Watching your body develop is an important factor that can keep you on track towards a healthy body. One of the best ways by which you can do so is by using heart rate monitors. And because of this, the popularity of heart rate monitors is on the rise. Despite all this, swimmers were always at a disadvantage because most of the fitness equipment and health monitors are designed to work in land and are not waterproof.
But thinking about it, swimming is one of the best fitness activities that engage your complete body but doesn’t cause any negative impact on it. Even though the number of products is far less compared to the non-waterproofed HRMs we are now seeing HRMs specifically designed for swimmers. The number of options is less but still, there are chances of you buying the wrong product if you are ignorant about their usability.
To help you out our experts have reviewed most of the HRMs to help you find the best HRMs for swimmers. You might have at least heard about the most popular ones like the Apple Watch Series 2 or the Garmin Vivoactive HR. When you are done with the article, you will have a pretty good idea on what they are. We will be covering everything we know about the waterproof heart monitors in this article.
But before getting to know about the best heart rate monitors you need to know what other options are available for you. This way you will know why the heart rate monitors we suggest are standing out of the crowd. First of all, the health monitoring segment is crowded with many heart rate monitors claiming to be suitable for everyone and at all times but the reality is that these fitness trackers and smartwatches fail to work when under water. There are many reasons that contribute to this inability and we will look on them now.
Continue reading the article below and understand what you need to take care of while using the heart rate monitors when under water. If you only need to know the best heart rate monitors and don’t want to get into the details, then you can go on and choose the best heart rate monitor from the Top 3 HRM for Swimmers 2021 listed below by our experts.
Top 3 Heart Rate Monitors for Swimmers 2021
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Need for Heart rate Monitoring for Swimmers
Swimming may not be the first exercise that comes into your mind when you think of starting workouts. But it is one of the best workouts any man can do. Unlike the other exercises which require a piece of equipment to help you do the exercise efficiently swimming only requires your skill and water. It provides a full body workout and doesn’t cause any impact on your joints.
All of these make it a risk-free and efficient workout. Since no other equipment is used during swimming it is hard to monitor your health statistics while working out. Getting a swimming heart rate monitor will become beneficial in a lot of ways for you.
1. Increased metabolism: If you are a fitness expert or an enthusiast then you will already know this. Swimming is a very good cardio exercise. Doing cardio is very beneficial in improving your overall body health. The main reason for this is the accelerated metabolism in your body. This literally means increased burning of calories and thus reducing the amount of fat in your body.
So, if you are planning to get a leaner body then swimming is the best choice. Almost everyone planning to reduce their body weight will be having a fitness goal to achieve and for them knowing the number calorie burn will be of good use. If you have the best heart rate monitor while swimming at your disposal then this will be an easy task.
2. ‘Feel good’ hormones production: Most of the people are ignorant about this fact. But you will notice that the ones who have swimming as a habit are often found to be happier than the people who don’t. And this is not by accident. When you swim intensely, your body produces hormones that can boost your mood. And these hormones will make you feel happy.
When you are filled with happiness, you will feel your day to be a lot positive and making your life better for the entire day. This might even be hard to believe but swimmers will be having a positive view towards their life and this is caused by their exercise. So, if anyone wants to make them happier, learn to swim and start swimming to your heart’s content. It will fill your heart with happiness and your body with strength.
3. Improved heart health: We have many organs in our body and what keeps it all alive is the blood flowing through them. And it is the heart that does the job for you. So, keeping it healthy literally means prolonging your life and keeping your whole body healthy. The heart is made up of muscles and like every muscle, it needs proper maintenance. The better you serve the better it will serve you back. Doing exercises regularly for your heart is key towards building a healthy heart.
From what we have seen until now is that swimming is an exercise that contributes a lot towards heart health. So, monitoring your heart rate with the best heart rate monitor during swimming can be a boon when you need to check out how well you are working out.
The benefits of training with a waterproof heart rate monitor are legit:
1. Accurate Measurement: When you enter the fitness world, you will find two different kinds of people. One group always complaining about the hard work they are putting into workouts but never see any result and another group who has a well-built body but stays silent during the workouts. The problem in here is that people fail to do the smart work and keep on lying to themselves that they are working hard.
Merely doing workouts tirelessly for a while then skipping a few days won’t get you anywhere. What you want is a fitness goal and a planned approach towards getting there. To help you do these, health monitors can take a major role. In the case of swimmers, getting the best heart rate monitor will be of great use to know how their body responds to the workouts.
This will help you to manage your workouts accordingly and get better results out of them. Moreover, it is a bit hard to identify the kind of effort you are actually making when you are swimming. This kind of wireless monitors will give you a factual measurement to understand your workouts well.
2. Helps you stick to your workout plan: People usually think a health monitor is a luxury during workouts. But that is a wrong notion. You might think you know your body well and the exercises you do are enough. But it is not entirely true. Everybody has a different kind of body and it responds differently to workouts. And in some cases, you may not even be pushing yourself at all during workouts.
This is a big problem if you are planning to develop your body. Some kind of measurement regarding your body healthy is vital to know where you stand with your workouts. This is not just a need to prevent you from underperforming during the workout but to make sure that you are not going over the limit with your body. It can help you develop your body in the safe zone without pushing you into injuring yourself.
There are instances where you need to keep your heart rate low. For example, during recoveries, you shouldn’t push your heart much and you may not be able to understand this without using a heart rate monitor. A good heart rate monitor will help you stay in the right right workout pace.
3. Motivation to stay on track: One of the reasons why you must get a heart rate monitor while swimming is that it is the only option available for you to monitor your workout potential when you are underwater. Above all that it is about the motivation, you get when you see the progress you make. It is really hard to stay motivated until you reach your goal and we have seen many people dropping off their workouts schedule halfway because it really takes time for the workouts to reflect on your body.
And the fancy thing is it will take a lot more time for you to even notice the changes so if you have heart rate monitor that shows you how much you improve daily you will get the positive vibe to workouts more. Moreover, understanding your limits and pushing them gradually will give you enough confidence to take up difficult milestones. For example, when you notice yourself swimming at a great speed with lower heart rate then you will feel a lot of content with the achievement you are making with your body. And it helps you stay on track.
Buying Guide to Select the Best Heart Rate Monitors for Swimmers
There is a common notion that the purpose of fitness trackers is to motivate you to workout more. It is true but that is not the whole story. It can help you take your body fitness to the next level if you use it well. The statistics you get with heart rate monitors are key figures regarding your health. If you educate yourself well, these figures will start making more sense to you. Unlike you think your knowledge regarding the potential of your body is very minimum.
1. Accurate Reading: A scientific calculation will help you get more awareness and with this, you will be able to modify your workout schedules based on your capacity. Only a planned workout can help you achieve a well-built body and healthy lifestyle and heart rate monitors can help you in this matter. Mere running for random hours and lifting weights randomly will get you nowhere.
2. Choose the one as per your Fitness needs: Like we always say no man is created equal. They might look similar but people have different physiques and different fitness needs. So, getting a single product that suits everyone is just a myth. To reap maximum benefits out of your fitness product it has to stick to your fitness needs. Even the best fitness tracker for swimming works the same way.
We all know that everybody is not looking at the fitness tracker in the same way. People want to get different benefits out of them. So, what we are trying to do is help you analyze your fitness needs and find the best heart rate monitor for you.
3. Try to understand the features well: To make it easier for you, we will help you understand the particular features of each of the heart rate monitor so that you will find it easy to make a decision. Now we are focusing on swimming but we know swimmers won’t just stop there. They will be engaging in different workouts so take the needs on those categories too into your consideration to get the best value out of it.
4. Get a waterproof HRM: First of all, understand that you need something that doesn’t get damaged when used with water. With this itself, the options available for you will narrow down. But there are variations in this category too. Basically, there are two types – waterproofed heart rate monitors and water resistant ones.
From all the units we have reviewed and the experience from the people who have actually used the product we would recommend you to get the best waterproof heart rate monitor for swimming. This doesn’t in any way mean that water resistant heart rate monitors are bad. They will be just fine if you re planning to use it for light swims in a pool. But make sure that the water resistant capacity which is measured by ATM is high.
5. Get the HRM with good water resistance: If you have a higher rating, then your device can be expected to withstand that much pressure and stay protected. Make sure that you get a heart rate monitor that is having a water resistant capacity of at least 1 ATM or we could say it must be resistant to water attacks up to 50 meters.
This is a good standard to keep during your purchase. It will be better if the fitness tracker that you get to come with stroke counters. This is somewhat similar to the step counting on the ground.
6. Consider the depth rating of the HRM: If you are just into swimming, then we expect you to only swim in your pool. Then most of the waterproofed heart rate monitors are going to be fine for you. But if you are an expert, we do expect you to swim at all places in deep waters too. So, you need to consider your expertise when you are checking out the fitness trackers.
With the increase in the depth, you are planning to swim; more pressure will be exerted on the seals that are preventing water from getting inside your fitness tracker. If they are not qualified to be taken into high-pressure areas, then they will get damaged. So, check out the depth rating of your fitness tracker and match it up with your needs.
Most of the fitness tracker we have reviewed had a waterproofing rating of 5 ATM which technically means that you can swim down up to a depth of 50 meters. There are other varieties which you can take to a depth of 30 meters with 3 ATM. rating. So, use this and find out the best version needed for your purpose. If you are into diving, then surely make the rating go really high otherwise you will seriously regret your decision on trying to settle for a lower rated device.
What Your Goals Are?
We say this in every one of our articles. Fix your fitness goals before anything. You can’t simply think of getting somewhere without fixing the destination. It is a short time work but having a clear goal and a clear strategy will remove any doubts away from your life. You won’t feel confused when you go out buying a fitness product because you exactly know what you need out of them. In the same way, having your fitness goal fixed will help you choose the right tracker you need.
For example, if you plan on reviewing your fitness data over a long period and analyze your improvement, then what you need is a fitness tracker that shows you your body statistics stored after many workouts. In some other cases like when you swim you may need to understand your laps while swimming and then you need a life of the data with a clear display that is perfectly viewable underwater.
A screen only becomes a necessity if you want to view the data while working out. If you are a person who only views this data after all the workouts, then you may choose a fitness tracker that connects to your smartphone or another smart device that can help see the data. A screenless heart rate monitor will be much cheaper than the screened models.
Swim-centric you want your device to be
There are many categories of swimmers. How to identify yourself is important to choosing the right equipment. If you are a person who engages in many workouts and swimming is just another hobby, then you may not need to select the best heart rate monitor for the swimmers. But find something that is useful in all your workouts. If you call yourself a dedicated swimmer then you really need something designed specifically for the swimmers.
And this is not just about the waterproofing we are talking about. If the fitness tracker is designed for swimmers, then they will be having special features to support your swimming activities like they will include multiple exercise activities that you can be performed only in the water. Samsung gear sport and Apple Watch Series 3 are two popular fitness trackers in the fitness world right now.
They both have tie-ups with other fitness brands to help you achieve your fitness goals. For example, Samsung gear Sport works parallel with Speedo while Apple Watch series 3 works together with Fitbit Versa. With this kind of partnership, you will the feature of monitoring your swims and exercise through there fitness apps. The advantage of getting the best fitness tracker is all about getting the best fitness assistance.
We know it is a daunting task to find the best fitness tracker. To make the job easier for you, we have collected the best fitness trackers available in the market at the moment. If you need a ready-made answer, then you can choose from them. But if you want to know more then continue reading the article.
Read out the Features of Heart Rate Monitors with Swimmers
1. Comfort: Fitness trackers are supposed to be there with you at all times. That is the only way by which it can track your health. Since it is going to stay with you for a long period, you must ensure that you are comfortable wearing them.
If you find yourself irritated after using it for a while, then don’t buy the product because there is no other way around. If you don’t wear it then you will waste your money. So, what you should do is go and check out every single one of the fitness tracker.
2. GPS: Having a GPS will not seem like an attractive feature initially but it is really useful for tracking the locations that you are covering during your workouts. There are apps that can map the location where you traveled in your workouts which is quite interesting for some people.
3. Usability: We don’t know how much you are into technology but you should be well aware of your knowledge when you buy a smart fitness tracker. Most of them are simple enough to use but the problem is if you can’t navigate and use all the features your money gets wasted. If you find yourself ignorant then it will be better for you to stick towards basic fitness trackers that just show the results. This is especially true for the older generation who are not much used to the smartphones and devices of this age.
4. Battery backup: Fitness trackers are supposed to be attached to your body for a long while. Because of this, we do expect them to stay alive until the end of the day. So, you must have a good battery backup on the fitness tracker. If they get switched off while you haven’t finished working out then it will not be giving you the complete data. Just avoid them and choose the best fitness tracker with good battery back up.
5. Smartphone compatibility: This is the smart age and we want each of the equipment to be smart enough to interact with us properly. Most of the smart devices that we see now achieve this level of interactivity by the compatibility with our daily driver which is the smartphones. If your fitness tracker can pair well with our smartphones there are many apps that can utilize the data from the tracker and can interpret it in a different manner so that you can take better use of it. This will give you a better understanding of what every detail means.
6. WiFi: Having a Wi-Fi connection too is about making your device smarter. If you can get your fitness tracker to connect to the internet or to your smartphone then you will able to get more data out of the tracking. And there are fitness trackers that let you control your smartphone using the tracker. This will be helpful if you want to leave your phone away while working out and not miss any important information.
This is not the end of the features a fitness tracker can offer. There are many people who want the fitness tracker to be their fashion statement. For them, the trackers require customization. And there are fitness trackers available with the ability to change the dials, straps and which comes in different colors and materials.
In the same manner, there are people who would want the data to be displayed on their watch and people who simply want a screen less fitness tracker which can send the data to their smartphone. All these things will affect the pricing and the appeal of the device to choose the best fitness tracker that fits your interests and wallet. There are many questions usually raised regarding the fitness trackers and we thought it will be good to address them here so that most of your doubts will be sorted out just here.
1. How do you prefer a hand based fitness tracker over the chest based one?
There are people who hate the chest strap based heart rate monitors because of the way that you have to use to wear them. For people like that, it will be better to choose a heart rate monitor that has optical heart rate reading sensor. This way these heart rate monitors remain strapless. This kind of optical heart rate reading is found in wrist-based heart rate monitors.
They use optical signals to measure your pulse and record the reading. This is much more comfortable than the strap based ones. But the accuracy might vary in this type based on the way you wear them.
2. Are you planning to connect your fitness tracker with a smartphone?
In this advanced era of technology, any device that cannot connect to your smartphone doesn’t qualify to be called smart at all. We believe that most of the fitness tracker users own a smartphone. So having your fitness tracker connect to it will naturally be your wish.
And if you are one of them make sure that the fitness tracker comes attached with Bluetooth connectivity or Wi-Fi connectivity to attach to your smartphone. This will help you monitor your health statistics using your smartphone and can connect out with advanced fitness apps.
3. Do you plan to record your health statistics and analyze them frequently?
In some of the cases like when you swim you will need to analyze your performance using your fitness tracker itself without using your smartphone. For people like that, you will need to have an interactive display that clearly shows your health statistics.
4. An accelerometer is an optional add on ina heart rate monitor. Do you need them?
The accelerometer is a sensor that can track your ground movements. It can help you find how much you have walked or moved during the workouts. This is quite useful if you are working out on the treadmill or when you are an athlete. If you want this feature, then you will need to get a heart rate monitor that comes with accelerometer installed into it. The accelerometer is capable of measuring your vertical oscillation, ground contact time and running cadence.
5. Do you wish to use your heart rate monitors with bike and wrist units?
If you want to pair your heart rate monitors with your cycling units then there are specific options for you. They will need to have a Bluetooth Smart or ANT+ connectivity in order to achieve this.
6. Are you a swimmer who wants to monitor health data while swimming?
If you are a dedicated swimmer then you will need something that is specifically designed for you to get the maximum benefit out of it. Not all the heart rate monitors can measure your heart rate while swimming and most of them are not waterproof. Simple devices that we have seen will check your heartbeat reading and then send it to your smartphone or smart device for analysis once your swimming is done.
Most of the time you will be getting a graph that is made between your heart rate and the time you used for swimming. There are variants that will monitor your heart shows it live on their screen but the price may vary with that.
Follow the Crucial Aspects While Working Out
Merely getting a piece of equipment is not enough to get the best out of it. Once you find the best fitness tracker for swimming or for your specific need then you have to follow certain things while working out. If you have been into fitness workouts for a while, then you must already know the type of fitness zones you need to include in your workouts. To get the best out of your body around 60% of your total workout has to be dedicated to the aerobic zone for maximum development.
After this, athlete or anyone focused on the body, development must contribute around 25 or 30 percent of their workout timings towards the development of the anaerobic system. And there is the “max zone” where you put your body at its maximum level and it has to be within around 10 or 15 per cent of your total workout every week. This helps you develop your pace if you are an athlete. And we are warning you to never include consecutive “max zone” workouts twice without a gap of 48 hours.
The things that we mentioned above has to be taken seriously. A person being into fitness must understand that the main difference between a person who workout and who doesn’t is that every work put by a fitness expert is planned and disciplined to get the maximum benefit for the body. Random exercises at random times won’t be of any use for you. What we have suggested must be followed in a seasonal manner.
For example, when you begin working out you don’t really have to follow this method. Instead, start with dedicating 100 % of your time and effort into aerobic workouts. This will help you build your endurance level. When the endurance capacity of your body is well-built, you must take the next step. Start with the anaerobic workouts with your heart rate reaching a maximum level of 80 or 90 percent.
When you do this your body will start to mature itself to handle more straining workouts. These anaerobic workout zones will soon reach its completion when you start to feel comfortable at reaching your hearts complete potential. And be careful when you reach this point. When your heart rate has reached almost 100 percent, your body will be completely worn out. So don’t think of working out for a longer period and make sure that you leave a good amount of time for your body to recover.
The Importance of disciplined workouts
As we said earlier disciplined workouts are necessary to attain maximum results. It is a common scene among swimmers or any other kind of fitness practitioners to be either too hard working or be too lazy. Both these are wrong if you plan to develop your health. What you need is a planned strategy. Training too hard for a long period of training slowly for a long period won’t get you anywhere near a fit body.
First of all, fix your fitness goal so that you may understand what you need to do in order to reach that goal. Schedule your workouts. Allot a proper timing that is comfortable for you to follow every day so that you don’t ever miss your workouts. Sometimes people do dumb things like trying to do a max hour workout after tiring themselves with high-intensity training on the past days.
This both stupid and dangerous. You must always give enough time for your body to recover from the hard labor you are subjecting it to. Otherwise, you will end up injuring yourself. With a planned workout, your performance will improve gradually without affecting your overall health.
Conclusion
All we know about fitness trackers is included in this article. So, we hope most of your doubts must be cleared by now. Always remember that your primary goal of buying this fitness tracker is monitoring your health. Whatever sacrifices you make don’t sacrifice on the accuracy of measurement. Since you are a swimmer make sure that the waterproofing available with it is enough for the kind of swimming you engage yourself in.
To make your swimming interesting, it will be always better for you to have the tracker measure your laps, lap length and the period taken for swimming. Like we told earlier if you are a hardcore swimmer, select the ones that are specifically designed for you. But if you only swim at times then it will be better to choose fitness tracker that is compatible with multiple workouts.
Swimming is one of the best activities you could do in order to maintain your health. There are people who just swim for pleasure. People like that may not need a highly sophisticated fitness tracker to monitor their health. For them, a simple fitness tracker will be enough to calculate their health while swimming. They just need the tracker to be comfortable, easy to use and cheap. Whatever your need is make sure to follow our guide and come into a proper conclusion and get the best HRM for swimmers.
