Polar FT7 HRM and Swimming

sun33082
sun33082 Posts: 416 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I bought a Polar FT7 HRM recently and it has been great giving me a better estimate of calories burned during different exercises. I tried it today when I went swimming and any time the chest strap got under the water, the watch would read 00. If I got out of the water, it would read my heart rate again.

Has anyone had success swimming with the FT7? Do you have any tips? I tried readjusting it and tightening it, but I was already in the pool and had a one piece swim suit on, so that was kind of tough lol

Replies

  • sun33082
    sun33082 Posts: 416 Member
    Bumping my own post...lame lol
  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
    Sorry, I can't help but can let you know that's definitely not right. I can read my watch at anytime while swimming, I've never had the 00. Make sure it's working before you get in the water. Good luck!
  • mstifb
    mstifb Posts: 230
    I want to get a HRM so this would be interesting to find out because eventually I want to add swimming to my exercise.
  • RunDottyRun
    RunDottyRun Posts: 95
    Is the strap tight enough around you?
  • the_great_unknown
    the_great_unknown Posts: 194 Member
    I bought a Polar FT7 HRM recently and it has been great giving me a better estimate of calories burned during different exercises. I tried it today when I went swimming and any time the chest strap got under the water, the watch would read 00. If I got out of the water, it would read my heart rate again.

    Has anyone had success swimming with the FT7? Do you have any tips? I tried readjusting it and tightening it, but I was already in the pool and had a one piece swim suit on, so that was kind of tough lol

    I had the same experience! I was very disappointed but I am afraid to try again. The directions manual says you can swim with it, but not to push the buttons while it is wet. I hope someone posts a solution.
  • mommamills
    mommamills Posts: 437
    i tried mine swimming today too. It seemed to do fine after I scooped it off the bottom. lol forgot I had it on at the very beginning and was trying to impress my 2yo by diving over him. went to check it about 10 mins into my swim and it said to check my monitor device.....which was not there! lol after that it seemed to do fine. def try it again. make sure you still wet the receptors before you get in? have it tight enough? snap is secure? good luck!
  • deadstarsunburn
    deadstarsunburn Posts: 1,337 Member
    Make sure you don't press any buttons while your in the water. The watch is water resistant until you start pressing buttons.
  • GPSHEALTHCOACHING
    GPSHEALTHCOACHING Posts: 497 Member
    I was wondering if I could swim with my polar. I'll be curious to see what others say........
  • alasin1derland
    alasin1derland Posts: 575 Member
    grnice which hrm are you using, i am trying to figure out which one i want and i swim often so that would be a bonus. I was seriously thinking about bodybugg to get the majority of the day logged but hate the idea of the ongoing subscription.
  • Andybeth
    Andybeth Posts: 18 Member
    I use the FT7 with the hard t31-coded strap and it works really well. I also have the soft strap version that has caused me nothing but problems. So there seems to be a problem with fit on some people with the soft strap. It is very frustrating when they don't work. You can contact Polar online and might get a reasonable explanation.
  • JESSJESJ
    JESSJESJ Posts: 121 Member
    I'd be interested in hearing other's thoughts on this as well. Is it worth the $$? Can you swim with it? I was considering purchasing a HRM, if I got one I'd want to be able to use it swimming as well. I'm not looking to turn into serious athlete, it would be more for general fitness, weight loss etc. I'd also be interested in hearing thoughts on the FT4 v. FT7 those seem to be the popular ones on here.
  • sun33082
    sun33082 Posts: 416 Member
    I'm thinking I didn't have it tight enough, although I tried to tighten it in the pool. Even tried to wear it high on my chest. Next time I will try it VERY tight and see how that goes. It's nice to know that some people have success :)
  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
    I have a Polar FT7. It's old, bought it several years ago but it still works well. Never had a problem with it in the water.

    I also have the hard coded strap and wear it high, right under where my bra hits.
  • OSC_ESD
    OSC_ESD Posts: 752 Member
    ~ I have a Polar F4 and although it states it works in water, the following should be considered ... Polar products measure your heart rate also in water, but due to conductivity of pool and sea water, the electrodes may short-circuit. If the chemical in the pool is very strong it can interfere with the reading ... if you put your watch very close to the transmitter to see if it works correctly, and it appears to be working again, try to do normal swimming again and see if it continues to monitor the heart rate.

    Mine sometimes defaults to " oo " while I am doing laps ... but while water jogging I usually move the chest strap above my chest ... so it is out of the water for the most part. Unfortunately, it is hit or miss.
  • waldenlev
    waldenlev Posts: 102 Member
    I use my ft7 in the pool without a problem. But I do get the 00 when the strap is too loose. Just try to tighten it some more. I view it as a NSV every time I have to tighten the strap. :-)
  • SARgirl
    SARgirl Posts: 572 Member
    The same thing happened with me! I have the Polar FT4. Interested in hearing replies!
  • AnnaVee84
    AnnaVee84 Posts: 345 Member
    The same thing happened with me! I have the Polar FT4. Interested in hearing replies!

    Same here - tried swimming with my Polar FT4 over the weekend and it kept saying "check heart rate monitor" but it works outside the water. I tried both above and under my bathing suit, maybe the strap wasn't tight enough so will try again...but would be interested to see if others had this problem and somehow fixed it!
    Thanks :)
  • PS2CR
    PS2CR Posts: 98 Member
    Never knew you could swim with a watch that was only 'water-resistant' (as opposed to water-proof). Just bought my Polar ft7 this week and am searching the forums here for info about it. Guess I'll go back and check the manual again about the swimming thing...
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,293 Member
    I used to swim with my polar m21, but since I've had to cut open the chest strap to replace the battery, I don't think it's such a good idea anymore :tongue:
    Just make sure it's on snugly (the water may loosen the strap some) and you should be fine. And watch out with those buttons - I was drenched in rain and hit a button accidentally - next I know it's dead and I have to take the watch apart and clean out the rust... Yup - I am too cheap to buy a new one as long as there is still life left in it...
  • PS2CR
    PS2CR Posts: 98 Member
    Thanks! My chest strap has a snap-on unit; hopefully it won't rust...
  • tmaxwell5
    tmaxwell5 Posts: 2 Member
    I have a FT4 and the same thing happened to me. When I tightened the chest strap considerably and just started swimming real laps, not the easy laps that I was checking if the heart rate monitor was working, it started to pick up the signal. My feeling is that it was easier for it to read my heart rate as it picked up. Since then when I wear it tight and just start working it starts recognizing it! Also, not sure if this effected it but I swim continual laps and not much interval training.
  • warmwaffles
    warmwaffles Posts: 2 Member
    The FT7 has functions that will tell you if what you are doing is optimal for fat loss or for improving your fitness which is really nice and another smart coaching feature in addition to smart calories. The FT4 only has smart calories. I purchased the FT7 and I love it. I got in on Amazon for considerably less than on the Polar website.

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