GETTY IMAGESMonitoring your heart rate during training sessions has two main uses: observation and control. Observation is the more straightforward of the two, and you can do it whether your heart rate monitor (HRM) is an entry-level unit

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

, because it's hard to raise your heart rate early on in a session using reps of just a minute, your readings would be quite low to start with. As a result, aiming to reach, say, 170 for each rep, you would probably start working too hard too early

When you go on holiday, you'll no doubt want to take your training with you. After all, you are off to enjoy yourself. However, this will often mean running in conditions that can affect your heart rate quite dramatically, both at rest

GETTY IMAGESIf you're the proud owner of a new heart rate monitor, you’ll doubtless be wondering just how high you can make it go. And it wouldnt be a bad idea. Coaches and athletes often like to establish a maximal heart rate (or MHR) in order

It would seem natural that your heart rate monitor should be your greatest ally when it comes to race day – but as ever, the reasoning is not that simple. While you can use your experience from previous competitions to your advantage, you'll find

supply, which leads to an accumulation of lactate and rapid fatigue: go too easy and you may not be training hard enough to gain the maximum benefit to your aerobic capacity. In short, there must be an element of control, which is where your heart rate

session. The problem with this is that you end up racing against yourself and running too hard to get consistent results.You might not be surprised to find that your heart rate monitor is the answer. If you use it to control the work you do, you can assess

GETTY IMAGESCross-training can be quite an education for an HRM user. You've probably spent time fine-tuning ideal heart rate bands for your various running sessions, to the point where keeping to them is almost second nature. But when you climb

Whenever you get a new piece of electrical equipment, the temptation is to rip off the packaging and get stuck in straight away, so the following advice may sound boring. Nevertheless, when you unpack your heart rate monitor (or HRM for short