Suunto's new heart rate monitors - laboratory on a wrist

Elite athletes know that training smarter is much better than training harder, and to do that you need to capture data from the body while training. To mark its association with the ITU (International Triathlon Union), Suunto has introduced its Triathlon collection heart rate monitors that not only take readings from the body while training, but also analyzes the data and interprets it to provide athletes with the information they need to maximize their training efforts.

Suunto liken their t6c Red Arrow to a sports laboratory on a wrist. It measures the time interval between heartbeats and its variations to produce seven different body parameters and shows many of these measurement results directly the on display. Information such as the aerobic benefit of a training session shown on a one-to-five scale, Excess Post-exercise oxygen consumption and calories burned can all be seen at a glance. The wearer can also customize the display and choose which data they need most for their current training program.

The t6c Red Arrow also supports a range of sport-specific attachments. These include the Foot POD, Bike POD, GPS POD, Cadence POD and PC POD, which enable speed and distance data gathered while engaged in varying training disciplines to be shown on the display of the device.

The real-time Training Effect (TE) display, which can also be found on the t3c Black Arrow, takes into account not only the heart rate, but also heart rate variation, to provide information on workout intensity and its effect on fitness. Suunto says monitoring the TE value also reduces the risk of overtraining.

Suunto already has a range of watches and wrist worn devices tailored to suit a variety of endeavors from extreme sports to golf. Although the t6c Red Arrow and t3c Black Arrow adds elite triathletes to the list, Suunto say the Triathlon Collection heart rate monitors are designed for anyone who is looking to get the most out of any training session.

The Suunto t6c Red Arrow and t3c Black Arrow will be available in late summer at pricing yet to be announced.

Darren Quick