Heart Rate Monitors

emalay

Hi All!

You've been so helpful as a community before to me so here goes again!!

Need opinions and advice on heart rate monitors.....should I buy one or not...which one is a good one to buy....are they really accurate in telling you how many calories you burn.
I found a used one on Kijiji it is a strapless MIO Classic Heart Rate Monitor for $60.00. Good deal?

Thanks in advance for all the help!!

sharonuk10

I have the Polar Ft7 and I love it. It has a chest strap and gives me cals burned. Lets me know when I am in fitness or just burning fat. Tells me total cals burned. In my opinion HRMs are the only way to really tell how much cals you are burning. Otherwise it is just guesstimates. HRMs go by your height and weight etc.

netgirl224

I do not have one but really believe that I should get one as I just feel that the calories burned totals I am getting are too high on here..and I want to be more accurate with my totals! So I am looking forward to seeing what everyone has to say..I've been looking for opinions from people who actually use these on the best to get..so thanks for asking this!

Ellem86

I've just bought a hrm and I love it! I was starting to get less motivated about working out and the gym was becoming a bore but my new toy has made things exciting again! I bought the Polar F7, which comes with a chest strap. It tells me calories burned, how long I have been training in certain zones for and it files a weeks worth of entries so you can go out and review which workouts were most/least effective etc. When you are working out it's also really good for rest periods - if you're getting tired you can pull back until your heart rate gets to a certain point (for me it's 145 bpm) before pushing hard again. The Polar F7 also allows you to transfer your data onto your computer but I haven't done this and don't know how to.

I bought the hrm primarily because I was worried that the gym machines were overestimating my calories burned, turns out they were only about 10-20 calories out (fyi I am 5 ft3, female, 138 pounds) but I probably would still have bought it if I had known the machines were quite accurate for me. HRMs are also good for calculating calories burned when weightlifting.

I bought mine on Amazon last week for half price at £49.99.

In short, if you can afford one, get one!

makeitallsue

I really love mine, I have the polar f11...I highly suggest treating yourself.
For me...I was not eating enough because I never knew for sure how many calories I was REALLY burning. I suggest one with a strap that can measure your vo2 number so you know things will be accurate for you....
it also helped me to see that my heart is in pretty decent shape...which, ok...I'd love the pounds to drop too, but honestly health is my main concern and I was surprised and it even motivated me to go...when the scale doesn't budge!
It also keeps you in line...you can check your HR and see if you are doggin the workout or really bringing it...your HR doesn't lie
Good Luck
I've had mine since April...love it!

tross0924

The ones without the chest strap aren't any where near as accurate as the ones with. With the strap you get a reading of your heart beat as it changes up or down. Those numbers are then used with your age and weight to calculate your calories burned. With out the strap you have to touch the watch for a few seconds. Then it uses that heart rate until you touch the watch again. So if you don't touch it all the time it's way off for any kind of interval training. It's not so bad for a sustained activity like jogging, or biking, where you get to a set pace and stay pretty close to that most of the time.

All in all though I'd definitely recommend the chest strap version.

emalay

So I bought myself a polar heart rate monitor and am soooo... happy I did!
The best part is seeing my total calories burned. I find with biking and doing the wii I have burned more than what it read when logged here on MFP!!

I did get the one with the chest strap and find it suprisingly comfortable, I don't even feel it when I am working out.
Thanks to everyone for your input....always greatly appreciated!

Natural

just received mine today. can't wait to try it out this evening. nothing fancy, but programmable. ebay 23.99$ schwinn active trainer xt (with chest strap). i had the watch only HRM but tired of pressing the button. i need a constant read out. i was able to return it to walmart. and the watch costs more!

i do think it's helpful for knowing approximately what your heart rate is. i don't want to work too hard, but i don't want to take it easy. i want to be in a zone that makes my workout effective for time i'm doing it. my main reason for buying.

aippolito1

I was going to get a MIO but all the reviews on the product were bad so I got a Polar F6. I paid about $90 total, that's including shipping & handling and tax. I got it on Amazon and it's great! I've never had a problem with it.