Garmin HRM-Fit heart rate chest strap: New heart rate monitor for women - wearable on a sports bra

The new Garmin HRM-Fit heart rate monitor is especially for women! Although the wearable is called a chest strap, it works completely without a strap and can simply be clipped onto a sports bra when exercising. This makes it even easier for female cyclists to track their fitness data. Of course, the heart rate monitor is also suitable for other outdoor activities. The new heart rate monitor even has special functions for running. The new Garmin is also the perfect training aid for indoor cycling or strength training in the gym.

And support can help to realise New Year's resolutions. After all, hardly anyone makes a resolution at the start of the year to finally do less sport, do they? Maybe that's why the American tech manufacturer Garmin is launching new equipment for the upcoming workouts right now. The new HRM-Fit heart rate monitor is designed to be attached to a sports bra. This makes it a good companion for a wide range of training sessions, whether cycling, running, strength training or other sports.

Like the unisex chest strap from Garmin, the new device also measures fitness data, which can then be conveniently accessed via the compatible smartwatch or smartphone. The highlight, however, is that the new Garmin HRM-Fit is not actually a chest strap!

The Garmin HRM-Fit for women

The new Garmin HRM-Fit heart rate monitor has been specially developed for women (or for people who wear a sports bra) to be clipped onto their sports underwear. It does not require a strap and is attached to the sports bra. However, it should provide at least medium, preferably strong support. Then there is no additional strap around the chest to interfere with the wearer's activities. It works in a similar way to a smartwatch, measuring heart rate and other classic training data such as pace and distance.

Like other heart rate monitors from Garmin, the Garmin HRM-Fit also has some special functions for runners. Running efficiency values such as stride length, ground contact time and vertical movement are measured. Although the values are not useful for cycling, they show that the chest strap can track more than just the usual training data. And the odd running session is also a good change to personal endurance training for cyclists.

The measured values are transmitted to compatible Garmin smartwatches, fitness devices, Edge bike computers or smartphone apps. If the smartwatch or mobile phone is not currently on tour, the Garmin HRM-Fit collects and stores the data until the next pairing.

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One year battery life

The battery charge of the Garmin HRM-Fit chest strap should last up to one year without intermediate charging. The manufacturer assumes that the chest strap will be used for one hour a day. We have not yet been able to check this value - but will do so soon in a test.

The most important information about the Garmin HRM-Fit chest strap

• RRP: 159.99 euros >> e.g. available here
• No annoying belt in addition to underwear
• Developed for sports bras with medium and strong support
• Transmission of heart rate and performance data that can be accessed with compatible devices / apps
• Data is stored on the Garmin HRM-Fit if the smartwatch is not within range during the activity (however, this requires starting and ending an activity via a compatible Garmin smartwatch)
• Activities for which the chest strap is made: cycling (road bike, gravel bike, MTB), running, indoor cycling, strength training, HIIT and much more.
• The chest strap tracks this data: Heart rate (in real time), running efficiency values (vertical movement, ground contact time, stride length), steps, calories burned, intensity minutes