Heart-rate monitors come with a range of functions, measure different health and fitness variables and target specific groups of people. So which one is right for you? Your athletic standard, fitness level and training goals are all factors that will determine which heart-rate monitor is best suited to your needs.

Devices typically fall into two categories. “Fitness” heart rate monitors provide users with basic information such as heart-rate and calorie burning which are key indicators to people simply looking to improve their fitness or lose weight. For first-time users of heart rate monitors, these devices are the perfect introduction.

“Training” heart-rate monitors are more advanced units targeted towards the more serious recreational users right through to elite athletes. They form part of their training program to increase their performance in a certain sport. In addition to providing an outline of your heart-rate, these devices provide information on oxygen consumption, respiratory rates, VO2 max levels, speed, distance, and altitude profiling, among others.

Generally, fitness heart-rate monitors are the best option for people who take part in Cardio Tennis. While people are welcome to bring their own heart-rate monitors to a Cardio Tennis session, the Suunto M2 is the recommended device and is supplied as the demo model during trial sessions by Cardio Tennis coaches.

Suunto Brand Manager Sam Robinson says the Suunto M2 was chosen because it provides the key information that people will need for a session – such as live heart-rate, the heart-rate zones in which they’re working and calorie-burning information – all in a simple format. “All of our heart-rate monitor devices and those from other major brands typically use a heart-rate strap which transmits heart-rate data wirelessly to a watch. This allows us to provide more accurate and reliable data than what you may get from the wrist or finger-based units on the market,” he said. “With the Suunto M2, the user wears a watch which receives information wirelessly from the heart-rate belt which is strapped around the chest … the watch shows this data so the user can see the information as they go, but also stores it for post-session review.”