My Polar FT7 HRM 1-Day Review [If you have no idea]

CommandaPanda

So I received the Polar FT7 yesterday evening in the mail, I was excited for it because I really wanted to know how many calories I've REALLY been burning. I'm still getting used to having one (obviously) but I'm really happy with this investment overall.
I purchased mine on Amazon.com for $85. The first thing that I wanted to do was see how accurate EVERYTHING else was. As you all know, there are many things out there that tell us "how many calories you've burned" ... I was curious to see how accurate all of these other resources were. I used MFP and the treadmill for this.

For this experiment, I did 21 minutes worth of weight training and 32 minutes of running with an additional 5 minutes “cool-down, yet still in fat burn mode” time.

Today, as I follow a strict lifting schedule, is shoulders day for me. Here’s what I did:

LIFTING:
Exercise / Sets / Reps
Dumbbell Press / 4 / 15, 12, 10, 10 @ 25 lbs
Side Lateral Raises / 3 / 15, 12, 10 @ 15 & 10 lbs
Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly / 3 / 15, 12, 10 @ 10 lbs
Dumbbell Shrugs / 3 / 15, 12, 10 @ 40 & 35 lbs

I would like to note that my objective was not to build heavy muscle mass but to promote lean muscle growth, complementing my weight loss endeavors.

FT7 Stats:
Started @ 0757; End @ 0820; Total Time: 20 minutes, 54 seconds
Calories Burned: 248 Calories
Max HR: 165 bpm
Avg HR: 136 bpm

MFP Stats (Cardio > Strength Training):
Time Inputted: 21 minutes
Calories Burned (Estimated): 104 calories


RUNNING (Treadmill; 0.0 Incline):
I did the running inconsistently.. so I’ll layout exactly what I did…
32 Minutes Total…
10-minute walk @ 3.0 mph
11-minute jog/run @ 5.0 mph
2-minute walk @ 3.0 mph (started getting a bad cramp in my left calf)
6-minute jog/run @ 5.5 mph
2-minute jog/run @ 6.0 mph
2-minute walk @ 4.0 mph

FT7 Stats:
I would like to note that I left the HRM running for an extra 5 minutes after my run since my body was still burning calories in the cool-down period.

Started @ 0820; End @ 0857; Total Time: 37 minutes, 0 seconds
Calories Burned: 474 Calories (At end of run, before cool-down)
Calories Burned: 527 (After my 5-minute cool-down)
Max HR: 179 bpm
Avg HR: 150 bpm

Treadmill Stats:
Time: 32 minutes 0 seconds
Distance: 2.30 mi
Calories Burned: 330 calories

MFP Stats:
Time: 32 minutes @ 5 mph
Calories burned: 475

A little impressed, but this didn’t include my walking intervals.

My BMR: 2201.85 cals
91.74 cals burnt/hour
1.53 cals burnt/minute
88.74 total BMR calories burned throughout entire exercise.

By the way, I calculated all this BMR stuff myself; the HRM doesn’t handle this part for you. I felt like I should’ve calculated my basic calories burned so I could get an even more accurate reading of the calories I’ve burned this morning from exercise alone… which is 686.26 calories.

I am a 21 year old male, approximately 5 feet 11.5 inches tall, weighing in (as of this morning) at 218.2 lbs.


I hope this has helped you get a good idea where our other wellness resources stand with overall calories burned and all that good stuff.
I did this for my own peace of mind but figured that this may help those of you who haven’t gotten a BMR or can’t afford one to get a better idea of where you might stand with burning calories.
Let me know if you have any questions about anything I’ve done today or posted in this thread.

CONCLUSION:
All in all, I would recommend this product for purchase. It has given me a good idea of where I'm at and has boosted my confidence throughout the day knowing that the accuracy of this device has shown that my hard work did pay off. I don't like having to guess at how hard my work's paid off, which is what I've been doing here on this site and going with the treadmill.

Thanks, and good day, America…

JoyCarter

Thanks for the review!! I'm sooo asking for one for my b-day

sh3lby03

Definitely makes me want to rush getting the polar ft4 I have been eyeing up, thanks for sharing!!!

CommandaPanda

Yeah definitely get it, it'll bring positive change in many aspects!