Choosing an exercise watch can be difficult. There are so many different types of watches on the market, finding the one that best suits your needs can at times seem impossible. But by keeping some basic principles in mind, you can find a watch that is perfect for you.

One of the most important features of an exercise watch, and one of the most popular reasons why it is worn by a number of exercisers around the world, is due to the ability of the watch to pick up and display your heart rate. An exercise watch that does not tell you your exercising heart rate is useless (at least as an exercise training tool). Not only does knowing your heart rate during exercise give you an idea of how hard you are working, but it also helps you to determine whether or not you should alter your current effort level. If you notice that your exercising heart rate is only slightly above that of which you started, you can safely assume that it is time to pick up the pace. However, if your heart rate has increased by 80, 90, or even 100%, it is probably time to decrease your work effort.

Another important feature to look for when choosing an exercise watch is a calorie display. This is especially important for you if you are interested in weight loss. In order to lose one pound of fat per week, you must eliminate 3500 calories, or roughly 500 per day. Having a watch that tells you how many calories you burned during your workout will be priceless. You can use this to determine how or if you need to alter your diet for the rest of the day in order to achieve your desired weight loss for the week.

A distance traveled display is yet another great feature that you may want to look for in an exercise watch, especially if you are interested in improving your cardiovascular health, or are training for an event that requires high amounts of cardiovascular endurance. For example, if you are interested in training for a marathon, half-marathon, or even a 5K, you may be encouraged to track the distances that you travel each week, and use this information to enhance your training techniques.

Finally, a history display that combines all of the information above is a great way to see how you have improved from week to week. This can not only be helpful in training for specific events, but it may also help explain why you did not achieve a specific weight loss goal (or why you achieved a greater weight loss than you expected). In addition, looking back at your history from months or even years ago may motivate you to start back up on a specific exercise routine.