HRM

nmpresto

Can someone explain to me what a HRM is (all I know is that you wear it and it tells you how many calories you burn???) , how it works, etc.??? So basically anything you know about an HRM and if I should get one...

lyla29

It's a heart rate monitor and it monitors how fast your heart rate is while exercising. I know there's going to be someone with a better explanation so just wait for their response. I personally have one and would suggest getting one to know a more accurate way to calculate the calories you burn during a workout. Everyone is different so the exercise calories calcuated for the average person with the same weight/height will still be different. I've found that I burn more calories on some exercises and less on others than what MFP shows. The ones with the chest strap are the best to get.

Naomi91

a HRM tracks how many beats a minute.

It is one of the more accurate ways to tell calories burned instead of the mfp calclators since the HRM knows you age, weight, sex

I like it because I can tell how intense my workouts are :]

sabrinafaith

a hrm has a chest strap that keeps track of your heart rate and syncs with a watch to calculate how many calories you are burning. Its approximate, but its more correct than the machines or the website.

My elliptical was saying I burn twice the amount of calories. I'm glad I got my Polar F6.

reggiestarkey

I used an HRM when I was training for a triathlon 2 years ago. It tells you your heart rate which you will get to know after a while as an indication of how hard you are working (either too hard, just right, or not hard enough). You'll also see your progress...as you get into better shape, your heart rate will get lower for activities which you may have benn huffing and puffing for earlier! I love mine. As others said, use the chest strap one and not the one that is a watch that works on a finger pulse.

pandafoo

I just started using a HRM again recently, and it really keeps me on track. I realize I have to work harder to be in my target heart rate zone. Bad for me (more pain) but better for my heart and fat burning efforts! ;P

There are online tools to help you determine your target heart rate range for fat burning or cardio, based on your age and resting heart rate. The best thing I like about most HRMs is that you can set your target heart rate range on it. After each workout, you can see a summary such as duration spent in that range, calories burned, etc. As you get fitter, your resting heart rate will decrease which means your range that you need to be in to burn fat or build cardio health will shift up.

Sometimes it can be annoying when the HRM readings are erratic, or when it starts affecting the HR readouts on the machines, but it's still worthwhile and is a good investment. I have two Polar HRMs - and I think that Polar is considered the industry standard. If you get one of theirs, it's more convenient to buy one that allows you to change the battery, rather than having to mail it to the company whenever it dies.