HRM for mulitple activities

cNhobbes

Hello all Happy Tuesday!

I swim, elliptical, dance, roller skate, jog, lift, and work out video I'm looking for a ~$100 or less HRM that can do all these activities with me! I've seen a lot of posts going around about Polar being a good brand. Their website says their HRMs are "water resistant" but doesn't specifically say they are meant for swimming. Any swimmers out there use one of these? Also, forgive my ignorance, but is it JUST the watch or is there another part to it?

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

erickirb

Any accurate HRM will also have a chest strap( polar FT4 and FT7 are good cheaper ones). I am not sure about the underwater thing though, as water resistant does not always mean water proof.

Nikki_is_Knotty

Bump! I am in the same situation as you are! I bought a cheap-o one that i figured would work for swimming but turns out it was false advertising so im looking for one with a chest strap as well!

MayMaydoesntrun

I recently read on the Polar website that high amounts of chlorine and sea water can affect the electrodes in the chest strap. I have a Polar FT4 but I've not swam with it. I have gone kayaking and got splashed and it was fine. Good luck.

dlaplume2

You could get a polar and wear it for everything except swimming. You would still be way ahaed of the game, unless you are swimming for hours everyday.

I love my polar F4. I got it at olympia sports for $73.00. It was orginally 89.99, but I had a coupon.

luvmybeebees

Bump!

rml_16

I wear my Polar in the pool all the time.

DianaPowerUp

I have a Polar FT40, which is water resistant. I thought you could swim with it. Well, you can. But the problem is that it if you are in salt water, or very chlorinated water, the electric signals are impeded. What I've found is that in our salt water pool, the HRM reads 00 all the time. So I guess unless you're swimming in a lake, it may be close to useless in a pool or the ocean. You can swim with it, but you won't get your heart rate from it, which is of course, the point.

GoyaMommy13

mine is a timex ironman edition. i've done water aerobics and swam laps with it. i love it! i think it was on sale and i paid around 115 for it at Sports Authority. it has a chest strap and when i read the specs online (and the manual when i bought it) it says you can take underwater for so many feet. i don't remember the specific number but i remember thinking- geez- i'm only going to go 6 feet AT MOST! lol

i love mine - now i understand why i wasn't losing before even when i was "working out." i'm sure my heart rate never went above 110 when i was "blindly" working out before!

rml_16

I have a Polar FT40, which is water resistant. I thought you could swim with it. Well, you can. But the problem is that it if you are in salt water, or very chlorinated water, the electric signals are impeded. What I've found is that in our salt water pool, the HRM reads 00 all the time. So I guess unless you're swimming in a lake, it may be close to useless in a pool or the ocean. You can swim with it, but you won't get your heart rate from it, which is of course, the point.

I've worn my F4 in the ocean and a public swimming pool (2-3 times a week for an hour or more) and not had those problems in either place.

Azdak

HRMs and swimming are problematic. I agree with the earlier poster who said that swimming should not be the limiting factor.

The time when I was doing a lot of swimming, my Polar worked fine except I never could keep the chest strap from slipping off. I needed some "HRM chest strap suspenders".

rml_16

HRMs and swimming are problematic. I agree with the earlier poster who said that swimming should not be the limiting factor.

The time when I was doing a lot of swimming, my Polar worked fine except I never could keep the chest strap from slipping off. I needed some "HRM chest strap suspenders".

Women have bathing suits to keep them in place. We don't generally swim topless.

Azdak

HRMs and swimming are problematic. I agree with the earlier poster who said that swimming should not be the limiting factor.

The time when I was doing a lot of swimming, my Polar worked fine except I never could keep the chest strap from slipping off. I needed some "HRM chest strap suspenders".

Women have bathing suits to keep them in place. We don't generally swim topless.

Wow--I learn something new every day.