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Using a heart rate monitor for cycling is a great way to improve your fitness - particularly if you are training for a race.
Using a heart rate monitor when you are cycling allows you to see exactly how hard you are working at all times. This is crucial because for many people, their cycling efforts will tend to fall in one of three categories:
- Uphill: Working hard, up into the anaerobic training zone
- Downhill: Freewheeling, no effort
- Flat: Cruising in the endurance zone
Using a heart rate monitor allows you to become rather more sophisticated in your training. While there's little you can do to increase your workload when you are flying down a long hill, you can work at both your uphill and your flat riding.
For uphill training, the heart rate monitor allows you to see how hard you are working - you can then decide whether you want to back off a little and maintain a steady heart rate, or push on and really make it a maximum effort.
For flat training, you can see how fast you can go on the flat while staying in the aerobic zone - while this is a comfortable place to be, if you are planning on racing, the key is to be able to hold a pace that is right on the edge of the aerobic/anaerobic zone - thus maximizing your speed without burning out.
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