The new TomTom Runner Cardio GPS offering a smarter way to monitor health and fitness

Summer is here and so is the time where a lot of our training and exercise shifts from air-conned gyms to the heat driven sun and along with all the last minute trainers getting fit for their holidays, this makes for a busy time in the fitness industry.

One of the main highlighted areas for enhancement is in body monitoring, due to the fact that when you take to the roads running, no longer can you grip the treadmill handlebars to check your workout statistics, therefore leaving you unaware of your hard work. We’ve seen step monitors and calorie counters, but now there’s a new takes on fitness analysing.

TomTom have developed its latest sports fitness watch that monitors users distance, intervals of speed, custom targets and of course the time, but its main trait lies in hear rate monitoring. Unlike traditional pulse sensor monitors, The built-in Heart Rate Monitor accurately measures your heart rate through a sensor that monitors changes in the blood flow in your wrist. This is done by shining light through the skin and detecting the changing light reflections. These results can then be uploaded and analysed via the TomTom smartphone app.

The watch is reportedly very simple to use, however – aside from the heart rate monitor – does appeal to be quite basic and feels bulky on the wrist, which is a hindrance when setting out on those long runs. The watch also must be applied relatively tight in order to record accurate monitoring of the heart and therefore could be uncomfortable for some users.

TomTom also offer another form of Multi-Sport Cardio GPS can also be used for other forms of training such as cycling and swimming, offering both speed and distance travelled. The TomTom Runner Cardio GPS watch is currently available, for £249.99, putting it right up there with the more prominent products on the market.