The number one New Year’s resolution is weight loss. By now, many people have given up on themselves, and slid back into old habits. Don’t be one of them. If you’ve made a resolution to get your body in better shape, the Suunto M-Series heart rate monitors can help you achieve your goals.
Much more than just a heart rate monitor, the $149 Suunto M4 is a clever workout partner that won’t let you down. It’s almost like having a personal trainer on your wrist. Give it some basic info (age, weight, etc.), and then tell it your goals – do you want to burn fat, increase your overall fitness, or make some time for free training? The M4 then calculates a workout program custom tailored to your needs. As you’re working out, it will monitor your heart rate to make sure you’re in the correct zone for fat burning or increasing aerobic capacity. Not only will it make sure you maintain that range long enough during each session, but it will even prompt you to adjust the intensity of your next workout if you happen to fall a bit short. How cool is that? Cut your scheduled workout short by ten minutes, and the M4 will remind you the next time you’re at the gym, on your bike, or going for a run.
That feature alone is pretty sweet, but there’s more. In addition to a summary of each workout, there’s a fitness test, and it will even provide feedback messages to motivate you. You get real time heart rate, real time calories burned, and the M4 is water resistant to 30 meters, should you decide to make swimming (or running in the rain) part of your workout. Add a Movestick (about $50) and create a free account at the Movescount website, and you’ll be able to upload all your workouts, allowing you to track your progress as well as interact with other members. Now you’ve got a trainer on your wrist, and friends to help motivate you to attain your goals! Available in blue, pink, and black/silver.
Needless to say, I was pretty impressed when I saw the Suunto M-Series heart rate monitor line at Outdoor Retailer. If you share my enthusiasm, but have budget concerns (don’t we all?), consider the Suunto M1 as an alternative. You don’t get the customized workout and motivational messages, but it retails under the $100 price point, and offers the same real time heart rate and calories burned, helping you stay in the correct zone. It includes the Basic Heart Rate Belt, and enough memory to store a log with four week totals. Like the other M-Series heart rate monitors, it’s switchable between 12 or 24 hour time, and has a stopwatch, calendar clock, plus a daily alarm. Still a great tool for helping you meet your goals and track progress, it does require a bit more effort on your part to stay on task. Oddly enough, it’s only available in black, although the bezel is white.
Of course, if your tax refund is burning a hole in your pocket, then you may want to check out the Suunto M5. At a bit under $200, you also get the Movestick with it, so you’re saving money already. There’s also a wider variety of color options. It has all the features of the M4, but you can add a Suunto Foot POD mini, Road Bike POD or GPS Track POD ($79-$149) and really track your aerobic workouts, with real time data being sent right to your wrist, which can then be uploaded to Movescount.com too. It also lets you take advantage of some of the great apps available as downloads on Movescount.com. That’s a lot of flexibility for what you thought was just going to be a heart rate monitor, right? Yeah, thought so. Get a Suunto, and get fit.
*To help you out, here’s a link good for 10% off orders over $100, plus free shipping at TriVillage.com (Use Code: ORDER100-10)
– Brian