Garmin first to design a heart rate monitor with women in mind

The 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) officially kicks off tomorrow, but we are already getting glimpses of what tech companies are offering – or will soon offer – to consumers. Garmin’s new HRM-Fit is impressing quite a few people with its ability to easily clip onto a sports bra. Head below for more details.

Not all heart rate monitors are created equal

Women – like men – like knowing what their heart rates are while exercising via a heart rate monitor designed for this exact purpose. Unlike men, women need to wear medium- to high-support sports bras when they hit the pavement, the treadmill, or the gym; the typical heart rate monitor wraps around your chest, just underneath your pectorals, higher up on your ribcage.

For women wearing sports bras, the heart rate monitor chest strap is challenging to maneuver around a sports bra. Sports bras, especially the kind you would wear while running or exercising, have thick bands at the bottom that offer comfortable support throughout a workout, keeping everything as in place as possible.

I have girlfriends who wear heart rate monitors while running (often paired with a smartwatch of some sort), and they have complained about the placement of the chest strap because of the way in which it interacts with their sports bras. It can cause irritability while running, chafe your skin, and sometimes has to be maneuvered while running, causing the data received to be less accurate.

Now, Garmin has changed the heart rate monitor landscape with its HRM-Fit, designed to clip onto a sports bra without needing a chest strap to keep it in place.

The HRM-Fit for female athletes

Currently available on Garmin’s website for $150, the HRM-Fit is purpose-built for women, capturing metrics via a comfortable clip-on design. With compatible Garmin smartwatches and other apps, the HRM-Fit transmits accurate real-time performance and heart rate data. It can be worn comfortably during a multitude of workouts, including running, indoor and outdoor cycling, strength training, HIIT workouts, fitness classes, and more.

Other specs of the HRM-Fit include up to one year of battery life and the ability to capture running dynamics, helping to improve form with a compatible Garmin smartwatch. Grab your HRM-Fit here.

Connect the Watts’ Take

I love that Garmin has taken an innovative step in heart rate monitor design to better support female athletes; sports bras are already uncomfortable, and having to add an additional layer of fabric wrapped around your body while exercising would absolutely be a nuisance. It does beg the question – what took so long? – but alas, Garmin got us there eventually.