HRM's - Polar vs Reebok

maurierose

Well, I almost accidentally hijacked a thread and decided I had enough questions that I'd better start my own. LOL

I'm seriously considering the purchase of a HRM - I've seen several posts with the opinion that the Reebok ones are just as good as Polar ones, for 1/3 of the price. Anyone have a Reebok HRM? Does it have a chest strap? Could you theoretically wear it all day to count total calories burned during waking hours?

I chase a 2 year old... but wouldn't consider myself as physically active as someone who works in a warehouse, as a fitness instructor, etc... Until I started MFP seriously, I didn't really add in much "official exercise" to my day. My husband thinks I need a lot more calories than i do (somewhere around 1394 is what my MFP req's are before I count actual exercise; I've been going with that and typically eat my exercise calories, too.) I'm thinking a HRM would answer that question, as well as assist me in this journey to be where I want to be. Any thoughts from anyone would be much appreciated!
:flowerforyou:

VballLeash

I just got a polor hrm and I've heard nothing but good things about them. From what I understand the chest strap is an important part of it. I got it so that I can better track the calories that I'm burning. I think that it would be a good investment thats for sure, I haven't used it very much yet but I like it so far! Good luck :happy:

~Leash

SatelliteCrush80

I have a Reebok one; it was a great investment. The chest strap is a must...it won't read your heart rate without it. Very happy with it.

DeeDeeLHF

I have a Reebok one; it was a great investment. The chest strap is a must...it won't read your heart rate without it. Very happy with it.

Agreed! I love mine. The only times that I wish that I had purchased the polar one is for swimming.

adopt4

I have a Timex, difference between it and the Polar F6 & up... price. Mine logs calories - make sure whichever one you buy does that, make sure it has a chest strap. The Polar ones will communicate with machines in the gym, mine doesn't - but I dont' want it to, I don't want my heart rate showing up on the guy's next to me machine, LOL. Mine's also water resistant (up to 30 feet depth) so I use it in swimming, too.

I didn't see any major plus for the Polars. You have to send them away to get the batteries changed. Some other models you can't change the battery, so when they die, they die. Be sure to check on that as well. The lower Polars do not calculate calories for you, so beware of that too, I think it's the F6 and up that does.

hiddensecant

The Polar F4 calculates calories .. that's what I have.

Mom_To_5

I have the F6 and it counts calories, gives you you max and avg HR and % is water resistient to 30 m, has a chest strap, i have no problems with the gym and the HRM. It has a few other optin si haven't figured out yet too something to do with VOx or someething like that.

Nessc

I have a Reebok Precision XT HRM and I hate it. After one time using it around several pieces of fitness equipment, it has suddenly stopped working correctly. I will be doing a workout and notice the heart rate is 0. Then I will notice it being 51 then it will jump up to 91. It's very sporadic and it does not give me an accurate count of calories burned. I'm going to go buy a brand new Polar HRM and getting rid of the Reebok. Good luck finding one that works for you!

singfree

My Reebok works fine. Never a problem. I can't see spending a lot of money for a name.

tvfit

I have a Polar. On MINE it doesn't track calories until your HR exceeds 100 bpm. For me, that is a brisk walk. Chasing a child may not get you there ... at least not consistently ... I don't know if it's different in the other brands.

I LOVE that I can use mine to track my calories on machines at the gym. I can do 10 minutes on one, 10 minutes on another, and 10 minutes on another and I still have my cumulative calorie burn on my watch to log in HERE! I think cross-communication between HRMs and machines at gyms is rare.

I had the batteries in my Polar watch changed at my local jewelry store - same cost as changing batteries in any other water resistant watch. I have had no problems since.

YES, buy one with a chest strap, whichever brand you choose.

Good luck!

maurierose

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! WOW, what a bunch of useful, helpful information you guys have all given!!!! Thank you very very much for all of your responses. I am really looking forward to this purchase now - I had been leaning towards one of the wrist-only kinds, but it sounds like the ones with a chest-strap are the way to go for me. I definitely want one that tracks calories burned!

For those of you that use your HRM while exercising, does it help to have it beep or light up when you're in your "target range" for heart rate/calorie burn while exercising? Would it still beep all day if I wore it all day and was not in the ideal ranges for my heart rate, or can you turn that off and on?

Does it help to have one that stores your info for several days, or do you just log your info at the end of the day?

I thought I had looked at a wide variety of HRM's.... until yesterday when I found one that has a chest strap, wrist band, AND a radio and also talks to you through the headphones over the music you're playing... how awesome is that for someone visually impaired?! Not me, but I have certainly been surprised at all the options available. Now, if we could just get one that would exercise FOR us and give us the benefits! :bigsmile:

chrissyh

I have a polar and love it....now I want a GPS one so I know how far i go running.

tvfit

I always thought it would be useful for a device to beep every minute for interval training. then you could run a minute, walk two, etc. without having to have your wrist in front of your face....
that said, your fellow gym users will really appreciate you turning OFF the sound of your HRM because you will likely be beeping for one reason or another quite often! ;-) My polar blinks when I pass in or out of my training heart rate ... HTH!
Please let us know what you buy and for how much! thx

astridfeline

I have a Polar. On MINE it doesn't track calories until your HR exceeds 100 bpm. For me, that is a brisk walk. Chasing a child may not get you there ... at least not consistently ... I don't know if it's different in the other brands.

I LOVE that I can use mine to track my calories on machines at the gym. I can do 10 minutes on one, 10 minutes on another, and 10 minutes on another and I still have my cumulative calorie burn on my watch to log in HERE! I think cross-communication between HRMs and machines at gyms is rare.

I had the batteries in my Polar watch changed at my local jewelry store - same cost as changing batteries in any other water resistant watch. I have had no problems since.

YES, buy one with a chest strap, whichever brand you choose.

Good luck!

Thanks for the battery change tip! That was really a concern of mine, from reading reviews it could really add up $$ wise. Did you change only the watch battery or the chest strap battery too?

I found it for sale on this website, I'm including the link because it has all the specs if you want to review--even lots of info about the water resistance rating.

http://fitnessgearusa.com/pd-polar-f6-green-tea-womens-heart-rate-monitor.cfm?gdftrk=gdfV2738_a_7c860_a_7c3727_a_7c209