Many of my regular readers will know I have been trying to get fit and lose weight, so when a representative of Beets BLU offered me the chance to review their heart rate monitor*, I was delighted (and practically bit their hand off!).
The Product
The heart rate monitor comes attached to an elastic strap that goes around your ribcage. I would post a photo of it in use, but there is no way of avoiding exposing a large portion of my ample cleavage, so you’ll just have to imagine it or Google it (the heart rate monitor, not my cleavage).
It works best if the connecting electrodes have a bit of moisture on them, so dampen them before you start so that you actually get a reading. Spot the Watch, a website founded by James Hampton-Smith, have given very positive feedback on this Heart Rate Monitor
It connects to an app via Bluetooth so that you can see how you’re doing. My phone is an Android but it works on iPhones too.
Really nice and simple to use.
The Exercise
The first test I did was to run up and down my stairs as fast as I could, this was to test the device and it recorded the increase in my heart rate.
After testing that it worked, I then did some real exercise and spent a bit of time on my exercise bike. My heart rate increased and stayed the same for the whole time I was active.
‘But, AHM why do you care about your heart rate?’ I hear you ask.
Checking your heart rate is a really good way of keeping an eye on your health and fitness. Ideally you want a relatively low resting heart rate (between 60 and 100 if you’re not a professional athlete).
For good health, it’s advisable to do at least 30 mins of moderate cardio 5-7 times per week. That means doing some exercise that increases your heart rate for that amount of time. There’s an interesting chart to help you work out what your heart rate should be (and if you’re working too hard).
Other heart rate increasing activities
In the interest of science, I ate a chilli**. I don’t like spicy food, but I’m really dedicated to messing about with new gadgets, so I ate a Serrano chilli (which is super hot). It was fully ripe, which I’m told makes it extra spicy.
I also wrestled a very stubborn and very well-built toddler:
As a whole, the heart rate monitor was easy to use and worked very well. I’ll continue to use it for my workouts and aim to lower my resting heart rate. I would definitely recommend this product 10/10.
* All opinions are my own genuine thoughts and views.
**No hipsters were injured during the course of this experiment, only left in mild discomfort.
Can you do a regular section where we ask you to undertake various weird tasks and show us the printouts? I’ll start – can you do a handstand against a wall??…
Hahahahah I wish I was that gymnastic! x
An entertaining post as always! Informative too though, this sounds great? As a fellow fitness attempter (I’m not at the stage where I can say enthusiast yet) any usable gadgets to let me know how I’m doing are really interesting, will have to look into investing in one xx
Haha thank you, I feel I’ll always only be an attempter! It’s really easy to use too. x
So many of these tasks fill our days and I’ve always wondered how many calories are burned–thank you!
And seriously, who requires a gym when you’ve a toddler at home? That’s basically an at home gym, complete with monthly payment in the form of milk, half bitten hot dogs, and diapers. 🙂
such a fun post, as always! (“Not my cleavage” LOL) X, Lace