Different people use heart rate monitors for different reasons. Whether you’re an avid athlete, enjoy the occasional work out, or have a heart condition that needs to be kept in check during light exercises, you can benefit from adding a heart rate monitor to your routine.

Heart rate monitors help you to improve your fitness level safely. According to the American Heart Association, your target heart rate should be lower than your maximum heart rate, working at 50- to 85-percent while exerting your body during fitness activities. When you work out with a heart rate monitor, you are being constantly updated with what your heart rate is during strenuous activity and can ensure that you are not pushing your body too hard and are pacing yourself properly, both of which aid in avoiding fatigue and injury.

If you’re looking for a great heart rate monitor, whether for yourself or for an athlete in the family for the holidays, I have scoured HeartRateMonitors.com, a website specializing in a vast array of heart rate monitors for people of every fitness level, for their best heart rate monitors under $100. Some are designed for serious athletes while others are suited more for recreational exercisers. Whatever the case, you’re likely to find at least one that suits your needs without having to spend top dollar.

Polar FT1 Heart Rate Monitor ($42.80)

• Heart rate clearly displayed on a large, easy-to-read display
• Manual heart rate target zones for training that’s personalized just for you
• Simple one-button start and coded heart rate transmission
• Displayed summary of your latest workout
• Recording of average and maximum heart rate
• Stopwatch
• Time of day with alarm/data and weekday indicator
• Backlight

Polar FT2 Heart Rate Monitor ($52.14)

• Heart rate clearly displayed on a large, easy-to-read display
• Helps improve your fitness with automatic age-based heart rate target zone
• Displayed summary of your latest workout
• Simple one-button start and coded heart rate transmission
• Recording of average and maximum heart rate

Epulse 2 Strapless Heart Rate Monitor ($89.95)

• Continuous heart rate
• Max/Min/Avg heart rate
• Exercise calories burned
• Calorie countdown
• Target heart rate zones
• Color day/night OLED display
• Custom heart rate zones
• Rechargeable battery
• Exercise time
• Strapless–armband only!
• Stop watch with split times

Timex Ironman Triathlon Road Trainer Heart Rate Monitor ($99.00)

• Digital transmission (eliminates cross-talk and fights interference)
• 50 lap memory recall
• BPM or % of max heart rate and one custom zone
• Recovery rate time (1- or 2-minute)
• Review/recall average and peak heart rate, time in zone, and calories burned
• INDIGLO night light with night-mode feature
• Time of day and month, day and date
• Daily alarm
• Water resistant 1000m
• HRM strap water resistant 30m (strap will not provide accurate heart rates when under water)

Garmin FR70 Women’s Fitness Watch ($99.95)

• Tracks workout time
• Heart rate clearly displayed on a large, easy-to-read display
• Calorie counter
• Includes USB ANT stick

Do you use a heart rate monitor to track your target heart rate and exercise more efficiently? Do you have any favorite heart rate monitors or brands you swear by?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of HeartRateMonitors.com. Incentive was provided to me, and opinions are my own.

Photos by HeartRateMonitors.com