Heart Rate Monitor

matthewsq

Is it really good to have one? I'm thinking of purchasing one but I don't know which one to buy: a chest strap or a watch strap. Please comment if there are other ways to track calories.

ctroxell2011

Chest strap that comes with a watch is absolutely the most accurate and not uncomfortable at all. Mine is Polar Rs300x. I love it and it gives a very accurate calorie count for my workouts. I was astonished at how much more I was burning than the machines were saying I was.

CRMrunner

I just got a Garmin FR70 with chest strap HRM. It is really easy to use and is pretty comfortable. You can set it to alert you when you fall below or go above your goal range. It's a great way to burn calories.

It's not cheap, but I would recommend getting a chest strap over a watch unless you go with one that's a lot better than the ones I've tried.

rzrbckmaniac

I recently got a Polar watch with chest strap. I use it to monitor my heart rate and get a more accurate calorie burn while at the gym. I love it. It took me a few days to get used to the strap though. I found mine at Sports Authority and got a great deal.

gregavila

I bought a Polar FT60 and have to say that I absolutely love it (got it for about $129). It is a chest strap model but that doesn't bother me. It comes with a "trainer" function where you can tell it whether you are looking to lose weight/burn fat or to build your aerobic condition and it gives you workout targets (total hours, times in specific zones). My wife got the same and loves hers as well.

As for heart rate monitor training, I absolutely believe in it. If you can combine it with something like a Body Media Fit or bodybugg then you have the best of both worlds and lots of toys.