The new year has passed and it’s around this time that we start to lag in our resolutions to maintain better health and fitness. It means that we need a little extra help keeping on our fitness path and one of the best ways in which we can keep track of our fitness this year is by monitoring our heart rate.

While many smart watches and other fitness trackers can be used to look at your heart rate, it’s also possible to observe your heartbeat using just a smartphone and a specially designed heart rate app for a specific or multiple mobile devices.

How does a heart rate app work?

Download the special app on to your iOS, Android, or Windows smartphone device. These apps detect the heart rate by using the smartphone’s camera and lights to scan the user’s finger or face and measuring the the flow of blood when the heart beats.

Why is it important?

The British Heart Foundation say that ‘it’s important to know if you are exercising at the right level for you and measuring your heart rate can help you track you level of fitness’. Other benefits to using a heart rate monitor: • Measuring your heart rate using a heart rate monitor app helps to gauge the effectiveness of your workout • It helps determine when you’re pushing body too hard or need to work harder to achieve the level of fitness seeking • The stronger your heart is the lower the heartbeat should be because as you exercise the heart will pump more blood to your system than a weaker heart

Use these heart rate apps to stay on track of your fitness

Accurate Heart Rate Monitor (free) for Android can detect your heart rate within seconds.

Cardiio (free) for iOS smartphones is easy-to-understand and syncs to the Apple Health app, which is a great way to keep track of all your fitness progress.

Cardiograph Heart Rate Monitor is for Android, iOS and Windows and is great for staying on track of your family’s fitness as it allows multiple users to save heart rate data on their own unique profiles. It’s free, except for iOS users – a slight downside to the app but still great for staying on track.

Heart Rate Plus for iOS and Android users won’t overwhelm those who get confused with complex app set ups. There is unlimited data storage for users and it supports Google Fit and Apple Health. The only criticism is that it doesn’t work below iOS 8.

Runtastic
If you require an extra boost by sharing your fitness results on social media then this is the app for you. The data syncs to the same Runtastic accounts used on other apps. Bear in mind it won’t work with phones under iOS 9. Still, it’s a fantastic way to be accountable and keep on track of your heart’s health.

Instant Heart Rate is available for all devices and also supports Android’a Google Fit and iOS syncs to Apple Health.

The smartphone-heart-rate-tracker-method does sound odd but it is a pretty reliable way to keep track of your overall fitness.

We’ve likely given all our energy into exercising our January blues away which means that we need to help ourselves keep fit – help your clients keep on top of yours!