Heart Rate monitors ??

Melli118_14
Melli118_14 Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
What is everyone's opinion on heart rate monitors? Trying to decide if i should purchase one or not.. i want to get one to keep up with calories burned..would this be helpful and boost weight loss or just and extra accessories ?? not sure...would love feedback!!

Also, I do run/walk some.. BUT most of my workouts are cardio / strength training and yoga...

Thank you!!

Replies

  • Turtle003
    Turtle003 Posts: 133 Member
    I love my HRM. I have the Polar FT60 and it has helped me tons with my running and tracking calories. I have found it is pretty accurate and the programs on it are great. Good Luck choosing one :)
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I just got a Timex brand one -- it's a real simple no frills HRM -- for tracking my Insanity workouts and I LOVE it.
  • Melli118_14
    Melli118_14 Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks! i have been considering the FT40..not sure the differences new to all this lol ! i've heard great things about it! and i think it will help keep me motivated i'm just one of those ppl who likes to know how many cals they burned....ect..so i know if i need to do more to burn more cals..or if im good..lol
  • ACDodd
    ACDodd Posts: 129 Member
    I am having the same dilemma.
    I'm a gadget freak so it's easy for me to buy something and not use it.
    I am also concerned about the chest strap.
    Will it be too short?
    Thanks for asking this question.
    I'll be following it to see what everyone thinks.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Are they necessary? No. Are they helpful? Can be.

    Anything from garmin, suunto or polar will be good, just find the one with the features you want.
  • notthatthis
    notthatthis Posts: 218
    Understanding the Borg Scale and then a HRM. I got a HRM to convince myself that I wasn't going to die by exercising.
  • imaginaryplaces
    imaginaryplaces Posts: 123 Member
    I have a Polar FT7, and I like it. However, keep in mind that HRMs are designed to measure your heart rate, and the calorie counting feature is secondary and often not especially accurate. And, at least in my experience, the calorie calculations can be way off for strength training and for lower intensity activities. For example, my HRM seems to significantly overstate my calorie burns for brisk walks.

    I use my HRM primarily for HIIT workouts and to challenge myself to push myself hard in cardio workouts. I take the calorie counts with some big grains of salt.
  • icmuse
    icmuse Posts: 263 Member
    I did lots of research and in the past I have used the Iron Man Triathlon watch,
    but my workout style, lifestyle had changed and I just ordered Polar Ft7, seems to be perfect for what activities you describe!
  • Bailey532
    Bailey532 Posts: 65 Member
    LOVE my polar!!!
  • kaimi2011
    kaimi2011 Posts: 141 Member
    I have the following: Polar F6 model, Polar T60, Garmin Forerunner 305 and another Garmin GPS (older) but can't think of the style right off.
  • imaginaryplaces
    imaginaryplaces Posts: 123 Member
    Understanding the Borg Scale and then a HRM. I got a HRM to convince myself that I wasn't going to die by exercising.

    LOL. I totally relate - when I first started out, the death by exercise thing was a concern, and learning about max heart rates and having an easy way to measure was reassuring. Now, I'm amazed how high I can get my heart rate and live to talk about it. :-)
  • jonchew
    jonchew Posts: 239 Member
    Since I already carry a smartphone when I run, I decided on using the Zehpyr HxM Bluetooth HRM, which talks very nicely to both fitness apps that I use (Endomondo & SportsTrackLive). I'll confess, I'm a gadget freak, but I find the HRM very useful, & really like it.
  • rpapesr
    rpapesr Posts: 49 Member
    Hi Mel,

    Two things I HIGHLY recommend (that helped me in my first round of weight loss a year ago) are a HRM and a food scale. If you use these two things for all of your exercises and all of your food intake you will have the most accurate information to put into MFP.
    Both of them were an huge eye opener for me about how wrong I was on guessing or estimating my calories on both fronts.

    I am not an expert on HRM's, my schwinn crapped out on me a while back but because I run outside the GPS function on the HRM was important to me.. turns out that my Iphone did a better job and was much more user friendly for tracking my routes.

    And HRM's work for anything, you can even track your daily calorie burns by wearing it for the day.

    Good luck!
  • meadow_sage
    meadow_sage Posts: 308 Member
    I'm getting the Mio Motion. I swim and it is water resistant up to 50 meters deep. It has a lot of great features, too. There are some out there cheaper but I think this is the one will meet my needs best. I've spending the last couple of day researching them.

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