HRM- Suggestions? :)

chelseaalicia

Hi All!

I am going HRM shopping this weekend- I have done my online research and have not really seen any one model/brand consistently recommended...

Can anyone give me any recommendations on what you have that works well for you, is reliable, etc? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

ps- I'm 5'1, female, if that helps with the selection at all...

-C

shovav91

I have a Polar ft4... I love it! It does everything I need it to.

pg1girl

Garmin 405cx....love it! I use it for outdoor sports and also bought the footpod for running inside and bike sensor to ride my bike on the trainer. Tracks everything I need.

chelseaalicia

Thanks for the input!

elcieloesazul

Any water-resistant models for swimming? :flowerforyou:

elcieloesazul

Any water-resistant models for swimming? :flowerforyou:

I saw one that is water resistant, but it doesn't use a strap, i think it uses a belt or something for swimming.

Here's the link of the top recommended HRM, it talks about the SUUNTO T6C(water resistant one)
http://www.heartratemonitoradvisor.com/best-heart-rate-monitors.html

Thank you so much! Great information.

2fit4fat

Polar ft4! Love it!! I saw in a previous post it is water resistant... Not sure though

godricshollow

I've just bought the Polar FT4, no regrets

jenna715

I have the Garmin 210. It was moderately priced and is simple to use. I like that it has GPS for tracking distance and a chest strap to take heart rate into the calorie burning calculation. I also like how it looks and can wear it as a regular watch.

heybales

One that has you input gender, age, weight, and Max HR for as accurate as you'll get calorie burn.

One that has user replaceable batteries in watch and strap.

One that is digital so less chance of interference with others, or bad electrical work in the gym, or high voltage lines above.

One that has user defined hr zone range with visual alarm, and with optional audio alarm, for when serious training starts.

Stop watch that tracks the HR only during that time for stats when finished. But display the HR anytime.

Stats of avg HR, max HR, calories, time of workout, time in zone (if not using alarm feature).

Display that lets you see time and HR together. Though really, HR is probably enough.

If moving into multi-sport training outside, GPS is great.

Love my Garmin Forerunner 305, which can give all the stats referenced above, even if not while using it, at least after data upload. Use with jogging and cycling.
But it does NOT base calorie burn on HR, but weight/age/pace. so I take avg to site with a formula.

For something smaller in the gym, had a Timex T5J031 that worked great and very reasonably priced $55 (though it didn't meet all criteria above), and now a Polar FT7 with slightly fewer features and more expensive $70 (but meets more criteria above).

Wive gets the Timex since her training is simple.

gatecityradio

I've been looking at bluetooth HRM's to use with my smart phone with endomondo. I'm curious, would I be better off getting the Garmin 405cx? I really have no idea if endomondo uses heart rate to determine calories burned or not, but I'm guessing the Garmin 405cx does? Also, can the footpod be used with stationary bikes and elipticals?

heybales

I've been looking at bluetooth HRM's to use with my smart phone with endomondo. I'm curious, would I be better off getting the Garmin 405cx? I really have no idea if endomondo uses heart rate to determine calories burned or not, but I'm guessing the Garmin 405cx does? Also, can the footpod be used with stationary bikes and elipticals?

The footpod worked with some ellipticals, but the spin bike was too smooth for the motion to register accurately. That may have been the problems with some machines too. But those machines already gave me my cadence, so didn't actually matter much.

Spin bike and treadmill did not, so wanted to use on there.

gatecityradio

I've been looking at bluetooth HRM's to use with my smart phone with endomondo. I'm curious, would I be better off getting the Garmin 405cx? I really have no idea if endomondo uses heart rate to determine calories burned or not, but I'm guessing the Garmin 405cx does? Also, can the footpod be used with stationary bikes and elipticals?

The footpod worked with some ellipticals, but the spin bike was too smooth for the motion to register accurately. That may have been the problems with some machines too. But those machines already gave me my cadence, so didn't actually matter much.

Spin bike and treadmill did not, so wanted to use on there.

Can it get a calorie count from just the HRM if I use it in the gym for weight lifting or if I use it for wii and kinect games? When I ride my stationary bike would the HRM (knowing heart rate, age and weight) be more accurate than the bike itself (knowing speed, distance, age and weight) when it comes to calories?

Sorry if I'm asking too many questions.

heybales

Can it get a calorie count from just the HRM if I use it in the gym for weight lifting or if I use it for wii and kinect games? When I ride my stationary bike would the HRM (knowing heart rate, age and weight) be more accurate than the bike itself (knowing speed, distance, age and weight) when it comes to calories?

Just read some reviews on here about it, and it appears to be the same as my 305, calories is based on age/weight/pace/activity. Not HR.
So what I do is take the HR to a site that uses an accurate formula. This will be more accurate than the bike stats - because it has no idea what level of effort for you to do that work. It calculates that on avg, this age and weight a person would normally have this level of effort as this speed and distance, but that could be way off.

http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

Despite that limitation, I still love the functions available on them, and post-workout analysis loading the data into SportTracks.