HRM or the Body Media?

faireplay

Anyone out there have experience with a Polar HRM and /or the Body Media? Pros and cons of each? Is there one over the other that is known to be more accurate on counting calories? I've never used either, though I do have a Polar HRM that just ended up sitting in a drawer.

faireplay

Bueller? Anyone?

rachelerwin

I have a Polar FT4 and love it. It keeps track of calories burned and heartrate. That is what I wanted it for. I have never used Body Media.

frosty73

I've used a Polar HRM for years when I was doing regular cardio and strength training. It works great for recording your calorie burn in the moment, although of course with weightlifting you burn more afterwards, during repair, that doesn't get recorded on the HRM.

I just bought a BodyMediaFit because I don't want to wear my HRM all day long. BMF has the advantage of measuring all the time when you are wearing it, and getting very, very specific data (how many calories was I burning at 3:27 PM when I was walking my dog? How much sleep did I get last night?) It appeals to me because in my day-to-day job as a dog walker, I might be walking for 1 1/2 hrs. one day and only 20 minutes the next, and I don't have to think "I'm exercising, time to turn on my HRM." Plus, it measures steps taken throughout the day. For measuring calories used in your LIFESTYLE, you need something like BMF. For measuring calories you burn at the gym, or to keep your HR in a certain range while exercising, you need a HRM. BMF doesn't give you data on your HR, so if you need to monitor it you absolutely are better with a HRM.

Mokey41

It depends what you want to do. Body Media is meant to be worn all the time to give you a total daily reading while a HRM is meant to be worn only during intentional exercise and won't give accurate readings if worn at lower heart rates.

MikeInAZ

With the HRM, you wear it when you work out. Body Media you wear all day. I have a Polar FT7 that I wear when I workout and it tells me my calories with fair accuracy. Also it tells me my HR which I train to get my HR into the Orange and Red zones, so it's very helpful. The Body Media does not tell you your HR at all.

I also have a Nike Fuel band which I wear all day long. I'm not going to go into what the Fuel Band is, look it up on Nike.com. But, it's a nice motivator. The Fuel band keeps me in check all day and if Im having a low active day, I know I need to step it up. Plus I like the social media aspect of it, I have a number of friends with one, so we compete against each other. I've noticed a lot of Celebs wearing them lately, it seems to be the trendy new thing in Hollywood too.

If you don't care about your HR, then the Body Media is probably a good choice, but they're rather expensive and you have to pay for a website annual membership to use it. Where as the HRM is buy it once and use it.

The Fuel Band is fairly accurate on the calories burned when you do cardio. When I compare it to my HRM, after a hike, they're almost the same number.

If you go with the Polar HRM, they have 2 kinds, one that syncs to a watch and one that is BlueTooth and syncs to your phone. If you ALWAYS have your phone near by, then go with that option. For me, I find it more convenient to have the watch and just glance at it while Im doing what ever it is I do.

I certainly recommend Polar HRM over any other brand. A lot of gym equipment will sync with your pod and display your HR and Calories on the the machine.

Good luck, tough choice, but you'll most likely end up with 2 or 3 devices, we all do eventually.

- Mike

faireplay

Lots of information! Thank you all, I will need to mull this over for a day or two. It does sound like I will need both as I want to figure more accurately my TDEE but also track my heart rate.
Thanks again, you guys were a wealth of info for this newbie :-)

jaz050465

Lots of people have a Fitbit for daily activity and. HRM for exercise.this will be cheaper than BMF and no monthly fees.