Polar/Heart Rate Watches

sasha_nz

Hi,
Was interested in purchasing a heart monitor watch, but wanted to hear firstly about how beneficial they are. What're your experiences with them? Has monitoring your specific calories burnt motivated you?

DesdemonaRose

I like mine, I just have a basic Polar watch, you have to use the chest strap with it. It seems more accurate than the machines. Mostly it just satisfies curiosity for me. Numbers make me happy

udamom

I purchased a polar a few months ago. One thing I found out was the app I was using (endomondo) was way over estimating my calorie burn when walking or cycling. MFP also was giving me more calories for the same workout then I was actually burning. Wearing a HRM has made me realize it takes an hour of solid cardio moderate level exercise to burn around 400 calories for my body. this has been helpful in judging how much I can eat and still lose.
I agree with Desmonda...I like numbers )

flumi_f

I like mine, I just have a basic Polar watch, you have to use the chest strap with it. It seems more accurate than the machines. Mostly it just satisfies curiosity for me. Numbers make me happy :happy:

Me too ;-). And If the numbers aren't quite round, I tend to push myself the extra few minutes to get there. Without it, I just stop... Gadgets motivate me.

Pearlyladybug

i would def go for one with a chest strap, I brought a watch witha finger sensor and they don't work very well!

whitebalance

I have a mio Alpha. I use it with Digifit. I like it a lot -- and yes, I LVE numbers too. No chest strap, it just works on the wrist. Continuous monitoring that you start and stop manually. Down side (aside from it's kind of expensive) is it has to be on pretty tight to keep monitoring, which is hard for a smallish-to-average woman because the durned thing's so big. And it doesn't save data; it just sends a heart rate via Bluetooth LE, which is why use it with Digifit.

More than anything, for me it's just been very interesting to see how much I burn doing what. I wore it just for kicks while shooting pics of a basketball tournament and found out that indoor sports photography burns almost a cookie an hour.

Gavery1

I have just got the polar FT4 and love it. I use it for calories burnt. Its really easy to use and stores your workouts. I found that MFP really over estimated my calories so I'm glad I got it.

mytabouly

I have the Polar ft4 too and I love it. It used the chest strap and has been fantastic thus far. I too am driven by numbers and tend to get all excited when my "in zone" stats increase. Also, I love it when my chest strap syncs with the machine Im using automatically. This happened to me last week and I spent about an hour totally geeking out about it. Technology... love it!

Cannon_G

I have the Polar RCX5 GPS and love it. It is by far the best purchase I have made to help me improve my fitness. I use it for running, spinning, swimming, interval cardio training, etc... It rocks!

eating4me

I have a Garmin FR60, and absolutely love it! I found that my treadmill and elliptical were extremely inaccurate regarding the amount of calories I was burning, as were the MFP estimations. I like setting the watch to notify me whenever I've burned 100 calories. What's really neat is, now, almost invariably, I can predict within seconds when that little alarm is going to go off. I definitely have identified a certain "feeling" internally, when I've burned another 100 calories. It might sound strange, but it's true. Right now I'm not running because of some injuries, but when I do, I wear the foot pod, and it will give you pace, distance, etc., which is really nice when I'm training for a 1/2-full marathon. The other feature I like is that with the chest strap, you can see how quickly your body is responding to the cardiovascular exercise, by monitoring your resting HR, without having to "count". (I'm a lazy, retired RN--lol) You can also monitor whether you're overtraining or not, by monitoring your first morning HR. If it's elevated, then it's time to either back off a bit on your training, or take a rest. I would definitely recommend getting some type of HRM with a chest strap, since you are serious about training. Polar and Garmin have the highest ratings! Good luck on your decision...I know you'll enjoy it.

JohnMatrix

I've got a polar hr myself and base my caloric expenditiure off of those numbers vs. the machines. I have found that I was burning less calories according to the hr monitor vs what any machine kicked out. It also helped me get averages for things I consistently do that is not machine related but that I do with the same intensity and time allocation. I could then add that exercise to my weekly journal with a greater percentage of accuracy and reference as to what I'm burning on a given day. If your someone like me who has a beast of a time losing fat, it's worth having.

crazebeck

Polar FT4 for a few months and I LOVE it! It really motivates me and it is nice to see how much I personally am burning as opposed to what the machines in the gym think I am burning. Plus it tells you the ideal heart rate to burn fat. I love it and highly recommend it!

JennieSchneider5115

i wondering if anyone wears their Polar's while working at their jobs. I work retail, and just ordered a Polar. I wanna track any calorie burning while im walking around at work, and was just curious if anyone else does.

ginsmar

I have the mio and find IIT very useful to help gauge workout and keep pushing