The Ageist, Sexist and Vertically Biased Heart-Rate Monitor

The heart-rate monitor I ordered from newegg arrived today. I've used one before and find it helpful to my workouts. The sensor encircles the chest and the signal transmits wirelessly to the watch. Mine is a simple model. It tells you your workout time, average heart-rate, and calories burned, though it does not GPS my location in Central Park or prepare a post-workout protein shake. Which is a good thing-I do not want big brother taking satellite images of me running for the special bus or picking up dog poop. Plus, protein shakes taste like sand.

The Ageist, Sexist and Vertically Biased Heart Rate Monitor

In order to take advantage of the calories burned readings, I needed to enter personal data: age, height, and weight. After pressing the 'mode' button ten times I landed on birth year; the snarky little monitor offered 1985. I scrolled up to 2050 then back to 1920 until finally landing on 1971. Can I assume that Oregon Scientific demographic numbers show that twenty-two year-olds make-up their largest consumer group, or do they figure old farts like me are too far gone and flabby to buy the product. Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but it made me sad. I'm not in the target group anymore. Doesn't anyone want to sell me something, unlike many younger people, I have money.

I hit the 'mode' again to reach height thinking that I shouldn't have a problem because 5'4" is average for women. 5'7" was the first choice. Snipey monitor, make fun of my stature now too. Dang thing went up to 8 feet before circling back to 2 feet. Now, the average height of a Dwarf is 3 to 4 feet, so I doubt any toddler 2 feet tall will be assessing their fitness during jungle gym.

The next step, placing the sensor on the chest, makes it clear why the starting height, is the average height for a man. The instructions say to fit the strap snugly just below the pectoral muscles. For optimal readings, it should lie above the heart while avoiding chest hair. I can't place it above my heart because my breasts are in the way. I imagine running with my boobs slapping against the black plastic. It's obvious that Oregon Scientific did not expect for vertically challenged thirty-six year-old women to purchase their product.

I ran in the rain tonight. The device worked perfectly and my heart rate averaged 123 beats per minute, burning 242 calories. I'm not really obsessed with calories data. The device is to keep my heart rate from slipping below 110 and motivate me during a long workout.



On a side note, I've owned three monitors and I find the chest strap/wrist transmitter to be the most effective. I purchased mine from newegg.com. I also found this comprehensive site while attempting to find statistics to support my theory that aged people, women and short men buy heart rate monitors making the 'Smart Heart' an ageist, sexist and vertically biased product(I didn't find any, but they sell all types of monitors).