Favorite Heart Rate Monitor

kelbwjax

Looking into incorporating a hear rate monitor into my workouts! What are some of your favorites and why?

jc1961AA

I like my Polar FT 7, does exactly what I was after, workout duration, calories burned and keep an eye on my HR. The first one I received from Amazon went faulty but was replaced very swiftly .
JC

christimccarty

polar ft40 because it breaks down my calories burned and fat percentage at the end of my workout.

mrandolph69

I love my Polar FT7. I have never owned another one so I can't compare it but I loved my FT7 so much I bought one for my wife.

trigger2354

If you have a smart phone, consider the Zephyr. It's a Bluetooth HRM that communicates with your Android phone via the Endomondo app. I paid $75 for the Zephyr on Amazon. You can download the Endomondo app for free, although I would recommend breaking the bank and paying $2 for the Pro version.

I used to have an iPod attached to one arm and a dedicated HRM strapped to the other. And when cycling, I'd also have a GPS on my bike. I looked like a science experiment. With the Zephyr, everything is combined, contained and controlled with my phone.

Endomondo Pro, coupled with the Zephyr HRM, is easily the most effective (results and cost) training tool I've ever used. And it's a very nice bonus that MFP and Endomondo share data. All of my workout calorie burns are automatically uploaded to MFP which is very convenient. Endomondo utilizes the phone's GPS capabilities to track all workouts. In addition to your heart rate, you can track your speed, lap times, elevations changes, calories burned, steps taken (yes, it has a pedometer), pace and more. And all of this data is displayed in big, beautiful, living color on your phone's screen. A very nice upgrade over the tiny displays on dedicated HRMs.

The latest release of Endomondo has greatly expanded the audio coaching capabilities of the app. You can now customize the app to provide exactly the information you would like to hear as you workout. It will tell you your heart rate, speed, pace, calories burned, elapsed time, etc. at whatever intervals you choose. This is very handy for me because my primary cardio in the winter is cross country skiing, and my arms are heavily involved in each workout. It's very nice to have all the vital information spoken in my headphones. I never have to stop my arm swing to see my heart rate or other data.

All of your workout data is maintained in history files on your phone, and it's also automatically uploaded to the Endomondo website where you can analyze your workouts in much greater depth. Unfortunately, Endomondo recently locked out some of the analytical features on the free version of the website application, forcing you to buy a monthly subscription to get the full suite of tools. I use the paid version because I'm an analytical geek who scrutinizes every workout to find clues for ways to improve my speed, fitness, etc.

The only potential negative is that you can't change the battery. Once it had been recharged to death, you will have to purchase a new transmitting pod at $50 to $60. I can't say how many recharges the thing will take before it dies, however. I have had mine for about a year and even with daily use, it's still going strong.

This combination of tools has been key in helping me dramatically improve fitness markers such as resting heart rate, recovery heart rate, lactate threshold, blood pressure, etc. I can't imagine every going back to a dedicated HRM.

Lunarokra

bump

jacksonpt

Looking into incorporating a hear rate monitor into my workouts! What are some of your favorites and why?

Anythign from Garmin, Suunto, and Polar will be pretty good. Just pick the one with the features/price you want. I've got both a Suunto and a Garmin and have been very happy with both. Battery life on the Garmin does seem to be a little short though.

Shauncho49

I'm on Iphone and I did the Digifit / Polar H7 combo. Polar H7 is around $70 on Amazon and Digifit pro is $7.99. Digifit works with both iOS and Android and automatically syncs all your activity to your MFP account. with the HRM attached it shows metrics like FATcal burned, Fat%, Carb% as well as the typical distance, time and overall calorie burn. You can set specific workout routines in there for all your cardio workouts. So far I'm digging the combo...the HRM is a chest strap style. So far it seems to be pretty accurate.

Nikusz

If you want to connect the HRM to your phone, I also recommend Zephyr HxM. I had to replace the belt (not the transmitter) after nearly 2 years of daily use., but otherwise it's great. I also tried Polar Bluetooth with my phone but I had a lot of problems with weak signal and short battery life, so out of those two I'd definitely suggest Zephyr.
Regarding the apps, I tried several Android apps with it, and I decided on Digifit apps (iCardio, Spinning, etc) mostly because it's rather simple in design and can be connected straight to MFP. you need to buy pro version of the app though to use it with HRM.

n_unocero

I used to have a Polar FT7. It did it's job....counted cals burned and kept track of HR.

Now I have the FT60 and I am so glad I made the switch. The FT60 gives me a workout plan based on my goals. It gives me a certain # of cals to burn and a time goal for each zone that I should reach each week...which is super motivating. It also has a VO2 max test that makes my cals burned a little more personalized than just putting in my height, weight, and age.

Requiembell

I used to have a Polar FT7. It did it's job....counted cals burned and kept track of HR.

Now I have the FT60 and I am so glad I made the switch. The FT60 gives me a workout plan based on my goals. It gives me a certain # of cals to burn and a time goal for each zone that I should reach each week...which is super motivating. It also has a VO2 max test that makes my cals burned a little more personalized than just putting in my height, weight, and age.

I have used the FT60 for years and it is rocks solid! Better than the FT80 in my opinion.

I recently ordered the RS800CX GPS G5 because I intend to take things to a whole new level, but FT60 is a hell of a machine.

Timshel_

I have a Garmin that has worked flawless for almost a year and a half.

goldstargeek

I'm on Iphone and I did the Digifit / Polar H7 combo. Polar H7 is around $70 on Amazon and Digifit pro is $7.99. Digifit works with both iOS and Android and automatically syncs all your activity to your MFP account. with the HRM attached it shows metrics like FATcal burned, Fat%, Carb% as well as the typical distance, time and overall calorie burn. You can set specific workout routines in there for all your cardio workouts. So far I'm digging the combo...the HRM is a chest strap style. So far it seems to be pretty accurate.

Same as this...

_the_feniks_

Polar FT7 for the same reasons others have listed.

angy67

I recently purchased a FT40 and love it as well. A question do you eat all the calories it says you burn? Also, do you try to stay in fat burn zone for certain period of time? Pro and cons of being in fat burning versus fitness zone as I find when i run or step I CANT get much time in fat burning zone?

cacleghorn

If you have a smart phone, consider the Zephyr. It's a Bluetooth HRM that communicates with your Android phone via the Endomondo app. I paid $75 for the Zephyr on Amazon. You can download the Endomondo app for free, although I would recommend breaking the bank and paying $2 for the Pro version.

I used to have an iPod attached to one arm and a dedicated HRM strapped to the other. And when cycling, I'd also have a GPS on my bike. I looked like a science experiment. With the Zephyr, everything is combined, contained and controlled with my phone.

Endomondo Pro, coupled with the Zephyr HRM, is easily the most effective (results and cost) training tool I've ever used. And it's a very nice bonus that MFP and Endomondo share data. All of my workout calorie burns are automatically uploaded to MFP which is very convenient. Endomondo utilizes the phone's GPS capabilities to track all workouts. In addition to your heart rate, you can track your speed, lap times, elevations changes, calories burned, steps taken (yes, it has a pedometer), pace and more. And all of this data is displayed in big, beautiful, living color on your phone's screen. A very nice upgrade over the tiny displays on dedicated HRMs.

The latest release of Endomondo has greatly expanded the audio coaching capabilities of the app. You can now customize the app to provide exactly the information you would like to hear as you workout. It will tell you your heart rate, speed, pace, calories burned, elapsed time, etc. at whatever intervals you choose. This is very handy for me because my primary cardio in the winter is cross country skiing, and my arms are heavily involved in each workout. It's very nice to have all the vital information spoken in my headphones. I never have to stop my arm swing to see my heart rate or other data.

All of your workout data is maintained in history files on your phone, and it's also automatically uploaded to the Endomondo website where you can analyze your workouts in much greater depth. Unfortunately, Endomondo recently locked out some of the analytical features on the free version of the website application, forcing you to buy a monthly subscription to get the full suite of tools. I use the paid version because I'm an analytical geek who scrutinizes every workout to find clues for ways to improve my speed, fitness, etc.

The only potential negative is that you can't change the battery. Once it had been recharged to death, you will have to purchase a new transmitting pod at $50 to $60. I can't say how many recharges the thing will take before it dies, however. I have had mine for about a year and even with daily use, it's still going strong.

This combination of tools has been key in helping me dramatically improve fitness markers such as resting heart rate, recovery heart rate, lactate threshold, blood pressure, etc. I can't imagine every going back to a dedicated HRM.

Thank you so much! This was really helpful. I have a Droid, and have been using Endomondo increasingly lately, and I'd wondered if there was a cheap HRM that communicated with the phone.

k9t8a8

Does anyone use one without a chest strap? I have a New Balance one that's ok, but I'd love to have something effective with just a watch/wrist strap.

Requiembell

I recently purchased a FT40 and love it as well. A question do you eat all the calories it says you burn? Also, do you try to stay in fat burn zone for certain period of time? Pro and cons of being in fat burning versus fitness zone as I find when i run or step I CANT get much time in fat burning zone?

Answer to first question: Yes

Answer to second: It depends on how you are training and what you are trying to accomplish

Requiembell

Does anyone use one without a chest strap? I have a New Balance one that's ok, but I'd love to have something effective with just a watch/wrist strap.

Doesn't exist yet.

xilka

polar ft60 is working well for me

kategettingbuff

Does anyone use one without a chest strap? I have a New Balance one that's ok, but I'd love to have something effective with just a watch/wrist strap.

Yes, I have a Mio. It has two buttons on the face that you lay your first two fingers on and it gets your Hr it is accurate. It counts calories among other things. I am looking into getting a Polar though. Unfortunately I don't think the Mio is accurate with calorie count. I think this is because it only records your heart rate when you ask it to apposed to a chest strap which would continuously monitor it.