Polar FT1 HRM questions

jriehl08

Does anyone else have any issues with there polar ft1 hrm? I worked out on the stationary bike for 14 minutes and everything was fine. Took a break to help my daughter got back on the bike and it went to 215 BPM and stayed there for probably 5 minutes then went to 00 on the screen. Im not sure if its me or the FT1 Am I doing something wrong? I watched the video and have the sensors belt right under my chest like in the videos. I still have it on and sitting here typing it has finally dropped down to 87 was my heart rate really that high?

Athena53

Oh, heck, if I believed everything my Polar FT7 did I'd be calling 911 every other day because my heart had either stopped or gone into arrythymia. From 119 bpm to 143 in 60 seconds? I don't think so.

Which chest strap do you have- the one where you snap the little electronic thing onto the front, or the one with the electronic thing imbedded into the plastic portion of the strap? I bought another strap for mine and it was of the second type. It seems less problematic but occasionally gives me weird readings. It's especially got a tendency to "stick" at the same rate way too long- like for a 55 minute workout over 2 different machines. That happened just last week and i've had the new chest strap about 2 months. BTW, I use an electrode cream called "Buh-Bump" with it. Don't know if that helps or not.

I realize your post was about the FT1 but I'm assuming it has similar quirks. Here's a good link on trouble-shooting your HRM.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/04/troubleshooting-your-heart-rate.html

jriehl08

thanks for the post. I have the polar t31 coded transmitter with the sensors in the front plastic transmitter itself. I just used water like they showed online. The problem is I don't get an average heart rate reading then I cant figure my calorie burn for that workout.

Athena53

OK, you've got the chest strap version that I found (so far) to be a little more reliable. One thing I've noticed is that it has to be tight. It does tend to loosen up after a few days of use and you have to re-adjust it. It also seems to start working better (i.e. the bpm fluctuates but within reasonable limits) after I've worked up a good sweat.

This has been particularly annoying to me because my employer has a wellness program that gives significant discounts on the health insurance and other freebies if you rack up enough brownie points, and one way to rack them up is electronically-verified workouts. If it's not uploaded to the computer, it didn't happen. So far in my research I've found this to be a challenge with many HRM brands, and the ones that work only from a wrist strap are even less reliable. I've resorted to buying a FitBit Zip, a simple, foolproof gadget that records only steps, to use as a backup, since my workouts generally involve enough motion for me to get credit for FitBit steps if the FT7 fails.

jriehl08

I wish my employer rewarded use for getting in shape. I just did my weekly weigh in and dropped a total of 27.6 lbs in 5 weeks now. I been really working out and just got the FT1 to help push my workouts to the next level and see just how much Im actually doing. Instead of kinda guessing.

Athena53

Yeah, I've found it really good for kicking up my exercise level a notch. I found out, for example, that my swim stroke is pretty lazy but I can get a good increase in my heart rate by "running" across the pool in water that's about waist-high.

I agree on rewarding healthy behavior although there are people who think it's a bit Big-Brotherish. It's administered by an independent company and presumably all threy tell my employer is who qualifies for a discount, but next week they (the outside company) will do a blood draw and will find out my fasting cholesterol and glucose levels, my blood pressure, and whether or not I have cotinine in my blood, whocih would indicate that I'm a smoker. Participation in the program is voluntary but a savings of $180/month for husband and wife coverage is a pretty powerful incentive.

jriehl08

heck yeah that would be 2 weeks of my part of my family health care plan per month.