For anyone serious about getting fit, a heart-rate monitor is a must. They can be complicated to set up, though, and analysing the data is a science in itself. The Timex Ironman Race Trainer is aimed at serious fitness fanatics and athletes, but it’s pretty easy to operate.
It’s light and compact, the display is clear, and it’s relatively easy to flick between modes and set different heart-rate zones. Start the stopwatch and it starts recording data; stop and reset it, and the Trainer saves it to memory. It stores up to ten workouts at once.
It’s impressively flexible, too. Buy it with the Timex Data Xchanger, and you can upload data directly to the Timex TrainingPeaks website. This is where it starts to become complicated.
The TrainingPeaks website takes a while to get to grips with, simply because there’s so much to it. If you’re expecting a simple heart-rate calendar, forget it. Novice users will be overwhelmed.
On the positive side, there are plenty of features. You can use the calendar to compare calorie intake against calories burned, and you can use it to build up a detailed view of your daily activity.
Particularly useful is the food database, which lists thousands of foods complete with detailed nutritional information so you can track your diet.
This is definitely a watch for the fitness geek, not for novices. But with such a comprehensive online resource, it makes a fantastic training companion.
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