Just got my FT7 and have a couple of quick questions...

KareninCanada

I got my shiny new Polar FT7 in the mail today and was all gung-ho to use it... lol I brought it home, set it up (easy as pie), and took it to the gym tonight.

First cool thing, the treadmill immediately picked up the transmitter. So no having to hold onto the metal bars to get a reading. Nice. But the funny thing is, the heart rate from the Polar was a lot lower than what the treadmill usually gives me - like about 90-100 bpm instead of 115-125. So I thought maybe it wasn't picking it up right... adjusted the belt a couple of times, then figured I'd up the intensity and see what happened. All is good in the end, it just seems like it took longer to get to where I thought I would normally be - but maybe the HRM on the treadmill is affected by vibration. Who knows. I forgot to turn on the recorder on the FT7 while I was on the treadmill, though, so I can't compare their projected calorie burn amounts.

So my first question is, does that make sense that the reading would be different?


Then I wore it while I did my 40 minutes of work in the weights area. I had NO idea how high my heart rate got while working out with weights - I went from 100bpm up to 170bpm in about ten seconds while doing stepups with dumbbells! Overall, it averaged at 115bpm over that time, between lifting and resting.

The total calorie burn it gave me was 186 for 40 minutes. Now, do I need to subtract anything from that, or has the FT7 already made the appropriate calculations to allow for BMR?



And finally.... it says to wash the strap once a week in the laundry but not to spin dry. Does that mean I should or should NOT put it in the laundry if I have a front-load washer with a high-speed spin cycle?


Thanks!!

nz_deevaa

I got my shiny new Polar FT7 in the mail today and was all gung-ho to use it... lol I brought it home, set it up (easy as pie), and took it to the gym tonight.

First cool thing, the treadmill immediately picked up the transmitter. So no having to hold onto the metal bars to get a reading. Nice. But the funny thing is, the heart rate from the Polar was a lot lower than what the treadmill usually gives me - like about 90-100 bpm instead of 115-125. So I thought maybe it wasn't picking it up right... adjusted the belt a couple of times, then figured I'd up the intensity and see what happened. All is good in the end, it just seems like it took longer to get to where I thought I would normally be - but maybe the HRM on the treadmill is affected by vibration. Who knows. I forgot to turn on the recorder on the FT7 while I was on the treadmill, though, so I can't compare their projected calorie burn amounts.

So my first question is, does that make sense that the reading would be different?

Yes. I found that I burn a lot more calories in the 2nd half hour than the first because my heart rate is consistently higher.

The total calorie burn it gave me was 186 for 40 minutes. Now, do I need to subtract anything from that, or has the FT7 already made the appropriate calculations to allow for BMR?

To be 100% accurate you should, but I never bother.

And finally.... it says to wash the strap once a week in the laundry but not to spin dry. Does that mean I should or should NOT put it in the laundry if I have a front-load washer with a high-speed spin cycle?

I throw mine into the washing machine with my gym gear and I've never had any issues. Don't put it in the dryer though.



Thanks!!