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

to sit too low (the straps aren’t adjustable) so the signal can take a while to settle down. Contact www.polar-uk.com; 01926 816 177; www.triumph-international.co.uk, 01793 720 232 Timex Ironman Ladies 30 Lap HRM – £80This is not really a women’s heart

waymark routes so you don’t become lost; you can program and store interval sessions on the watch; store 1,000 laps worth of data; and download your runs to your PC and overlay them on mapping websites. The HRM information can be downloaded onto your PC

from total time, lap time, HR or time of day.Contact: 0800 056 1640; www.nike.comReebok Precision Trainer £129.99Displays both HR in beats per minute and as a percentage of maximum HR.Press a single button while running and watch scans through maximum

when you start seeing the results of better fitness and faster times.How does an HRM work? If you haven’t used one before having a basic understanding of how a heart rate monitor works will help you to get the best out of yours. There are two parts

of useful features including a 200-lap memory, three target zones and detailed personal inputs such as VO2max and Body Mass Index (BMI). The chest strap chafes mildly but no more so than other HRMs. The regular functions such as the stop-watch and count

UAN: 178 Article type:-->It’s a common scenario. “I trained harder for this one than I ever have before,” says the disbelieving runner, head bowed after a disappointing race. The reason? Quite simply, your body will let you train harder than

UAN:190 Article type:ADD PIC OF GRAPHS-->The ultimate accessories in the world of heart rate monitoring are the models that can download their data onto a personal computer. They vary between companies, but most models store the data in the watch

. She completed her 2004 marathon, before she'd trained with an HRM, in 4:05. One year later she'd improved to 3:47, now boasts a best of 3:31 and is aiming to run under 3:15 at the Abingdon Marathon in Oxfordshire this October. "I've graduated from base

with an HRM, in 4:05. One year later she'd improved to 3:47, now boasts a best of 3:31 and is aiming to run under 3:15 at the Abingdon Marathon in Oxfordshire this October. "I've graduated from base training and now know all the heart rates I need to train