According to Timex's advertising propaganda, athletes should not swim, bike, run, jump, climb, throw or kick without an attached Ironman watch.

But are real athletes as passionate about the range and do they rely as heavily on the watches as their American creators believe they should?

Timex's Ironman sub-brand is reportedly used by the firm to attract younger consumers, according to marketing trade press in the US.

But it has also become the mainstay of many a successful sports performer and helped guide them through their long, gruelling training programmes.

Supported by its position as an official timing partner of major sporting events such as the New York Marathon, Ironman has been pushed as the perfect training aid to help achieve success.

However, with a multitude of features which are used to gauge the condition of your body and areas for improvement, it hasn't taken much pushing by advertising executives to have the brand accepted in elite sporting circles.

Historically, Timex developed the first-ever watch which was aimed purely at the sports market and, with the Ironman, it has continued to hold its own in the increasingly competitive performance, health and fitness Timex Ironman Race Trainer Heart Rate Monitor market.

Ironman is also one of only a handful of watches certified for use in space by NASA astronauts and is understood to be the biggest-selling range of sports watches on the planet.

So why are they universally accepted as the ideal tool to carry you through the often lonely, and arduous journey of a training programme?

The answer probably lies in Timex's 'cover-all-bases' approach. Whether you are looking to shed a few pounds by starting to jog regularly, or you are finely-tuned sprinter training for the race of your life, there is a watch in the Ironman range to suite your needs.

For example, the Ironman iControl watches are ideal for people who need stimulating to get them through a mundane session of pavement pounding. The watch transmits signals to your iPod to control your music with your heartbeat.

For more serious athletes, the popular Ironman Triathlon range includes watches which are built to be worn on the inside of the wrist for optimal viewing when running.

Meanwhile, the newest Ironman models feature touch screen technology and up to 150-lap measurements alongside the target time pacer to ensure that your run goes to plan.

If running is your way of maintaining a healthy heart, then the Ironman fitness measurement technology could help.

Monitor your heart rate while going through the multi-workout function to kick-start your training regime with the Target Trainer.

Elite athletes can also use the wireless data exchanger to upload their workouts directly to their computer.

The Ironman Fitness Tracker line, which was last year named as a Best Mother's Day gift by WebMD magazine, has proved popular among walkers and runners alike.

The range helps you stay fit by tracking calories, pace, distance and steps, meaning training has never been easier to keep track of.

Be warned, however, an Ironman watch may give you every function you could possibly need to achieve your goals, but it is no replacement for the willpower needed to get out of bed and hit the streets.