Heart rate monitor suggestions

carolineloves

Hi all!

I'm looking into purchasing a heart rate monitor to better track my calories burned. What are some of the ones you're using and love?

Thanks!

tiggerlove

Polar A300 with the H7 strap or if you don't want to wear a watch you can wear the H7 chest strap during your workout. IMO the chest straps are more reliable but thats just me.

katkins3

Polar or Garmin, both are good. Google polar vs Garmin.

TnTWalter

I love Polar. Amazon has great prices. I have this one. http://www.amazon.com/Polar-FT60-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B00NPZT59O [white is cheapest] mine came with something to attach to your shoe for gps tracking but it never was accurate. it's also 5 years old maybe they've updated technology. I like being able to set my own VO2 level so I'm pretty accurate in my calories.

my oldest has this one http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EKPXJTU/ref=twister_B00ZPHBVTM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Leslierussell4134

I too wear the polar H7 heart rate monitor for my workouts and the M400 for activity tracking. I love polar products, very accurate. Good luck!

ScubaSteve1962

What type of activities are you tracking?

MeanderingMammal

carolineloves wrote: »

I'm looking into purchasing a heart rate monitor to better track my calories burned.

What type of training do you do? It's possible that there is a better answer than an HRM.

jeffpettis

Garmin Vivosmart with a chest strap.

carolineloves

ScubaSteve1962 wrote: »

What type of activities are you tracking?

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

What type of training do you do? It's possible that there is a better answer than an HRM.

I do cardio twice a week (Zumba or Cize), upper & core strength training once a week, and lower & core strength training once a week.

Hornsby

carolineloves wrote: »

ScubaSteve1962 wrote: »

What type of activities are you tracking?

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

What type of training do you do? It's possible that there is a better answer than an HRM.

I do cardio twice a week (Zumba or Cize), upper & core strength training once a week, and lower & core strength training once a week.

HRMs wouldn't really be good measures for any of those.

carolineloves

Hornsby wrote: »

carolineloves wrote: »

I do cardio twice a week (Zumba or Cize), upper & core strength training once a week, and lower & core strength training once a week.

HRMs wouldn't really be good measures for any of those.

What would you recommend? I'm not really familiar with tracking calories burned other than what Google tells me.

morkiemama

HRMs are for tracking steady state cardio only. It is important to note that HRMs are not accurate for weight lifting and will not give you an accurate burn. They are also not meant for HIIT. Temperature extremes and daily burn tracking (e.g. I wear it all day to find out what I should be taking in) are also inaccurate. HRMs are for steady state aerobic exercise only!

This is a helpful blog post for understanding HRMs:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

HRMs are not 100% accurate even when they are used for their intended purpose (steady state cardio). They still have a margin of error. That being said, when HRMs are used for purposes they are not intended for they can become grossly inaccurate. It really isn't much better than pulling a number out of nowhere if the device is being used for things it was never designed to handle.

I personally have both a Bodymedia Fit (for daily activity tracking) and a HRM (for my steady state cardio). I love them both! However, it is important to know what these devices are actually designed to track. They are very helpful when they are used correctly!

MeanderingMammal

carolineloves wrote: »

ScubaSteve1962 wrote: »

What type of activities are you tracking?

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

What type of training do you do? It's possible that there is a better answer than an HRM.

I do cardio twice a week (Zumba or Cize), upper & core strength training once a week, and lower & core strength training once a week.

An HRM is not the answer you need then. Just log by duration for a close enough answer, then tweak as required according to your progress.

carolineloves

Thanks all!!

ScubaSteve1962

A HRM may or may not give you what you're looking for, but if used to for what it's named for, monitor your heart, it may help you see if you're putting in enough effort during your work out. People have gotten so caught up on the calorie burns of HRMs that they seem to have forgotten their other useful functions. When I'm exercising I would rather be able to glance at the machine, or my rest and see my heart rate, it lets me know if I need to pick up the pace or slow down. During strength training it lets me know if I'm resting to long or pushing myself to hard. Find something you like and make it work for you.

tiggerlove

the A300 with the H7 will work for those workout, the A300 has all the sports buit in..running.biking, swimming,strenght training etc built into the watch, all you have to do is set it to what exersice your doing at the time and IMO it is ver accurate, I've use polar most of my life and I love it..the only other band i tried was the nike fule and It was ok but then I went back to y trustie Polar.