Zumba- Heart Rate Monitor- Best one

pinkakira1
pinkakira1 Posts: 235 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok I know I have asked you guys before about heart rate monitors but I need to ask again. There was so many mixed responses. HELP ME

Ok so I want to be more accurate with my calorie burn in Zumba. Does anyone do Zumba or something similar and have a HRM?

I don't need it for running because I am not a runner.
Keep in mind I am not rich...
Something easy to use and possibly hooks up to MFP automatically but thats not a deal breaker
Something not bulky- somewhat girlie would be nice- also not a deal breaker
Something that don't have a monthly fee- remember not rich lol

Give me your experiences girls/ guys. Thanks for all the help. I am back and forth and getting lost in the sea of information. HELP :noway:

Replies

  • faceoff4
    faceoff4 Posts: 1,599 Member
    I have used probably every brand of HRM out there and to me the Polar ones seem to work and function the best. And they have tons of different models that go from very basic to every bell and whistle you could imagine and the price is based on such. For what you are wanting to use it for I would suggest just get a basic model that calculates calories burned and maybe has zone information (so you can see if you are burning fat or doing cardio mode). They are very reasonable on price. You will still have to manually enter your exercise with MFP as Polar doesnt sync yet with it, but its really easy to do.

    Just as a data point, I use my Polar HRM for everything. Lifting, running, surfing, skiing, etc. So they are very cross functional HRM's.

    The Rythm Pulse Monitor works with MFP and is getting good reviews but I have not tried it yet. I have tried the non chest strap calorie monitors and they are junk in my mind and dont even come close to measuring true cals burned during exercise. So IMO I would stick to the chest strap versions for now until better devices are available. Hope this helps!
  • grey_lady007
    grey_lady007 Posts: 7 Member
    I use the polar f4 for when I do Zumba and like it. While it doesn't automatically sync with MFP, it gives me a better idea of how many calories I burned for entering into MFP. I have used it for other exercise and find it a good HRM all around. I got mine for around $60 on Amazon. Just make sure that whichever one you get has a chest strap so that it is accurate.
  • altinker
    altinker Posts: 173
    I bought a sports bra from lululemon online that allows you to plug in your polar or garmin heart rate monitor. I use it with a Polar H7 HRM, and I use the digifit application on my iphone. It cost $64 for the bra, $65 for the HRM, and $3.99 to license the sensor.

    I just bought it a week ago and have been doing barre exercises with a little zumba -- all of this from home. What I've discovered so far:

    Bar Method Change Your Body - 192 cals burned.
    The Dailey Method -- longer workout on DVD -- 250 cals burned.
    XBOX 360 Zumba Core -- 1 hour -- with the breaks in there while I select the next song (I still stand there and move about a little, moving my feet side to side -- 460 cals burned.

    I have to say that I was surprised I burned so little in barre and surprised I burned so much in Zumba. Now, I did mostly medium intensity workouts, and I did sweat a little in Zumba. It makes me try harder and not quit as fast when I wear the HRM.
  • denezy
    denezy Posts: 573 Member
    I wear a HRM for all cardio and just did zumba for the first time. Hilarious workout... haha

    These are my average calorie burns for a 1 hour group class:

    Spinning: 550
    Step: 600
    Kickboxing: 650

    Zumba: 450


    I am 5'9" and weigh 195 lbs.

    Edit to add that I wear a Polar FT4

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