Amazing Little Machine: Suunto’s T3 - a Personal Trainer that fits on your wrist.

Want a personal trainer that doesn’t hover over you with a pretentious grin, perfectly sculpted abs, and barrage you with motivational clichés? Look no further, Suunto’s T3 is more than a heart rate monitor, as it has the ability to provide real-time information on the aerobic benefit of each workout, let you know if you’re over or under training, and give you the exact information you’ll need to tailor an effective goal reaching-regimen.

The T3 is truly innovative in that it can help you achieve a variety of fitness goals, whether it be losing weight, improving cardiovascular ability, or shaving seconds off marathons.
What it offers specifically:

· Real-time Training Effect
· Current heart rate, average heart rate and maximum heart rate
· Real-time calories burned
· Three-tier zone training system with alarms
· 2 adjustable HR limits with alarms
· Speed and distance with optional Foot POD, Bike POD or GPS POD
· Compatible with PC POD
· Log memory for 15 workouts
· Interval timer
· User-replaceable battery
· HR Belt with error-free ANT transmission technology
· Water resistant to 30m (100 ft)
· Stopwatch with 50 split laps
· Interchangeable bands
· Oh yeah, it also tells time.

And, how exactly does the T3 work?

Working from your personal fitness profile, the Suunto t3 analyzes your heartbeats and translates the data into a simple, one-to-five Training Effect scale. Think of it as a personal training guide. If, for example, you want to improve your aerobic fitness at a moderate tempo, you should work out until your TE meter reads 3.0 to 3.9 (2 to 4 times weekly).

Alternatively, if you want to improve your aerobic condition rapidly without the risk of overtraining, you should push yourself until your TE meter reads 4.0 to 4.9 (1 to 2 times weekly with a few recovery sessions in the TE 1.0 to 2.0 range).

It's important to note that Training Effect is relative to each user. While a novice runner might achieve a TE of 4.0 on a four-mile jog, a professional runner might have to complete an uphill marathon to get the same reading. Both runners will have to exercise "hard" to achieve a TE of 4.0.

In addition to Training Effect, the Suunto t3 displays heart rate, calories burned and zone training. It also shows speed and distance with optional Suunto PODs.

The onboard logbook has a 15 workout memory, and archiving and further analysis are available with a Suunto PC POD and Training Manager Lite software.

As someone who owns a Suunto T3 and has previously had trouble creating, monitoring, and fulfilling a successful training strategy, I can honestly say that, uneqivocally, the T3 has been the most effective tool in helping me reach my weight and fitness goals.

Randall Scott Cycle Company now offers a variety of Suunto products.

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