Heart Rate Monitors

nostalgicfortune

I've seen several people say that HRMs are the way to go instead of the counter offered on this site. I'm curious as to which HRMs should I look at, what do you guys use?

CyberEd312

Polar HRM are very popular on this site... I personal use an FT60 and love it... Alot of user on here go with the FT7 or FT4.... both fine HRM... I prefer FT60 because it also figures your V02Max (lil better accuracy with calorie burn) Can't go wrong with Polar though,,,, Best of Luck....

chivalryder

I currently use a Polar F11. It's older and relatively basic. IIRC, cost me $200 (CAD) new. I also have my old one that I got for $60. It went by vibrations, and wasn't nearly as accurate as this one, which actually measures the electrical pulses.

I find it to be quite accurate and quick to respond to changing heart rates as I change my intensity levels.

You'll want one that has electrodes for measuring your heart, and is programmable with your personal information. The more information you can put into it, the more accurate it will be.

chivalryder

I should add that you'll want one that uses a chest strap. Any other form of measurement device isnt nearly as accurate.

FTIM2015

I have a polar FT 40 and love it, its plenty for what i need (cals, time, heart rate)


The OH as a garmin that does everything except cook dinner! (cals, hr, sat nav type thing!) which i great for him as he does some huge distances and gets lost!

Puddles0308

I have a Polar FT4. Totally in love with it. I found that MFP is usually pretty off.

Cyngen

I have the Polar FT7. Pleased with it except that the feedback tones are rather soft in volume and no way to boost that. Otherwise, It's good and I'd buy again.

marcoscu

I use a Scosche Mytrek HRM. I like it because it is worn on the forearm, is easy to setup and use, and connects by bluetooth to my iPhone. It comes with it's own app but will also work with Digifit and iSmoothrun apps.

misslissa555

I have the New Balance N4 that I bought at Target. It comes with the chest strap and love it! I know some heart rate monitors don't let you change between the time and how many calories you've burnt, at least my friend can't figure it out on hers, but mine does!
You input your info (sex, height, weight, and age) and you can put if you're doing a low, medium, or high impact workout and you can set an alarm that will let you know if you're below or above where your heart rate should be while exercising (I don't have that turned on). I loveeeeeeee it!

iWILLbeFit062012

I'm curious about this as well. I bought the Sportline S12 HRM watch from Walmart last week and was very disappointed with it. As soon as I started to sweat the HRM sensors quit working until I took the watch off and dried my wrist. Needless to say, I am returning it. I am thinking about buying the Fitbit Ultra, however, I would like to hear feedback from others who have it.

subtractionproject

I'm in the UK and I have a OneBody HRM that I got for £20 from Tesco. For a relatively cheap HRM, it does a really brilliant job of tracking heart rate and calorie burn. You can program it with all your information, set workout zones and it also estimated fat burn as well. It comes with a chest strap for accuracy and really, I love it simply because of the value. Polar HRMs are over double the price and when I have tried them, they do pretty much the same job.

firesoforion

I use a Polar FT-40, which I got on sale when the local Sears was going out of business. It's great.

Argent78

Bump!!! I´ve been wondering the same thing... but found relly hard to make a decision with so many out there

ls_66

I have been using Polar FT7 and love it, it appears to be very accurate and I bought the weblink add on that let you synch your workouts to their website

davenportk83

This topic is relatively new to me too! I would also like to know what is the general benefit of using HRM, are you trying to accurately calculate calorie burned or are you trying to achieve greater fitness levels or both?

HealthyWarrior

I have the Polar T4 and I love it. You can check to see how long you've been exercising and the current time, how many calories burned and your heart rate all at the touch of a button. You can also take it swimming with you. I've had mine for over a year now and I LOVE it.

CyberEd312

This topic is relatively new to me too! I would also like to know what is the general benefit of using HRM, are you trying to accurately calculate calorie burned or are you trying to achieve greater fitness levels or both?

You can't rely on MFP for their accuracy of calories burned from different exercises as well as the machines. Heart monitors although not the end all be all... They will provide you with a more accurate calories burned as well as allowing you to see your heart rate during workout and allow you to push yourself harder than maybe you wouldn't without one... I am in the camp of eating back my exercise calories and I eat back 85% of those calories my FT60 says that I have burned leaving 15% for error and this has worked for me to lose a few pounds,,, Hope that helps...

Dudagarcia

Hubby got me polar ft7 and I love it. I think next to good wo shoes this is great to have. Ur right about mfp going over calories or at least it did for me.

Journalartista

I got a Polar ft60 and it was the best decision ever! Not only does it track calories burnt, but lets me know if I'm in the right zone (in other words, pushing hard enough). The difference in calories vs mfp was huge, as in mfp overstating by 50%.

huckleberry0070

I have a Sportline Duo 1010w (for women) and I love it... it's pretty easy to use and it tracks everything you want: heart rate, time, calories burned, fat burned, etc. You input your info (sex, age, weight, height) and it automatically calculates your heart rate zones so all you have to do is tell it which zone you want to be in and it notifies you when you're under, in and over your zone. I've had it for a month and a half or so now and it still works like a dream.

davenportk83

Thanks for the info................and I would say 310 lbs. is more than a few! Congrats on your success!