Today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Garmin unveiled its first heart rate monitor designed specifically for women. The Garmin HRM-Fit clips onto your sports bra, eliminating the need to wear a separate strap while you exercise.
A heart rate monitor worn on your chest gives more accurate and timely readings than a running watch, because it monitors electrical impulses from your heart rather than using light analysis to detect your pulse from your wrist. However, they're not always convenient, particularly if you wear a sports bra.
Most monitors are attached to an elastic strap that must be fitted around your ribs and make good contact with your skin. The monitor itself is usually fairly chunky and can't be worn comfortably underneath a bra, meaning you have to fasten the band just below it, where it's liable to slide down during high intensity workouts. Speaking from experience, it's a pain.
The HRM-Fit attaches to medium- and high-support sports bras without adding unwanted bulk, and gives you all the same training data you'd get from the more traditional HRM-Pro.
That includes real-time heart rate and performance data transmitted to compatible Garmin watches and Edge cycle computers, plus other compatible fitness equipment like treadmills and indoor exercise bikes. If your watch or bike computer is out of range, your workout data will be stored on the HRM-Fit until it can be transferred.
The HRM-Fit is a particularly good choice for runners, letting you see your pace and distance on your watch during indoor track and treadmill workouts, and providing running dynamics such as ground contact time, cadence, and stride length. Many Garmin watches can now measure these stats on their own, but not all, and the results may be more accurate from a device on your chest, which experiences a lot less movement than your wrist.
The HRM-Fit is available to buy now direct from Garmin for $149.99/$139.99.
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