HRM suggestions?

Cytherea

I have a gift card on amazon, and I'd like to buy a good HRM. I don't know how much these things usually cost, but I'd like to spend as little as possible but still get one that is good quality and I can rely on. I mean, I'm willing to spend a little bit more for a good one, but less than $200... is that reasonable?

Any suggestions that you have would be welcomed. Thanks!

skinnyb450

Hi I bought a Polar T7 HRM for around $140 Aus - It is FANTASTC - Gives you calorie count, fat burn zone, fitness zone, heart rate.Once you have made your purchase you will not look back

Cytherea

Hi I bought a Polar T7 HRM for around $140 Aus - It is FANTASTC - Gives you calorie count, fat burn zone, fitness zone, heart rate.Once you have made your purchase you will not look back

Thanks for the suggestion! Is it a watch? The only Polar T7 on amazon is a watch one.

Which reminds me- what do you guys think is better? The watch ones or the chest strap ones, or something else? I've never bought one before so I need all the help I can get!

em_lou007

Hiya!! I had a HRM years ago - it was a chest strap 1 and when it was working it was great..........!!! I think it was my own fault though not putting the strap in the right place lol!!
I have just purchased 1 from Amazon uk -the Polar FT4 in bronze. I did a fair bit of reasearch and concluded that chest strap is now better than it was and also the way forward as the ones without will only count calories while you are making a electromagnetic loop i.e putting your fingers from the other hand on it (I don't know about you but that is my normal position while dancing or walking or running etc!!)

see this page http://www.smarthealthusa.com/product/index.php

I also found that if you want a basic 1 then polar is about the best "cheap" make out there!!

This page may also be helpful to you (not sure tho as your not in uk but it might be worth looking into?)

http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/

Good luck with your choices!!

xx

ForTheFam

All my research led me to a Polar FT40 which has a chest strap. I wanted one that just monitored from the wrist but they are not as accurate. The chest band is more comfortable than I thought it would be. Polarusa.com has a good website that will help you decide what features you need to meet your personal goals. I bought mine on Amazon for $112 w/ free shipping and loving it so far.

clioandboy

I have the bearer pm 70 from amazon uk, with chest strap (essential) and speedbox for running, the pc software is great- it does way more than needed it is fab I just need to burn more cals! Highly recommend it

ronchap

the ft 7 does come with a chest strap. the watch portion is for the readout. Also its cool, at the gym all of the cardio machines read the monitor so you don't have to keep looking at your arm

Emi_chan

I have the Polar F6 and love it. I think all of their products are very reliable and easy to use. Just make sure that you get the one that shows the amount of calories burned. A few of them don't have that option. Mine was about $95 and it came with the strap as well. Happy shopping!

bstamps12

As a woman, I wanted a watch HRM as opposed to the chest strap ones. I know it may not be as accurate, but within a few beats per minute is good enough for my level of training. I got the MIO brand and I love it. It is less expensive than the Polar brand...you just have to weigh the features for yourself. Personally, I preferred saving the money and getting the MIO because it had all of the features I needed.

bstamps12

Oh yeah, the MIO does show your total calories burned and can track calories in and calories out (through exercise). I don't even use that feature because I use MFP, but it is super easy to use!

Cytherea

Thanks for all your help. I think I'm fundamentally confused on a few things here, lol.

1- every HRM is a watch, but some have a chest strap and does it automatically and some you actually have to wear and press a button to get your heart rate?

2- if it has a chest strap, where do you wear it, exactly? Is it uncomfortable for women?

3- how do you know if they tell you calories burned? Isn't that part of the point? lol

There are so many options on amazon and I'm a little bit overwhelmed. I don't want to buy one and then have it be not what I was looking for or not work correctly. They all look like watches on the site, and that confuses me too.

I thought that you could wear a HRM and leave it on all day and see how many calories you burn throughout the day too, not just when you are exercising?

Kelleinna

I just got a Polar FT4 earlier this week. It DOES have a chest strap, and I can tell you as a woman (with a pretty sizeable chest) that it actually isn't that big a deal... I just put it right under my bra line, it works great, and I barely notice it once I've got it in place and I start working out. It just feels like the band on your bra, but a little tighter. I paid $90 for mine and it has all the features I wanted... counts calories burned, heart rate, beeps at you if you're slacking or pushing too hard and let your heart rate get "out of zone", and it also saves the data from your last 10 workouts which I've found is very handy for going back and punching them in on MFP later.

Also I learned that I can burn 266 calories playing drums on Rock Band for an hour... who knew?

Kelleinna

Oh, and to clarify, there's a transmitter on the chest strap of the HRM that beams everything to the watch. The chest strap has no digital readout whatsoever. There are many models available that are just a watch with no chest transmitter, but I've heard it widely said that they're not as accurate. I knew I definitely wanted one with a chest strap.

em_lou007

Hiya!! I have just received my FT4 from Amazon and I wanted to say how amazing it is!! :happy:

I agree with everything Kelleinna has said – it is very comfortable (I manage to wear mine just under my bra), the unit on the chest strap is very small, the watch is comfortable with a large screen and simple easy to use buttons (but still small enough not to be classed as bulky!!) and the menus on the watch are very clear.

You can wear your HRM all day if you wish but if you know your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate or Resting Energy Expenditure [REE]), then you really don’t need to I found the following link helpful looking at the pages on:
Calculating BMR and RMR, and also Counting Calories Burned
http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_BMR.php

Good luck looking for the right watch, my advice is to put the modal you are looking at into google with the words “manual” or “instructions” as this will give you more of an idea of the functions available for each 1.

Please let us know when you get 1!!

:flowerforyou:

xx