Heart Rate Monitor

cbeutler

I'm curious who uses a HRM? How has it helped or hindered you? Which one did you get, what features are important and why? Would you buy the same one again, if not what would you get?

leodru

I dont have one but am looking as well - lots of recommendations for the Polar FT7. I checked consumer reports and the FT7 is onthe list but their best buy surprisingly is Timex 5G791. Its also alot cheaper. I hope that helps.

downsizinghoss

I might have to check that one out. Consumer reports is usually a pretty good guide.

LouisAA1978

i have a sportline from walmart with a chest strap i love it it has a calorie burn rate on it and i would buy it again

cbeutler

Thanks for the info.

TDGee

I am using the Wahoo Fitness HRM. It uses my iphone to track my HR, bike speed and cadence. LOVE it.

pearsy67

I bought a Polar FT60 as I was just getting into bike riding and wanted to be able to link it to a GPS unit I would buy later. The Polar chest strap is very comfy and it seems to do the job really well. PS take the damn watch part off before you start lifting Kettlebells otherwise your brand new HRM will get its face scratched. Trust me!!!!

As luck would have it, I crashed my bike which resulted in me getting a new bike complete with a Garmin 500 GPS/HRM/Bike computer. I love it as well.
Now I wear my Polar to the gym and use the Garmin unit on the bike or detach it when I go walking or, heaven forbid, trotting.
So if you plan to be mobile and can afford it, I would recommend a GPS HRM as the ability to track your workouts is great and there are a few sites where you can work a leaderboard kinda system to measure your improvements.
If you are just a gym goer or have a lower budget I would recommend one of the Polar units FT7 etc.
$0.02
Cheers
Pearsy

SteveB1965

For what it's worth...

I've got a Polar RS100. As well as HRM monitoring you can input your weight, age etc. and it will calculate calories burned.

If you're running, you might want something with a lap counter on it.

For GPS, I use my mobile strapped to my arm with an app called Endomondo.

If I could afford it, I would try one of the Garmin GPS HRMs - might try eBay and see if I can get one cheap.

cryptique

I have the Polar FT7. I used it during an intensive boot camp I did locally with a former Biggest Loser contestant (he lives in the area and does these boot camps year-round).

My main issue with it was the chest strap -- it has a metal clasp or buckle or something that rubs on my skin and was causing me some issues. I could probably have addressed that by wrapping some tape around that metal part but I never did -- instead I just stopped using the monitor.

I'll probably give it another try when I start doing more demanding cardio workouts. I did find it useful.

leodru

thanks for the Endomondo recommendation. I downloaded it as well and will give it a shot.

cbeutler

I finally decided to really splurge and bought the Polar RCX5 with foot pod.

I liked the design of the watch (I generally don't wear one they bug me).
The unit will adjust my daily target zones based on their algorithm which makes me feel better about pushing harder.
I liked that the watch, chest strap and foot pod had user replaceable batteries.
I had been looking for a reward for losing 15% of my start weight and somehow this just felt right.
I didn't want to out grow the usefulness and need to buy another in a year if my goals changed.
And this unit came with all the bells and whistles included (except gps and bike sensors), foot pod, training software in the watch, wireless data transfer. When I looked at other polar watches if you added the foot pod and data transfer gate the price was getting pretty close.

So this was overkill, but it should do anything I ever want.

I tried it last night, the watch was comfortable and easy to set up and use. The strap was fabric and comfortable but I was at the very end of the adjustment range. Data transfer worked fairly easily.

I'd recommend it for anybody and will let you know if I change my mind.

boggsmeister

I just used my Polar RS100 watch for the first time last night. Pretty happy with the calorie burn feature. Really don't know about anything else right now.