration to investing in a heart rate monitor. From as little as £40 you can add a whole new dimension to your training. Strap on a heart rate monitor and you’ll never run too quickly

Dr George Parrott. "Heart rate monitors, however, are far more precise."So, no matter what type of runner you are – beginner, intermediate or advanced – a heart rate monitor will help you train more effectively.Tips for BeginnersNovice runners

is actually necessary to improve your performance. And unfortunately, elite and amateur competitors alike often believe that to get better, they have to train more and harder.The answer? The correct use of a heart rate monitor (or HRM for short) in your

detailed training diary. By downloading all of your sessions and logging other information such as conditions, how you feel, resting heart rates, bodyweight, sleep patterns and so on, you can establish an extremely useful data bank. This not only helps you

, stopwatch, interval timer and a recovery mode that allows you to test your fitness. It can record up to 30 laps (or separate workouts), and the display can be changed as you train to increase the prominence of either the heart-rate or the time display – a

Heart-rate monitors vary hugely in price and functionality. For less than £20 you can pick up an HRM that simply measures your pulse, while parting with £150+ will give you a monitor that will set training zones for you, tell you how many calories