heart rate monitor

If you have a smart phone, consider the Zephyr. It's a Bluetooth HRM that communicates with your Android phone via the Endomondo app. I paid $75 for the Zephyr on Amazon. You can download the Endomondo app for free, although I would recommend breaking the bank and paying $2 for the Pro version.

I used to have an iPod attached to one arm and a dedicated HRM strapped to the other. And when cycling, I'd also have a GPS on my bike. I looked like a science experiment. With the Zephyr, everything is combined, contained and controlled with my phone.

Endomondo Pro, coupled with the Zephyr HRM, is easily the most effective (results and cost) training tool I've ever used. And it's a very nice bonus that MFP and Endomondo share data. All of my workout calorie burns are automatically uploaded to MFP which is very convenient. Endomondo utilizes the phone's GPS capabilities to track all workouts. In addition to your heart rate, you can track your speed, lap times, elevations changes, calories burned, steps taken (yes, it has a pedometer), pace and more. And all of this data is displayed in big, beautiful, living color on your phone's screen. A very nice upgrade over the tiny displays on dedicated HRMs.

The latest release of Endomondo has greatly expanded the audio coaching capabilities of the app. You can now customize the app to provide exactly the information you would like to hear as you workout. It will tell you your heart rate, speed, pace, calories burned, elapsed time, etc. at whatever intervals you choose. This is very handy for me because my primary cardio in the winter is cross country skiing, and my arms are heavily involved in each workout. It's very nice to have all the vital information spoken in my headphones. I never have to stop my arm swing to see my heart rate or other data.

All of your workout data is maintained in history files on your phone, and it's also automatically uploaded to the Endomondo website where you can analyze your workouts in much greater depth. Unfortunately, Endomondo recently locked out some of the analytical features on the free version of the website application, forcing you to buy a monthly subscription to get the full suite of tools. I use the paid version because I'm an analytical geek who scrutinizes every workout to find clues for ways to improve my speed, fitness, etc.

This combination of tools has been key in helping me dramatically improve fitness markers such as resting heart rate, recovery heart rate, lactate threshold, blood pressure, etc. I can't imagine every going back to a dedicated HRM.