HRM

tiastahl

Hello everyone!

I'm in the market for a heart rate monitor. the one i have is crap. It's like a watch, except you have to put two fingers on it and hold still for it to take your pulse. I'd like something that just keeps track of it. I'm into spin, zumba, and lifting, so it needs to stay in place while i jump around. I don't need to see a read out on the spot (would prefer, but not required). What suggestion do you all have? Also, looking for $150 or less.

thanks!

debubbie

I am a fan of the Polar HR7. I can sync it to my phone with the Polar Beat app and sync my results to their website to have a log of my activity and fitness gains over time.

sminker81

You can get the Polar M400 + HR7 strap for $179 on Amazon. Awesome deal. The HRM works perfect and the associated apps work great for tracking exercises.

tiastahl

thanks for the input! I will have to look into these.

brianpperkins

With your chosen activities, do not expect an accurate caloric estimate from any HRM. They are neither designed nor programmed to accurately estimate burns from lifting ... Zumba doesn't have an established relationship between HR and calorie expenditures ... intervals don't translate well for HRMs so any spin class with rapid transitions from high to low effort levels will result in an inflated burn.

dragonmaster69

I've had the polar ft4 for a few years and I love it. It has a chest strap that says in place during vigorous movement.

Asher_Ethan

I have the Polar FT7, I do zumba as well and it stays in place extremely well.

PAV8888

Mio fuse (accurate hrm, not so much the calorie and step results as far as I'm concerned). Or their new alpha 2 (longer battery life, no attempt to track activity, is slightly above your price point)

Tom tom cardio multi sport is out of your price range.

If you just want hrm and you have an android or i-phone or an appropriate (ant 2/ble) watch that can record and display hr, the rhythm+ from scorsche is basically a strap replacement and is priced similarly and is probably the least expensive option out there.

I also find the Velcro closure just as/more comfortable than the fitbit i also use.

Check out dc rainmaker's blog for reviews.

Or get the very inaccurate due to lags going up and double lags going down, graphs that show continuous ups and downs even when in a relatively steady state, and other assorted accuracy issues, yet still somehow fun to use due to the community they've built... fitbit charge hrm.

Their surge GPS is above budget and frankly the gps on your phone is much more capable.

Source: had a polar 5 years ago, tried garmin vivofit (liked) with strap (sucked), tried mio fuse (manual trigger of activities and need to hold JUST right to operate), went to scorsche rhythm+ (exactly as advertised, a few drops and lack of display/community hamper it, i still have it ans use it when trying to accurately track HR). Have close friends using both the fitbit surge and charge hrm. i am currently using a charge hrm. fitbit will have an easy time selling their base on a more accurate and improved version 2 when they come up with it!

MeanderingMammal

tiastahl wrote: »

I'm into spin, zumba, and lifting,

What data are you expecting from it?

If you're not aiming to use the reading in real time are you intending on uploading to something else to analyse your HR performance or are you just looking to record max HR and Averge HR through your sessions?