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Exercise Bike Heart Rate Monitors

Most of the better Upright and Recumbent exercise bikes will come with the handle grip contact heart rate monitors. Keep in mind that the handle grip heart rate monitors will not be as accurate as the chest strap monitors.

It is better to have the contact heart rate monitors in the handle grips then no monitor at all so you should at least try to get an exercise bike with handle grip heart rate monitors (if you do not already have a chest strap heart rate monitor).

Some models also come with telemetry enabled consoles which can monitor your heart rate from a compatible chest strap transmitter (most are Polar compatible but do not come with the chest strap). This is a much better option for monitoring your heart rate. 

You can purchase a separate heart rate watch and chest strap transmitter to monitor your heart rate independently of the exercise bike, of course, but it will not be as convenient as having the data transmitted to the console and integrated with your other workout stats.

Heart Rate Monitoring and Heart Rate Control (HRC)

Most exercise bikes have various ways to monitor your heart rate as described above. How you use this information is something completely different.

You can simply use your heart rate as a reference to how your workout is going or there are well defined programs and guidelines available that you can use to vary your workout to keep your heart rate within a heart rate target zone.

Please check with your doctor before you start a workout program based on heart rate.

With a Heart Rate Control (HRC) program (manual or automated) you control the intensity of your workout based on your heart rate and the target heart rate zone that you have defined.

Some models will have integrated HRC programs which will increase and decrease the exercise bike resistance to keep you within your target heart rate zone. This option is more common on other fitness equipment than it is on exercise bikes.

There are, however, some exercise bikes that come with automated HRC programs. You can find this option on Sole, Smooth and  the more expensive commercial grade models.

You can also maintain your target heart rate manually by adjusting the resistance levels yourself in the same way that you would adjust your outdoor cycling workout to reach your targeted heart rate goals.

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