Pedometer Heart Rate Monitor

If you're getting serious about exercise, you may be looking for a combination pedometer heart rate monitor gizmo that can tell you how far you're going and how many calories you're burning in addition to making sure you stay within your target heart rate zone. While this specific combination can be hard to find in regular stores, there are some products out there that fulfill these needs quite well.

Your reasons may be motivational, performance-oriented or simply health-based. It is much easier to stay with the program if you can immediately track your progress and see hard proof that your efforts are indeed paying off through lower resting heart rate and faster runs. More advanced athletes can use this data to gauge the effectiveness of their training strategies, and beginners or those with health conditions are safe to have a canary that warns them to back off if they exceed a safe level of exertion.

The problem is, you don't want to strap on two bulky systems when you go running. Fortunately, the new breed of advanced heart rate monitors -- that are indeed starting to look more like complete computerized fitness systems -- usually fulfills both functions admirably. Advanced models like the Polar RS800sd provides instant updates on your heart rate and comes with a built-in digital pedometer. Of course, you also get exact MPH readouts, the ability to track your exact route using GPS technology, get ascent/descent data to pinpoint the toughest uphills and many more bells and whistles you may or may not need.

The same goes for Garmin ForeRunner 405; you can challenge a virtual running partner, download your workout data to your computer, and much more. What these products and others like them have in common besides the combination of heart rate tracking and pedometer functionality is a steep price tag, often in the $300-500 range.

This brings us to the next area of consideration: How much of all this is filler that you may or may not actually use, kind of like all those mysterious ports collecting dust on the back of your DVD player? What do you really need when looking for a pedometer heart rate monitor-combination?

• Upper and lower limits: The ability to pre-set an upper and a lower heart rate limit allows you to keep your mind on the exercise rather than glance at your wrist all the time. Simply put, the upper limit gives you a warning when you're pushing yourself too hard, and the lower limit serves as a kick in the pants to prevent unintentional slacking.

• Distance: The upper-end gadgets are all GPS based now, meaning they get your exact position anywhere by triangulating a network of satellites orbiting earth. This is an extremely accurate system that can tell you your exact speed, route and other data, which can be great whenever you're outside the neighborhood park loop. On the downside, heavily forested and mountainous areas can be problematic, as the signals get jammed easily.

• Water and shock resistance: In a perfect world, there are no surprise downpours and no loose rocks to trip you up. In reality, however, you're engaging in an outdoor activity which comes with certain risks. Odds are you'll get your expensive gizmo soaked or banged up at least a couple times over the years. Save yourself the grief by spending a few bucks more on something that can be rinsed off and used rather than have to buy an entirely new system.

Once you have these three fundamentals fulfilled, take your pick at the best deal you can find. Good luck!

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