is a heart rate monitor worth it

lannabelle

Definitely worth it! I've had my Polar FT7 for a little over a month and it's been a great motivator and information source. Whatever type of HRM you buy, make sure it has a chest strap.

Anita_hoar12345

I bought one at wal mart I forget the brand I think it's called sync. It's supposed to measure my footsteps and calories I burn all day. I don't know if it's accurate because it says I burn 4000 calories in an entire day which seems a bit high I would probably gain weight eating 4000 calories a day


I don't use it and waisted 129$

Ninkyou

Totally worth every penny.

I got the Polar FT4. Love it.

minuz5

I wouldn't be without mine. Needs to be one with a chest strap to be useful. I have a Polar RCX3 with GPS, cost about £160 and been worth every penny, to the extent that i've just bought my daughter one too! The zone based training programme I've been following since May has transformed my fitness by making me run slower and much more conssitently.

(The calorie burns reported are lower than you tend to get from the table approach on MFP etc, but given that heart rate is a proxy for how much oxygen you are using should be a better estimate. It is still only an estimate though and for some people will be on the high side, so still be careful if intending to eat back calories burnt through exercise and trying to lose weight.)

I've seen that function on polar which says whether you're improving fitness or burning fat. Any difference in BF when using your monitor? I mean that function for fat burning is it actually useful/accurate?

hoyalawya2003

I don't mean to hijack, but I have a dumb question--is the chest strap worn over or under clothing? Over a sports bra?

AquaFan

Totally worth every penny.

I got the Polar FT4. Love it.

Same here. I bought it off Amazon for I think $80.00 and am in love with it. I can accurately see how many calories I'm burning and when I am doing Jillian's Shred can see when I am working too hard and need to back off a bit.

kroonha

I don't mean to hijack, but I have a dumb question--is the chest strap worn over or under clothing? Over a sports bra?

It goes right underneath your chest muscles on bare skin; usually you need to wet the strap for good contact.

Ivey05131980

YES! I have the Polar F4 and I love mine!

kroonha

I wouldn't be without mine. Needs to be one with a chest strap to be useful. I have a Polar RCX3 with GPS, cost about £160 and been worth every penny, to the extent that i've just bought my daughter one too! The zone based training programme I've been following since May has transformed my fitness by making me run slower and much more conssitently.

(The calorie burns reported are lower than you tend to get from the table approach on MFP etc, but given that heart rate is a proxy for how much oxygen you are using should be a better estimate. It is still only an estimate though and for some people will be on the high side, so still be careful if intending to eat back calories burnt through exercise and trying to lose weight.)

I've seen that function on polar which says whether you're improving fitness or burning fat. Any difference in BF when using your monitor? I mean that function for fat burning is it actually useful/accurate?

I have a Polar FT40 and I set mine on the fat burning mode when I do cardio at the gym (It will beep if my heart rate rises too high and I'm in fitness mode). At the end it tells you number of calories burned as well as percentage of body fat.
In a week, my waist and hip size has gone down over 1cm. I will keep using this and measuring, but there's a reason that feature exists, right?

_jayciemarie_

Absolutely! You won't regret it!

Broderick50

How does the chest strap work is it adjustable I'm a pretty big guy.

Vee716

Yes, I have one which tracks your heart rate and calories burned. I don't have to guess how many calories I've burned. The one I have is the PolarFT4 heart rate monitor watch. I got it on amazon for about $60. I researched which one to get for days and I'm very happy with it. It comes with an adjustable strap to put on right under your chest and when you're working out you don't notice it's there.

mcdebbie

Do you wear them all day or just when working out?

foremant86

I have one, at first i was excited to have it but since i do practically the same workout everyday(30 day shred) i don't wear it every time. my calorie burn only varies a few calories each day so it's a bit redundant.

if you do different workouts then yes i would say get one, especially if you use exercise machines because they are terribly inaccurate.

I found that MFP over estimated my burn by about 50 calories a day but it never hurt my weight loss, so i guess it just depends on the person.

HRM's are only accurate during cardio workouts, they are not accurate for strength training and they are not to be worn all day.

Vee716

You can do both, but i just wear mine during the gym. Not to mention yes the band is comfortable when working out, but I don't think it would be wearing it all day.

tigersword

I guess I'm the lone dissenter. Not worth wasting money on. They are fairly accurate (about 85%) for steady state cardio, but completely in accurate and absolutely useless for any other type of exercising you may do, strength training, intervals, etc.

I wouldn't waste money on it unless you happen to have the money to waste, and have nothing else you'd rather buy.

Aeramis13

For those that eat back exercise calories, an HRM is pretty much a must. Otherwise you're just blindly guessing (the MFP database is wildly off for a lot of people, for example). Even if you don't eat back your exercise calories (let's say you do the TDEE minus a certain percentage thing like I do), an HRM is a great motivator. I don't leave the gym until my HRM says I've burned X amount of calories, making me push harder than I would if I just listened to my lazy self.

Also, as you get more fit, having an HRM will tell you plainly that you're not burning as many calories so you can adjust your workout. (I've been working out 6 days/week for just over 4 months and have lost ~30 lbs. since starting the exercise thing. I now seem to burn about 30% less calories on my workouts then when I started. If I were eating back exercise calories, that amount could dramatically change my calorie deficit.

You can snag a Polar FT7 on Amazon for about $70 w/free shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KMP0TU/ I love this model, but there are many out there worth having. That being said, my previous HRM (Timex Iron Man something or other) was wildly high in it's estimation of my calorie burn. In general, the Polar brand is regarded as being right on, at least here in the MFP forums, I think.

chezjuan

I have a Polar FT4. I am actually on maintenance and following TDEE, so I don't use it to track calories for logging purposes. I use it more to see where my HR is at throughout my routine, and decide if I need to pick up the pace/push harder or tone it down/slow a bit.

When I was actively losing and using the standard MFP settings, I did use it to log my (steady-state cardio) exercise and used it to have a better idea of how many calories I should eat back to reach my net goal.

simsburyjet

I use it to track heart rate when spinning and doing insanity.. I do not go by calories to eat back the calories are only to monitor
from class to class.. I bought a cheap wrist one but my wife uses the strap watch.. Hers is very accurate.

HRCephei36

Gonna beat a dead horse here. Have been using a Polar FT4 for a few years now. Love it. Worth every penny.