Heart rate monitor straps are pretty much what they sound like. It's an elastic strap that you wear around your chest that's equipped with electrodes, which then transmit your heart rate data ...

But the best heart rate monitors aren't all created equal. For cyclists, the most popular are chest strap heart rate monitors, which, at their most basic, need to capture your beats per minute ...

Related: The 57 Best Amazon Prime Day Health & Fitness Deals Are Up to 91% Off I’m a Commerce Editor at Health, and I’ll admit it—I'd never seriously considered using a heart rate monitor.

But distance, time and pace are all blunt tools for measuring effort, which is where heart rate monitors come in. Tracking your beats per minute (BPM) unlocks extra insights, from real time effort ...