Help please? Polar FT7 HRM Newbie :)

Spook_Nuke_Em

Hi guys,

Just treated myself to a new toy while I was out shopping. A Polar FT7 heart rate monitor. Just wondering if anyone has some insight / tips / general info. I've never used a HRM. Thanks!

susannahsutton1

Change your overall activity level to sedentary and then wear it for all exercise.
When it comes to finishing an exercise, don't stop it until your heart rate is below 100 again
Don't look at it every 2 minutes during exercise! It is slightly behind what is actually happening, so just check at the end.
Have fun!

RepsnSets

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

Flintbeats810

EVERYthing susanna said! lol

and don't forget to start it before your work out begins! first few times i would be going about 40 sec and then remember i hadn't started it yet!

Flintbeats810

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

SEE! LMAO

Jemmuno

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

HAHAH me too!!! I go to look at it 15 min to my workout and I haven't even started it!! gah!!

susannahsutton1

EVERYthing susanna said! lol

and don't forget to start it before your work out begins! first few times i would be going about 40 sec and then remember i hadn't started it yet!

I like you!

Ah, yes, press start. All guilty of that mistake!

Spook_Nuke_Em

Seems like everybody's had the "forget to start it" mishap. I'll make sure I triple-check! Thanks everyone!

suelegal

EVERYthing susanna said! lol

and don't forget to start it before your work out begins! first few times i would be going about 40 sec and then remember i hadn't started it yet!

I like you!

Ah, yes, press start. All guilty of that mistake!

Me too!! AND, I forget to stop it sometimes too!! I usually remember by the time I get to the car though.

phoenixgirl81

Make sure you wet the contact points on the strap THOROUGHLY. If you are wearing your HRM to the gym or wherever you work out, make sure you don't leave it too long between putting it on and working out, especially if you are planning on working out for a while, or else the points will dry out and it won't be able to read properly (happened to me yesterday in the last 2 km of my 10 km run).

Rinse it EVERY day after use. I take it with me in the shower and rinse it out, and sometimes wash it with liquid soap (totally ok to do that). The instructions say you can even throw it in the washing machine (just make sure you take off the transmitter part first lol).

I love my FT7. It's literally changed my view on exercise.

Oh... I almost forgot. Don't forget to change your weight in your profile regularly or else it won't record correctly.

TssCnn

A good way to not forget to start it is to put it on when you change into your workout clothes. I wore mine as a reg watch and would forget to turn it on. I started to keep it with my sneakers and when I would change into them to workout, I would put it on. Have not forgot since.

RepsnSets

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

HAHAH me too!!! I go to look at it 15 min to my workout and I haven't even started it!! gah!!

LOL I hear ya! So frustrating lol

RepsnSets

A good way to not forget to start it is to put it on when you change into your workout clothes. I wore mine as a reg watch and would forget to turn it on. I started to keep it with my sneakers and when I would change into them to workout, I would put it on. Have not forgot since.

I put my gear on at home or at work and Im some minutes away travel distance. I prefer to turn it on when I start my workout ....on days I remember

fresh_start59

I just picked up the Polar FT4 and found the accompanied "manual' to be nearly worthless. I'm assuming the FT7 comes with something similar.

Here is the FT7 online manual with a little more info:
http://www.polar.fi/e_manuals/FT7/Polar_FT7_user_manual_English/ch01.html

I have not yet used mine for counting calories since I don't exercise long enough to get much of a calorie burn. However, I do like mine to keep track of my heart rate as I try to get myself healthy again.

Since I'm so out of shape, my heart rate goes up really fast. I'm working to stay in the middle to high portion of my range for 15 or so minutes (walking, light jogging, walking, light jogging) and then I walk, walk slower, walk slower still, and walk until I'm barely moving for my cool down.

Because I am so out of shape, my cool down takes much longer than my warm up. But I've noticed that I feel much better if I keep walking until I'm out of my target range. Before, I was exercising as hard as I could for a couple minutes, then just stopping. I immediately got light headed. That doesn't happen if I take the time to cool down properly and I've found the HRM to be very helpful for this.

Hopefully those with more experience can give us both some pointers on getting the most from our monitors.

susannahsutton1

The advantage of getting one now you are already in a calorie counting habit is that you should remember to use it because you need to know the cals

Spook_Nuke_Em

I just picked up the Polar FT4 and found the accompanied "manual' to be nearly worthless. I'm assuming the FT7 comes with something similar.

Here is the FT7 online manual with a little more info:
http://www.polar.fi/e_manuals/FT7/Polar_FT7_user_manual_English/ch01.html

I have not yet used mine for counting calories since I don't exercise long enough to get much of a calorie burn. However, I do like mine to keep track of my heart rate as I try to get myself healthy again.

Since I'm so out of shape, my heart rate goes up really fast. I'm working to stay in the middle to high portion of my range for 15 or so minutes (walking, light jogging, walking, light jogging) and then I walk, walk slower, walk slower still, and walk until I'm barely moving for my cool down.

Because I am so out of shape, my cool down takes much longer than my warm up. But I've noticed that I feel much better if I keep walking until I'm out of my target range. Before, I was exercising as hard as I could for a couple minutes, then just stopping. I immediately got light headed. That doesn't happen if I take the time to cool down properly and I've found the HRM to be very helpful for this.

Hopefully those with more experience can give us both some pointers on getting the most from our monitors.

Yea I just got done checking out the online manual. Thanks. And it seems like we're kinda in the same boat. Thanks for info. I'll be testing it here shortly.

Spook_Nuke_Em

Make sure you wet the contact points on the strap THOROUGHLY. If you are wearing your HRM to the gym or wherever you work out, make sure you don't leave it too long between putting it on and working out, especially if you are planning on working out for a while, or else the points will dry out and it won't be able to read properly (happened to me yesterday in the last 2 km of my 10 km run).

Rinse it EVERY day after use. I take it with me in the shower and rinse it out, and sometimes wash it with liquid soap (totally ok to do that). The instructions say you can even throw it in the washing machine (just make sure you take off the transmitter part first lol).

I love my FT7. It's literally changed my view on exercise.

Oh... I almost forgot. Don't forget to change your weight in your profile regularly or else it won't record correctly.

Thank you very much! I'm so glad I spent the money on this.

Dreamerlove

I love mine! Good choice. I love adjusting my strap smaller and smaller, it shows progress. My advice is when you wet the strap, use warm water and lots of it. Otherwise its painfully cold!

Spook_Nuke_Em

I love mine! Good choice. I love adjusting my strap smaller and smaller, it shows progress. My advice is when you wet the strap, use warm water and lots of it. Otherwise its painfully cold!

I didn't even think to use warm water. lol! Thanks

sijomial

Worth reading up about heartrate zone training if you are serious about improving your cardio and sports performance, makes an amazing difference to your training. PM me if you want a link.

Be aware that the calories it records for strength training (as opposed to cardio training) are unlikely to be accurate.

RepsnSets

Dont leave the transmitter connected to the strap when not working out it will suck up your battery power

rfsatar

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

A squillion times, this!

susannahsutton1

I love mine! Good choice. I love adjusting my strap smaller and smaller, it shows progress. My advice is when you wet the strap, use warm water and lots of it. Otherwise its painfully cold!

I didn't even think to use warm water. lol! Thanks

Crikey, neither did I! I have been using hrm on and off for years and have just winced when I put the strap on. Every day is a school day!

phoenixgirl81

Yeah definitely warm water! Every so often I forget and th chill is enough to make me remember next time.

jaygreen55

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

SEE! LMAO

And don't forget to turn it off when you finish

Also I find that my HRM (a 2005 vintage F11) is very generous in it's calorie count so I took 10 percent of my weight (160 instead of 177) to make sure I don't overestimate calories burned through excercise

Spook_Nuke_Em

Log all your settings correctly like body weight, height, age and most importantly DONT FORGET TO START IT before your workout lol Im terrible for not doing that.

SEE! LMAO

And don't forget to turn it off when you finish

Also I find that my HRM (a 2005 vintage F11) is very generous in it's calorie count so I took 10 percent of my weight (160 instead of 177) to make sure I don't overestimate calories burned through excercise

I think I may have to do the same. It seems a little generous on the calories so far. We'll take it for a few more spins. Thanks

susannahsutton1

Generous compared to what? Hrm will be the most accurate way to measure. All other ways are based on averages of average people.

Don't forget though it gives you gross calories burned. So let's say you do an hours exercise, hrm says you have burned 500 calories. Some of those calories you would have burned anyway as part of your bmr, let's say 100. So you need to subtract those from the exercise calories.

flynnfinn

Generous compared to what? Hrm will be the most accurate way to measure. All other ways are based on averages of average people.

Don't forget though it gives you gross calories burned. So let's say you do an hours exercise, hrm says you have burned 500 calories. Some of those calories you would have burned anyway as part of your bmr, let's say 100. So you need to subtract those from the exercise calories.

absolutely correct about gross calories burned! must subtract the calories you would have burned anyway for that hour of exercise if you were not exercising.

and while yes, HRMs are the most accurate, there is still margin for error. it uses a formula based on estimates. i personally still subtract 25% off whatever number it gives me. i'd rather underestimate my calories burned than overestimate.

kiwi2006

So glad that I found this. I just ordered my FT7, excited for it to arrive now! Thanks for the awesome tips

Spook_Nuke_Em

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