MIO ALPHA, read your heart-rate without a chest-strap.

This is nothing new, as this watch and the technology have been out for a few years already, but wanted to inform others that hate wearing a chest strap, there is something you can do about it. Hate wearing a chest-strap?  Here is the perfect answer.  The MIO ALPHA reads your heart-rate off your skin. Under the watch band is a sensor, similar to those devices that read your pulse off your finger. The watch displays your heart-rate. With the Bluetooth or ANT+ connection it sends the information to paired devices. I have both Bluetooth and ANT+ models, two separate watches.  I paired my ANT+ with my Suunto Ambit 2S and then wear a watch on each wrist. The ANT+ model I own I have paired with my Samsung smartphone. 

From what I am finding out, the ANT+ model is no longer available, as it is only being produced in the BLE. 

 

From what I am finding out, the ANT+ model is no longer available, as it is only being produced in the BLE. 

The watch features an LED light, lighting up blue, green or red, letting the user know if their heart rate while working out is too low, too high or right in their zone, all without wearing a chest strap I might add again.  

The watch comes with a charger that can be plugged into a USB port and the LED then too lights up to show you it is charging as well as when it is fully charged. 

Here the MIO Alpha is paired with my Suunto Ambit 2S. 

Set your Zone in which you want to keep your heart rate in. Not only will the LED change color depending upon if you are in the zone you are wanting to be in, but a “beep” will also go off.  These are great because many times if using the watch like this, if you are wearing headphones you can still monitor where your heart rate is with the LED’s or as well as looking at the screen itself. 

There are only two buttons to operate the watch, one on either side of the face. You can use the timer in the exercise mode to track your workout time. I use my Suunto Ambit 2S for gathering exercise time. 

The watch comes with its own USB charging cradle. Simply line up the pins on the back to the charging ports and charge the watch.  

Download the free app for allowing your smartphone to track your exercises and then export the TCX file into your favorite program later on. With the app it will show basic features, unless you play to download the full version of the app.

This is if the watch is paired with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) 

How the MIO Alpha compares......

Here is a quick comparison video of the MIO Alpha (No Cheststrap) tracking my heart rate along side with the MIO Energy Pro (Cheststrap) and MIO Quest (Cheststrap).  Like clockwork, right on the money.  Both the Energy Pro and Quest were getting heart rate info from a chest strap I was wearing.

Hot workouts in the heat.

Last week I pretty much moved my workouts indoors on the rollers.  With night time low temperatures not really dipping below 90 degrees, any kind of outdoor activity has been rough.  Set of the rollers and a small fan in front of them to keep some kind of airflow going around me.  I was able to beat the sun rising and start a morning ride Saturday at 5:30 am.  I only got in about 40 miles before running low on fluids.  I felt very strong on the bike and before heading out made a small comfort adjustment on my saddle height.  My training has me keeping my heart rate right near 80% of my maximum heart rate, using the Miowatch Quest, the readout and alarm on the watch keep me in check.
I started doing some rehab work on my IT band on my right leg, and look to attend a free clinic at a local bike shop to help me speed up the rehab and get my right hip feeling better after long rides and runs.  Just the exercises I have started doing are starting to help and I am looking forward to what will learn at the clinic.  

Support growing on Kickstarter.com for the Alpha

It's been amazing to see the amount of support and interest being shown over the past week for Liz Dickinson's Alpha, chest strapless heart rate monitor watch. As of this blog post, 652 supporters can't wait to get their hands on it, but really not "on it", as you will see why.  You see, Dickinson's company, MIO,  created the first heart rate watch to provide heart rate without a chest strap.  Heart rate readout was achieved by using fingers touching sensors on the face of the watch to get a reading. The Alpha is a watch that displays continuous heart rate without finger sensors and without a chest strap that is accurate even at performance running speeds. 

The watch features an LED light, lighting up blue, green or red, letting the user know if their heart rate while working out is too low, too high or right in their zone, all without wearing a chest strap I might add again.  
Dickinson is using Kickstarter.com to launch the product.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alphaheartrate/alpha-the-holy-grail-of-heart-rate-look-ma-no-hand

Want to know more or back the project?  Follow the link above. The project is fully funded and has another 33 days on the Kickstarter.com site to gain more support.