The whole business of using a heart rate monitor is about knowing what is your maximum heart rate and then exercising in a way which gets your heart beating to a certain percentage of that maximum.

Most books talk about heart rate zones

This means: –

• zone 5 - >91% HR max
• zone 4 - 83% to 90% HR max
• zone 3 - 75% to 82% HR max
• zone 2 - 66% to 74% HR max
• zone 1 - 60% to 65% HR max

Some books talk about 6 zones - divding the >90% HRmax into two zones. Some books divide zone 5 into a, b, c

If you don't know what your maximum heart rate is, then you start off using a formula. There are several formulas. The one that is most often used seems to be – 220 minus (your age). This means that if you are 40 years old, your theoretical HR max would be 180 bpm (beats per minute).

If you are a female then you add 5 bpm. I don't know why

The way it works is that by using your heart rate monitor to make sure that when you exercise you are making your heart work at a certain level – within certain training zones - you will be able to set achievable goals rather than merely exercising until you feel that you had enough and want to do something else.

Another advantage of this is that the structure makes it more interesting to exercise, because frankly walking or running on a treadmill for an hour can be pretty boring and using your heart rate monitor gives you something extra to do.

Of course the theoretical heart rate maximum – is just theoretical. You want to get away from that as quickly as you can. You do this by finding out your true maximum heart rate.

This is done by having a training session where you raise your heart rate so high that you are on the verge of falling over, your eyes glazing over and you really just can't go on. Whatever your heart rate is at that point is your HR max. It may be more than your theoretical maximum – it probably will be – but it could be less. Whatever is your true HR max then becomes the anchor of the other zones and and you alter your training accordingly.

Most heart rate monitors will allow you to set your own maximum heart rate into it and then recalculate your zones for you.

Here's a warning: be careful when you try and find your maximum heart rate. You should probably have gone through several weeks of good regular exercise at no more than 80% of your theoretical maximum. You should have had several days break from your last exercise session.

If you are at a gym then you should probably let somebody know that you are going to do this and they should be in attendance. If you are doing this outside, then you should make sure that someone else is with you.

To find out what you should expect to achieve by training within each particular heart rate zone you should read a book or have a look on the Internet. There is lots of information about it.

If you use a gym, then you will probably find that the gym equipment – treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical cross trainer etc are equipped with heart rate monitor receivers. This means that if you wear your heart rate monitor chest strap, the exercise machine will display your heart rate on a screen. This is much better then having to grip heart rate sensors with your hands every so often. It is much more useful – and much more interesting – having a constant view of what your heart is doing and setting your own program.

When I use a gym, I find that most of the people who are using the exercise equipment are not using a heart rate monitor and are not using the heart rate monitor functions of the machines.

Those who do use a heart rate monitor scarcely ever understand what it all means.

I really don't understand how they can have any meaningful exercise program.

At the very least, I don't think it is possible to get the best benefit out of the time spent doing the exercise.

Do you measure your increasing fitness by reference to your heart rate? Yes you do.
However, it has nothing to do with your HR max (maximum heart rate). Your HR max is simply your maximum heart rate. It is pretty well fixed throughout your life although it decreases by a beat per minute or so  for every year you get older. Some people might think that having a high heart rate is a great sign of fitness. It is meaningless.

What does change we fitness is your resting heart rate – RHR.
As your heart muscle develops and becomes more effective, you need fewer beats to pump the same amount of blood round. What you should do is check your resting heart rate every week or two and see how it decreases.

If you are exercising methodically and exercising in an appropriate heart rate zone, you should over time find that your RHR goes down. This is one of two or three tests of improving fitness. A top world athlete might have an RHR 35 bpm. A couch potato/slob might have a RHR of 75 bpm.

To check your RHR, you should have a good night sleep and when you wake up and fully relaxed and not moving around you should check your heart rate. That should give you a good idea of your RHR.

A second heart rate related test of fitness is your recovery rate.. You need to measure your recovery rate after exercising briskly. After ending your exercise, you should check your heart rate at one minute and then at two minutes.

You measure your heart rate recovery times by taking your heart rate before you start exercising, then exercise so that you bring your heart rate up into zone 3 (above). Measure your heart rate immediately you stop exercising, then at one minute and then again at two minutes.

You should hope that your heart rate decreases by about 15% after one minute and by a total of about 20% after two minutes. If you can do better than this then you are starting to achieve a high level of fitness. If your recovery rate is less than this then you have work to do.