HRM or Pedometer?

blossomingbutterfly

I've seen it floating through the forums that a HRM would be better than a pedometer for tracking steps for walking. Is this true? If yes, are there particular ones that you recommend over others? I have a limited budget but I'd like to get something that can accurately track time of walk, steps, and calories burned. Anything more would be beneficial but not necessary IMO. I'd like some help on choosing one that would work best with what I need it for. Thank you.

LabAgility

I love using my Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor. Relatively inexpensive as far as these things go, easy to set up, etc. It doesn't do distance but I use my phone and run RunKeeper for that. What the Polar is great for is keeping me in the zone for effective calorie burn and tabulating calories burned.

I have been thinking about adding a FitBit to the mix to wear daily so I can be more aware of movement in my day to day life.

But for hard core exercise the Polar is my go-to.

itsbasschick

i use a HRM and a free fitness app. i use the cheapest polar HRM, the FT1, to track my heartrate. i use endomondo for my workouts, although i used to use mapmyfitness - both are pretty good, track time and distance of walks. number of steps don't really matter imo - if you've been walking at 3.5 MPH for half an hour, that's more informative. although i do wear a fitbit, but mostly 'cause i got it as a present - i mostly use it to track steps on non-workout days.

btw, i haven't found any app, pedometer (including fitbit) or HRM to be all that accurate regarding calorie burn.

Smirnoff65

I use Polar H7 HRM and the Digifit app, works well for me although I also have a Polar Loop that I thoroughly recommend too, if your budget is tight and you have a decent smartphone I would say go for the Polar H7 HRM along with either the free Polar Beat app or the very cheap Digift app. The HRM gives you the flexibility that if you decide to start running, cycling, other cardio at the gym etc.. that it works really well at all these where as a pedometer does not.

debubbie

I use Polar H7 HRM and the Digifit app, works well for me although I also have a Polar Loop that I thoroughly recommend too, if your budget is tight and you have a decent smartphone I would say go for the Polar H7 HRM along with either the free Polar Beat app or the very cheap Digift app. The HRM gives you the flexibility that if you decide to start running, cycling, other cardio at the gym etc.. that it works really well at all these where as a pedometer does not.

I recommend the Polar HR7 with the Polar Beat app on your smartphone. The Polar Beat will map your route if you enable GPS on your phone and give you an idea of your distance traveled during a workout. If your budget does not allow that, I highly recommend the Polar FT4 watch with HRM. I have had mine for several years and only had to change the batteries in it. I upgraded because I love techie stuff and my bestie uses my old FT4 and HRM.

LabAgility

Whoopsie! I just looked- mine is an FT4.