Heart Rate Monitor Watches

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  • Songtothesiren
    Songtothesiren Posts: 388 Member
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    Hi

    Because I'm doing the Jillian Michael 30 Day Shred DVD I wanted a Heart Rate Monitor Watch to get an idea of what I was burning in calories during her circuit training.

    I bought a Kinetik chest strap & watch combo. My advice? Don't buy cheap, by the best you can afford. My cheap combo is so complex to use it is de motivating and with such a tiny display that I can't actually see it very well. I deeply regret wasting my money.

    Follow everyone elses advice and buy what they are all raving about.

    Buy cheap .... buy twice!
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    If you want the best accuracy you must have a chest strap. I use the FT4.
  • StephannieL
    StephannieL Posts: 198 Member
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    I've heard that the Polar HRM are very good. I have a Timex and mine has a chest strap as well and you really don't notice it.

    I also wanted one without a chest strap until I did some research and someplace it stated that if you are doing any type of high impact exercise or running that having a HRM with a chest strap is better and more accurate. I didn't think I was going to like the chest strap either, but honestly, it's not that bad. Sometimes I forget that I have it on. LOL

    Good luck with your search. =)
  • vegas711
    vegas711 Posts: 92 Member
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    Polar FT7 here. been very happy with it
  • Patovader
    Patovader Posts: 439 Member
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    Bump
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
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    i cant stress how useful a heart rate monitor has helped with this lifestyle.... gives you the advantage of eating more... makes you aware of the calories you are burning in a workout...

    dont go by the treadmill calories, this will give you an accurate number
  • grendel322
    grendel322 Posts: 105 Member
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    Hi priesr: I think you and I had corresponded a bit on the Nike sportband and their running apps, but I am looking at the Polar Wearlink+ which works with that sportband. It also works with the Nike Sportwatch. I think we had talked about both of those, so if you did buy either one, that HRM should work with them! Hope you found a good running GPS solution!
  • PamL66
    PamL66 Posts: 116 Member
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    I posted a similar topic recently and ended up buying the Polar FT4 based on the recommendations I received. I was assured by others that I wouldn't mind the chest strap. It's really not bad and doesn't interfere with my walking at all. Now I can't imagine wearing it with an uderwire bra, but that's personal preference. ;)
  • LindseySprake
    LindseySprake Posts: 333 Member
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    Polar do good ones - i love mine :-) and they are reasonably priced.
    Also Garmin are pretty good too my other half uses Garmin and he loves it, they can be a bit more on the expensive side. Uses his more for cycling.
    So I suppose it also depends on what activites you'll be doing as to which is best for you.
  • blb1230
    blb1230 Posts: 69 Member
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    My husband and I have had our Polar FT4 for 2 months. We purchased it from Best Buy. It was easy to set up and easy to use. It has the chest strap but it is easy to get used to. A couple of things that we didn't know when we started using it. First, if you are a swimmer, make sure to tighten up as tight as you can handle it. Once we learned where we needed to tighten it to, we have had no more issue while swimming (it was very annoying trying to get it to work and it kept zeroing out). Second, if you use a treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, ect. at the gym, it will most likely sync up with the display. The thing about it is, if your watch gets close to hand rails, it will zero out, therefore not count the calories (you don't lose the calories burned, it just stops counting as if the chest strap isn't connecting). We have learned to take off the watch and just put it on the top of in the bottle holder.

    These are very small things compared to the greatness of the Polar FT4. I would recommend it 100%!! :flowerforyou:
  • Derinq
    Derinq Posts: 52 Member
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    I just got (ok, a few hours ago ;)) myself a Sigma PC 15.11. It was quite cheap in comparison to the Polar ones I liked (at least in my country), but for now I'm satisfied - tried it out on my dancing cardio workout. Paid around 55$/£34.
    Counts calories, has a chest strap, display is clear to read and setting up seemed easy (though I might be biased, I never had too much trouble with techy things).
  • cbendorf13
    cbendorf13 Posts: 87 Member
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    I got the Polar-RS300XG1 which came with GPS. It was a deal of the day through best buy. Normally $230, they were selling for $60. I love the GPS because I bike ride and the polar watch while a tad bulky for a female wrist is easy to use. The chest strap is hardly noticeable. I can easily forget it is even there. If you have the time you can wait for a deal or try Amazon they have reasonable prices.
  • jody0726
    jody0726 Posts: 34 Member
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    I have a Pink Polar FT60. I don't have anything to reference to it as this is the only one I have ever purchased, but I wear it with every workout and LOVE what it tells me. I can add accessories to it if I wish, but for now, I am content knowing my calories burned (based on my weight, height and gender), my weekly totals, my fitness goals, etc. The chest strap has not ever bothered me (I too was leery at first).

    I would agree with all others who say 'don't go cheap, you get what you pay for.'

    Good luck with your purchase!
  • jlsoules
    jlsoules Posts: 86 Member
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    I just got the Polar FT4 and plan on using it tonight for the first time! I'm pretty anxious to see how many calories I'm really burning, I know some days it's more and some it's less so this will be interesting! I do Jazzercise and there are quite a few women in the classes who have the FT4 and rave about it! Two of the instructors have them too. I'll come back after I've used it!
  • Suz_w8loss
    Suz_w8loss Posts: 197 Member
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    I debated over the Polar or Garmin. I ended up with the Garmin 210 because of the GPS feature which allows me to map my runs & I can also monitor my running pace & calories burned by using the chest strap. I guess it all depends on what features you want & what you are really going to use. If it's only for HRM & calorie burning I would go for the Polar & save some money. The Garmin was quite a bit pricer but I am very happy with it.

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