Gym timers?

[Douglas Hall]

Just thought I'd mention something I bought, the other day - I suspect people on here have seen them before.

I was looking for a stopwatch I could use for skipping / jumping rope, and heavy bag work, but my normal stopwatch (on a cord) is a bit awkward, and my watches are all analog.

So I was looking for some kind of stopwatch - I know people often use round-timers as mp3s on mp3 players, but I often use my mp3 player for music when skipping (helps with timing and motivation).

Anyways, I found one of those gym timers (it's about the size of a pager), it clips on, and you can set intervals (one or two, so you could set a round time, then the short rest time), simply use it as timer, or as a stopwatch. Also can vibrate as will as beep when an interval / round is up.

It wasn't expensive ~ £14 (UK pounds), anybody used them / have opinions. Haven't used it yet, it'll probably be tomorrow, now before I use it for a workout.

[Chris Nagel]

That sounds good. I seen some of the heart rate monitor watches with similar features. It can record lap times and set intervals.

[Douglas Hall]

That sounds good. I seen some of the heart rate monitor watches with similar features. It can record lap times and set intervals.

I guess that's probably the perfect workout tool - something recording your heart rate, plus timing whatever it is you're doing.

I've used this timer, now, it's about pager size, with a kind of rubberised case (meant to be water resistant, so should be OK with sweat). It has a belt clip, and the beep is quite loud, and vibrates at the same time. Used it for 6 x 3 minute rounds for skipping, with 30 seconds inbetween. So it times 3 minutes, beeps and vibrates, then times 30 seconds beeps and vibrates, then back to 3 minutes again (you can set the number of rounds, or just leave it going indefinitely until you stop it).

At some point I should really invest in a heart rate monitor, and it'd be good to have all that built in - so any recommendations appreciated!

Cheers!

[Chris Nagel]

I haven't checked in a while, but the heart rate monitors made by Polar, are very good. The more expensive ones have all the features that you can think of and can even hook up to your computer. The one that I own was very affordable and just has a timer, clock, and heart-rate monitor.

[AdamGB]

If you own an iPhone/iPod touch then you get get a boxing/interval timer for about £1.

Much more custamizable than the premade ones too.

[Drago]

sounds good douglas that would come in very handy for me for sprints