HRM

tinareet

hiya,

It's my birthday in approx a month so I'm looking to purchase a HRM as a birthday present for myself. I think I mainly want it to tell me how many calories I'm burning during my zumba classes and strength training. Do all heart rate monitors tell you this? I want to purchase one from somwhere like argos, john lewis or an actual store I can go to as my post goes missing quite often. And I can't afford too much, I'm not so bothered if it comes with chest strap or not (even tho i know if it did it would be more accurate), I just want an idea of how many cals I'm roughly burning.

Xxx

ssawchenko

I would recommend getting one with a chest strap for sure. A friend of mine had a HRM that was only the watch and 1/2 the time it wouldn't register or he had to push it onto his wrist to see his actual rate and he said it was very frustrating.

I recently purchased a Polar FT7 and I LOVE it. Polar has more basic models (FT1, FT2) that are just under $100: http://www.polarca.com/ca-en/products. I did some research before I purchased and from what I heard from people Polar was their brand of choice. I wear mine for my bootcamp and circuit training classes and so far it has been excellent.

hikingmonk

Polar is always a good choice. I had a Polar 610i for many years until I lost it. Polar is usually more compatible with gym equipment also.

I recently picked up a Garmin 305 for outdoor running. The older Garmin's (like this one) don't take HR into account for calories which kinda sucks. I found some online stuff for how to calculate it, but the Polar ones are a bit better if you want calories.

hikingmonk

Both of mine had chest straps. They are annoying for the first 5 minutes, but after that you totally forget you are wearing it. I would definitely recommend the chest strap models based on the research/reviews I read.

Both Polar and Garmin have premium chest straps that are more comfortable should you really get into it and find some extra cash.

tinareet

thanks both of you, i have read some great review about the polar brand, but FT1 and FT2 are more in the price bracket I was looking to spend, do they estimate how many calories burnt do you know?
Xx

sixpacking

HRM with chest straps will give you continuous heart rate readings, so your calories count will precise on low and high heart rate. Meanwhile wrists only HRM take the heart rate manually, thereby calculating calories at the last heart rate check. So if you slow down to lets say 116bps and your last "manual" heart rate was high at 135bps, it continues counting calories at high at 135bps; if you think about this, you'll notice that your calories will be way off if your activity isn't pace exactly at the same rate. Wrists HRM (exactly like the permanent ones in treadmills handles) are best suited for that, tread mills because you set an exact pace, speed, elevation, etc, so the calories is close to accurate because of it. Best of luck to you.

hikingmonk

Doesn't look like the FT1 or FT2 will calculate calories. FT4 looks like it does.