Over the past 20 years, heart rate monitors (HRMs) have
gained widespread popularity among fitness enthusiasts and elite athletes. These wireless devices monitor the body's levels of cardiovascular and physiological stress during exercise, so users can adjust their training intensity for the safest, most effective workouts.

While more people are buying HRMs, few know how to maximize their use. Precision Heart Rate Training is the best, most complete resource for anyone who wants to use an HRM to get optimal results. Written by prominent authorities from a variety of sports and fitness activities and backed by Polar Electro, the leading manufacturer of HRMs, Precision Heart Rate Training fully explains why and how to train with a heart rate monitor.

Editor Edmund R. Burke, a former Olympic coach who began working with HRMs in 1983, introduces the basic concepts of heart rate training. He explains how various factors affect heart rate during exercise, then presents several methods for establishing target heart rates.

Burke also introduces the concept of training zones, or ways of describing training intensity, ranging from very light activity to training for improved performance. Using these zones as a framework, an all-star panel of experts explains how to design and use training programs for seven different sports and fitness activities:

- Walking - Therese Iknoian
- Running - Roy Benson
- Cycling - Joe Friel
- In-line Skating - Frank Fedel
- Multisport Training - Tim Moore
- Circuit Training - Wayne Westcott
- Group Exercise - Jay Blahnik

Each chapter contains training suggestions specific to the activity described, including how to find the optimal training intensity, design an effective training program, and adjust workout intensity, plus sample workouts or programs, or both.

For those who want to develop an effective long-term training plan, Jim Dotter, founder of Biometrics, Inc., provides guidelines for setting up a measurable training system using HRMs and explains how to adjust the plan through the season.

With HRMs, athletes and exercisers at every level can use high-tech biofeedback training to develop sophisticated programs for better performance. Precision Heart Rate Training shows them how to use today's training technology to their fullest advantage.