This article introduces a particular type of Timex Ironman Sports Watch. A full guide to Timex IRONMANTM Watches can be viewed here BUY TIMEX ROAD TRAINER WATCHES HERE

Timex Ironman^TM Road Trainer Heart Rate Monitor Watch

Buy on Amazon for $60.00

Heart rate monitors are a useful tool for determining if you are training at a suitable level for your fitness needs and for checking if you have recovered enough before your next hard exertion.

Timex have recently added two brand new models to their Timex Sports Watch line.

The Timex Race Trainer heart rate monitor sports watch, (discussed in the last blog post) has the ability to wirelessly download your data to PC which using the new ANT+ powered Timex Data Xchanger Device. Once on computer the user then has the option of uploading their data into Timex’s powerful Timex Trainer Online Web Portal, powered by Training Peaks.

The Timex Road Trainer watch is another great heart rate monitor from Timex at a budget that won’t put off too many semi-serious runners and athletes who don’t need the full features of the Race Trainer.

Road Trainer Watch Features

The Timex Road Trainer watch allows you to choose a pre-set target heart rate zone or define your own. At the completion of your workout, your Timex sports watch will present a summary showing how much time you have spent in a particular zone and during your workout, your heart rate can be viewed in either beats per minute or percentage of maximum heart rate. The Road Trainer supports zone alarms as well, for when you are above or below your chosen heart zone. The watch tracks your average heart rate, calories burned and has a 50 lap capacity for each session. Heart rate lap data is saved in the watch’s memory too.

The Road Trainer watch features a standard chronograph stopwatch, allowing you to record laps and view individual lap and split times. A countdown timer is also featured, accommodating fixed timed interval training workouts and Timex’s patented INDIGLO night light with NIGHT MODE feature, allowing you to train effectively in low-light conditions.

While the Road Trainer sports watch does not have the Data Xchange device, it is compatible with the Timex Data Recorder 2 (purchased separately) that allows you to store multiple session and heart rate information. The Data Recorder is an external device that communicates wirelessly with certain models of Timex wrist watches, but unlike the new Data Xchange device, it must be plugged directly into your PC to transfer session data to computer.

In summary, the Timex Road Trainer watch is a reliable, easy to use, affordable, entry level Timex Sports watch for semi-serious or serious runners who do not require the ability to track and analyze their workout history online.

Buy Timex Road Trainer and Timex Race Trainer Watches

This article introduces a particular type of Timex Sports Watch. A full guide to Timex IRONMANTM Watches can be viewed here. Timex Ironman Watches BUY TIMEX RACE TRAINER WATCHES HERE

Timex Ironman^TM Race Trainer Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Blue/Gray)

Buy on Amazon for

Looking for an affordable, yet powerful heart rate monitor watch? The Timex Race Trainer and Timex Road Trainer watches offer a “watered down” version of the fundamental features found in the top-line sports watches, without the hefty price tag.

The latest generation Timex Sports Watch combines heart rate monitoring, with the latest trend of computer connectivity with their new XChange technology that allows you to upload your data to PC and enter it into the Training Peaks online community to compare and discuss with like-minded athletes.

The Timex training site is a centralized portal where you can track your training as well as your dietary intake.

The intuitive website takes a leaf out of what other leading watches such as Garmin Watches, Suunto and Polar sports watches are doing, they offer the transfer of data to PC with the option of importing into their custom-built online portals.

Never before have athletes had such an opportunity to compare and communicate with like-minded athletes from around the world.

The Timex Race Trainer Heart Rate Watch

The Timex Race Trainer is suitable for semi-serious and serious runners. The standout features include:

If you’ve used a Timex sports watch in the past and have been frustrated at the need to use the external data recorder to save your session data, you’ll be pleased by the Race Trainer’s ability to store session and heart rate data in the watch piece itself. The crucial piece of technology you will require to download your training data from Race Trainer to computer is the Timex Data Xchanger, which is an optional component.

The Xchanger uses ANT+ technology, that connects to your PC via a USB port, allowing you to wirelessly transfer your watch data to your computer. ANT+ compatibility is the technology used in the Garmin Forerunner 405CX GPS Watch. This means your Timex heart rate monitor chest strap can be used with this popular Forerunner watch.

The ANT+ Data Xchanger also allows you to edit your watch settings from your computer, meaning you can configure heart rate zones, alarms, interval timers, etc from your desktop computer. You can also analyze and edit stored workouts.User reports have also suggested that the slimline chest strap that comes with this watch is incredibly comfortable compared with other Timex heart rate monitors.

The Race Trainer watch from Timex comes in four modern style color schemes for both men and women.

Buy Timex Race Trainer and Timex Road Racer Watches

The Timex Online Training Peaks Web Interface

The online interface lets you create and customize an account and transfer your data into the online portal. It is essentially an online journal that can accommodate your personal fitness and nutritional information. The interface is powered by the Training Peaks platform, an established web portal for fitness tracking with wide support for a large number of devices.

With the Timex training site, not only can you import and analyze your personal fitness data, but you can choose to follow any number of structured workout plans which have been designed for athletes of all levels by six time Ironman winner Dave Scott. The site also features the blogs of more than 40 Timex multi-sport team athletes for an endless source of training tips, advice and inspiration.

Three free plans are automatically available when you create an account:

• Novice Sprint Distance Swim Plan (Dave Scott)
• Intermediate Olympic Distance Swim Plan (Dave Scott)
• 6 Week Strength and Injury Prevention Program (Dave Scott)

If you need something more specific, you have the option of selecting from many more commercially available training programs, which can be purchased online through the interface.

This is an example of the online portal interface. The default screen, “calendar view” allows you to navigate past sessions and enter in new ones on the days you’ve trained

When your workout data has been uploaded, the Timex Training site provides a customizable “dashboard” that is populated with different types of information, analysis pages, journals, calendars and even tips on daily nutrition.

The Timex Road Trainer Heart Rate Monitor Sports Watch

Timex IRONMANTM Road Trainer Heart Rate Monitor

Buy on Amazon for $69.00

If you are after a basic watch without online functionality, the Timex Road Trainer is a heart rate monitor watch without online support, but with most of the same functionality as the Race Trainer watch. The road trainer is suitable for semi-serious athletes seeking a cheap heart rate monitoring watch and can live without the extra memory and data transfer ability found in the Road Trainer.

The Road Trainer does not support session workout storage and does not support Interval Timers. It can track the same information that the Race Trainer can over a single workout, but if you need multiple session storage, the Race Trainer or another sports watch is a better option.

We would recommend the Road Trainer watch as a great starter heart rate monitor watch for semi-serious runners that want to track their vital statistics on their long runs.

In Summary

Overall the Timex Race Trainer watch is an affordable, mid-level heart rate monitor watch with the ability to transfer workout data to a computer and then import that same data into a powerful online community portal.

The Road Trainer watch is a cheaper alternative to the Race Trainer, sharing many of the heart rate features, but lacks the multi-session storage, interval timers and PC data transfer ability of the Ironman^TM Race Trainer.

If you are seeking a more powerful Timex sports watch that also has the ability to transfer data to PC and into the online portal (with the Timex Data Recorder), consider a Timex Bodylink watch.

View the Race Trainer website here.

You already know and love the Timex Ironman Watch. Timex Ironman Heart Rate Measuring Watches made their first entrance into the heart rate monitor market and immediately set themselves apart from their competitors by utilizing the latest in digital FM technology. All Timex Ironman heart rate monitors include: A digital FM signal has the effect of reducing the amount of interference and crosstalk, meaning it won’t interfere with other heart rate monitors or electrical devices. ECG (EKG) precision shown by independent testing to be accurate to 3 beats-per-minute Propriety “smart sensor” technology that calculates your heart rate before transmitting it to the wrist watch unit A user-changeable sensor battery, a feature not offered by some of the other leading brands. You can rest assured that Timex’s IRONMAN heart rate monitors are of the highest quality at an IRONMAN price.

	T59751/T59761 Midsize 30-Lap Heart Rate Monitor Watch	T5C401/T5C411 Unisex 30-Lap Heart Rate Monitor Watch	T5F001/T5F011 Men’s Bodylink Heart Rate Monitor Watch	T5J985 Men’s Bodylink Trailrunner Heart Rate Monitor Watch	T5G311 Women’s Bodylink Heart Rate Monitor Watch	IRONMAN Road Trainer Unisex Heart Rate Monitor	IRONMAN Race Trainer Unisex Heart Rate Monitor
	$89.99	$89.99	$199.99	$350.00	$274.99	$60.00	$79.95
In Session Features
Target Heart Rate With Zone Alert				2x Simultaneous Zones
Target Zones Based on Max HR	5	5	5	Up to 5 for each group	5	5	5
Custom Target Zones	0	0	3	Up to 5 for each group	3	1	1
Heart Rate in BPM
% of Max Heart Rate
Calories
Post-Session Features
Workout Time in Zones (# zones)	(1)	(1)	(8)	(2)	(8)	(1)	(1)
Recovery Recording
Average Heart Rate
Maximum Heart Rate
Minimum Heart Rate
Average HR per Lap
Calories Burned
Heart Rate Sensor
Digital Sync. FM Transmission
Continuous HR readings
Owner Replaceable battery
Sport Features
Stopwatch	100-hour with Lap and Split	100-hour with Lap and Split	100-hour with Lap and Split	100-hour with Lap and Split	100-hour with Lap and Split	100-hour with Lap and Split	100-hour with Lap and Split
Data Fields	2-line display	2-line display	3-line display	3-line display	3-line display	2-line display	2-line display
Workout Storage (#Laps/Workout)	1 (30)	1 (30)	1 (100)	1 (100)	1 (100)	1 (50)	10 (50)
Countdown Timer	Stop/Repeat or Chrono at End	Stop/Repeat or Chrono at End	Stop/Repeat or Chrono at End	Stop/Repeat or Chrono at End	Stop/Repeat or Chrono at End	Stop/Repeat at End	Stop/Repeat or Chrono at End
Interval Timer			4		4 (Includes Interval Workouts)		5
GPS				Includes Navigation Features
Data Recorder Compatible
Data Xchanger USB Compatible
Ironman Features
	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty	Alarm with 5-minute backup INDIGLO Night-Light INDIGLO Night Mode Water Resistant to 50m 2 Year Battery Life One-Year Warranty

Heart Rate Basics Explained

Heart rate monitor watches are high-tech devices that have the ability to accurately measure the rate your heart beats while you are exercising. The beats per minute of your heart, or “heart rate” can be useful for guaging the intensity of a workout. Most heart rate monitoring devices allow you to set up at least one target heart rate zone.

A heart rate zone is simply an upper and lower heart rate limit that is your target range over a workout. A target heart zone can serve as a guideline for achieving your optimal fitness intensity. You will tend to find that a cheap heart rate monitor watch will support a single target zone and more zones as you go up in price.

Heart rate watches that feature multiple zones can be useful for different types of exercise workouts. For example on a long, slow fat-burning or recovery run, you might select a target heart rate zone that is 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, whereas for a high intensity anerobic workout, a target zone of 80-90% might be more appropriate.

Heart rate zones can help ensure that you are not overtraining or undertraining. Another sign of overtraining is your heart beat recovery rate. If your heart rate drops too slowly over a measured interval (say two minutes) then it is a sign that your body has not yet fully recovered. Over-training is a bad thing and a trap of many over-zealous fitness fanatics. It can lead to under-performance, yielding a negative fitness benefit when you workout instead of a positive one and in a worst case scenario, overtraining can cause an injury that prevents any fitness progress for weeks of months!

Finding the right balance is not easy, it is more of an art that a science. One thing that can help is to keep track of the vital statistics of your workout one of which is heart rate and heart rate recovery, which is why heart rate watches can help considerably.

As a general rule though, it is usually better to under-train than to over train. So contrary to popular opinion, skipping that exercise class once in a while is actually not a bad thing.

What Timex Ironman Heart Rate Watches Offer

Timex Ironman Heart Rate Monitor Watches are a high quality option for those seeking an affordable heart rate monitor solultion. Timex have taken state of the art continous digital heart rate measuring technology and integrated it into their already successful Timex Ironman Sport Watch design to create an attractive fitness package for all levels of fitness enthusists and performance atheltes.

Timex Triathlon Heart Rate Monitors feature a coded wireless digital FM signal between the heart rate monitor strap and wristwatch, that offers a distinct advantage over traditional analog heart rate watches. A digitally coded signal avoids the common problem of cross-talk interference with other heart rate monitor devices, exercise equipment and even high voltage powerlines. In plain English, when you invest in a Timex Heart Rate Watch, you can enjoy the assurance that your workout readings, won’t get disrupted by other wireless devices. The heart rate strap is also water resistant to 50 meters, allowing you peace of mind in the rain, or around water.

Timex Monitor Watches are also designed for convenience and allow you to replace the batteries in the heart rate strap yourself. Other heart rate monitor companies place the burden and inconvenience on you to send the heart rate strap back for a battery replacement.

All Heart Rate Monitor Timex watches feature multiple Target Heart Rate Zones (described above). With the exception of the T59751/T59761 and T5C401/T5C411 watches (Timex’s entry-level options), the heart rate zones can be set up manually giving you full control. The time you spend in your target zone is also recorded and a zone alarm feature included that sounds an alert when you fall outside your goal zone.

All but the Timex Ironman Road Trainer and Timex Ironman Race Trainer Heart Rate Monitor Watches can connect with the Timex Data Recorder. The Data Recorder is a small device (purchased seperately) that is capable of storing extended heart rate and GPS data and provides a mechanism from transfering this data to a PC.

(The Timex Race trainer is compatible with the optional Timex Data Xchanger that uses wireless ANT+ technology to connect to PC)

By integrating continual, digital heart rate technology with the integral features of their flagship Timex Ironman Watch, Timex offer a heart rate solution that is effective and increadibly simple to use out of the box. Unless your heart rate nees are panoptic and you enjoy spending a week memorizing a complex watch manual, a Timex Ironman Heart Rate Watch should meet nearly all your fitness requirements at a price tag that won’t send you running the other way.