Get a Heart Rate Monitor

The Armour39 HR Monitor is currently the best deal
(at leastuntil Friday, October 31 2014)!

I was planning on posting this week about the importance of understanding your energy zones and why you would want to train in each zone for the different goals that you have. That planned changed when last week's blog post on finding your threshold and/or max heart rate generated a few questions regarding the best heart rate monitors for athletes. Here are a few of the suggestions I've been giving to my coaching clients who don't yet have heart rate monitors.

Armour39

The best deal you can get right now is on the Under Armour39 HR monitor. It retails for $99, but you can get it through October 31, 2014 for only $29 with the code MMRSAVE70. This monitor will sync directly to you iPhone or Android with the Map My Fitness app. From there, you can export workouts into TrainingPeaks, Strava, My Fitness Pal, or a number of other popular tracking tools (more on how to do that in a future blog post). This is a killer deal and if you're even remotely considering using a HR monitor to improve your fitness, you need to do this NOW!

Click Here to Order!

Disclaimer: I love Suunto!

Other Options

Watches
I'll admit, I haven't actually used the Armour39, but I did just buy one! What do I use now? My current watch is a Sunnto Ambit and I absolutely love it! So why aren't I recommending you go out and buy this watch, or the Ambit2 or Ambit3? Well;

1. They are spendy if you're not super serious about training
2. The Apple watch is going to completely transform the world of smart watches. No one really knows what impact it will have on the future of fitness watches but there is a lot of potential and if you're going to drop some mad cash, the Apple watch might end up being a better option.

Heart Rate Straps (Bluetooth)

I've recommended the Under Armour heart rate strap above solely because of the amazing price. I have not ideal how well it will work, or if it will sync with Suunto's app. I do know that it will work with My Fitness Pal (which means it can be set up to automatically sync to TrainingPeaks as well). If I were going to simply by a bluetooth heart rate strap to use with my phone, and the Armour39 wasn't on sale, I'd grab Suunto's new strap with is around $90.

Hope some of these suggestions help! Don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions on what will work best for you and your goals!