Garmin 301 Heart Rate Monitor

Garmin 301 - Buy Now

The Garmin Forerunner 301 Wrist-Top GPS/heart rate monitor is a compact and powerful monitor combining a top rate fitness aide with Garmin's solid Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. Compatibility with third party social networking sites adds an entirely new dimension to your fitness regimen, letting you share and view statistics and routes online. If a heart rate monitor isn't part of your current exercise routine, the Garmin Forerunner 301 has a number of compelling features which make it the perfect addition.

Basic Features of Garmin 301

The Forerunner 301 includes all of the basic features one might expect to find in a heart rate monitor. Set a target heart rate, pace or distance, and an alarm sounds when the target is met or exceeded. Calories burned are also tracked, and the unit records the last 5000 laps (approximately two years) of data. See the tracked statistics at a glance on one of the Forerunner's pre-programmed data pages, or customize your own display to show only the details that interest you.

The Forerunner's heart rate monitor features go beyond the basics, however. Your fitness plan is constantly growing, and the Forerunner grows with it. An autolearn feature detects your personal heart rate zones, adjusting them automatically as your fitness level improves. The Forerunner also includes a virtual running partner against whom you race over a specified pace and distance. For cross-trainers, the Forerunner features sport profiles for running, biking and a third custom activity, tracking each activity's statistics separately and switching between them at the press of a button.

Training Tool

With the bundled Garmin Training Center software, the Garmin heart rate monitor becomes an invaluable tool for planning a workout to meet your desired fitness goals. View graphs of your speed, distance traveled, heart rate and calories burned.  Plot a map of your day's activities. When you're ready to head back out, create a workout with a specific goal, map out a route, schedule it on the included calendar and transfer it into the Forerunner heart monitor watche's  memory. Garmin Training Center also includes workout profiles from the experts at TrainingPeaks.com, providing custom plans for both beginning and advanced runners alike.

The Forerunner is far from a basic heart monitor however, incorporating Garmin's GPS technology into many aspects of your workout. Track not only speed and distance traveled, but the route you took as well. The addition of map data to your logged statistics can reveal interesting trends not otherwise apparent, such as how changes in elevation affect the quality of your exercise. Mark a location and let the Forerunner guide you to it, or reverse the route traveled.

The Forerunner is also compatible with MotionBased.com, Garmin's social network for combining GPS metrics with fitness data.  Are you unsure of the best run or cycle routes in your area? Are you itching to share the new trail found just last week? MotionBased facilitates this via "activities," detailed statistics on routes that can be used to plan workouts. You can also keep an online journal, as well as view detailed and customized reports of a number of metrics.

Conclusion

Whether on foot, bike or boat, the Garmin Forerunner 301 is an excellent versatile companion. Its ability to autolearn ensures a continuous challenge, and its plethora of workout profiles and social networking features can change an otherwise dull routine into an evolving trail of discovery.

For the latest models, check out the Garmin Heart Rate Monitor Variety.