Heart Rate Monitor Watch

Spayrroe

Hi. This might not be the right place for this, but out of all my choices, this seemed the best. I was looking at HRMs on Amazon. I would like to get one because you can't always trust the machinery or the database here, and I really want to make sure I'm not over estimating how many calories I burn.

That being said, I also can't spend a whole lot of money on it. I need something that doesn't go much (preferably not at all) over the $50 mark, but I also want something that's pretty accurate. I got so tired of reading Amazon reviews. From having read other product reviews in the past, I know sometimes people can have unreasonable expectations, so it's not always easy to tell how 'honest' the review is.

I would also like to avoid the chest strap models. I have a long way to go, and I'm concerned that the straps won't be big enough to go around and still leave slack for me to breathe. I'm hoping some of you on here that own these devices can give me a little guidance.

Thanks!
Spayrroe

clioandboy

Hi there, I think you'll find that the only way to get any semblance of accuracy you need a chest strap. Sorry! I have a beurer pm70 off amazon I love it but it is really stingy with it's calorie allocation so I reckon it hates me!!!! Lol!!! It is great

Good luck

Azuleelan

Kind of impossible. There's no accurate HRM, strapless and for less of $50. Save up for this one
http://www.amazon.com/ePulse2-Strapless-Monitor-Calorie-Counter/dp/B003YDOO2K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302842741&sr=8-1

ssawchenko

A friend of mine had a non-strap HRM (a watch) and he said it never worked properly or accurately... so I would honestly look into a chest strap. You will probably be surprised at how comfortable they are (me and a few of my friends have them and we are of all different shapes and sizes).

Before I bought mine I did some research and from what I saw on forums, Polar was the brand of choice. I'm afraid their base model is over your $50 limit, but you will probably be hard pressed to find a decent HRM for that $$$. I bought the Polar FT7 and I love it, but my friends have the more basic models (FT4 I think?) and they love them as well. You may be able to get a used watch off ebay and then pickup a strap separately to save on cash. If not the base models are about $100.

That would be my recommendation though, spend a little extra to get something decent and reliable. Or else you won't use it and that $50 will be wasted anyways

Best of luck!

JenBrown0210

The problem with the non strap ones is you have to put your fingers on it to get the heart rate so its not constant and less accurate. For the price range you have the best bet is one with a strap. I got mine from www.oregonscientific.com its the se105. I love it. I paid 48 for mine with shipping. It has the strap with it and it sends the info to the cybex machines at my gym.

bonjour24

i have a polar, with the strap. and it's fab. it took me a while to learn that it does not need to be under your boobs- that was really uncomfy for me and i kept getting sore where it was rubbing up against the bones in my bra.
i wear mine at the top of my boobs (sorry if this is TMI, but it's worth knowing). it's comfy, doesn't move around and is able to keep track of my heart without issue.

and the straps are just a big piece of elastic at the back that can be made bigger or smaller, that attach onto the plastic strap of the monitor. my strap is a medium, and there's heaps of room for making it bigger or smaller. and i'm a UK size 18-20, which i think is a US 22.

hope that helps.

joni

bbb84

I got my Polar FT4 with chest strap for around 60 at a sporting goods store, im sure they are listed cheaper online. Its actually comfortable and other than the fact that I put it there, I really don't notice it. As far a size goes, my band goes from m to xxl with plenty of room for adjustment. I love it ! No fuss no muss and it "talks" to some of the fitness equipment at the gym as well... it also stores logs of previous workouts if you ever want to compare.

Spayrroe

Thank you so much for all of your input. I am willing to wait a while longer to be able to save for a more expensive model, but I was concerned about that because I noticed, more often than not, you DON'T get what you pay for when you pay a lot (though, I will admit that usually if it's dirt cheap, it's just plain dirt). It seems like my concerns about the chest band were unfounded according to those of you that posted about that (I've had that issue before when trying to buy fitness equipment, it only fits people who are fit).

Thank you very much again, all of you! This gives me some direction to go on, and confirms some of the better rated product reviews I've seen (almost every Polar product I've seen has a fair to decent customer satisfaction rating).

zakkthebear

if you get a Polar model, you really can't go wrong. it's just what bells and whistles you want and that will = cost. I've had 3 Polars and all are still working, one from '98 or '99

Spayrroe

I just want something to accurately measure calories burned during my workouts. I was warned by a trainer at the gym that the machines are not entirely accurate (based on the information from his HRM), and I've seen a lot of variance in the database here. I'd like a heart rate monitor so I can keep track of that as well to make sure i'm working at my most efficiency (not that I dislike spending time exercising, but if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right), and the monitors on the machines at my gym seem to take drastic leaps even though I try to get a reading about every minute (plus, when I do my kickboxing dvd at home, I have no way to gauge if my heart rate is too high or low). I don't even really need a watch function at all (I never wear the things, so this will probably only be worn during 'active' exercise, though not to tell me how much I burn running my trash out or lugging groceries up the stairs to my apartment), or the stop watch/work out timer function.

I just get concerned sometimes that I'm overestimating my burn. Even though I overshoot on intake, and undershoot on output, I don't want to be fooling myself unintentionally. I also want to be careful to not be balancing correctly and consuming too little. Since I started using the log on here (and I am brutally honest with myself about it and log everything), I debate long and hard on if I'm really hungry or if I'm eating for some other reason. I also upped my water intake dramatically, so I'm not eating near as much as I used to. That's great and all (I'm actually really proud of my determination here), but like today, it's 3pm, and i just realized that all I consumed aside from water to this point is a venti carmel nonfat iced latte from Starbucks. I'm eating some cereal now, but not really because I decided I was hungry, more because I know I should eat something to keep my metabolism up.

Anyway, sorry about the rambling, I'm just looking for something I can trust (at least mostly, I know nothing can be perfectly accurate) to tell me how many calories I burned during exercise, and when I'm in the right heart rate zone for max efficiency.

Once again, thanks so much for all of your responses.

mkcalvert

I found ebay pretty reasonably priced

jenny95662

i use to have a polar but lost it loved it at the time but it had to have a chest strap or was never accurate, now i have a timex one with a chest strap and its great i am heavy 261 pounds and i workout hard and burn like 11 to 1200 cals in 45 to 60 mins and its consistent everyday around the same depending on how hard i work on days i do light workout it goes down to 700 to 900 for me so makes me feel its accurate the chest strap does not bother me at all and i am a big girl lol mine was around 130 bucks though and my polar at the time was around 100