Heart Ratre Monitor

jaurora2
jaurora2 Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just posted about how to track calories burnt while working out and a few people mentioned using a heart rate monitor. I've never used one and am looking at different ones now, but am not really sure what I should be looking for. Any tips on how to pick a good one, good price ranges, or just reviews of yours?

*Sorry I just noticed the typo in the Topic Title >.< epic fail

Replies

  • curvynblonde
    curvynblonde Posts: 170 Member
    I have a Polar HRM and I love it. I wear the chest strap and the watch everywhere, and it tells me how many cals I've burned all day. Its also great to use at the gym because the machines are never accurate and most of them pick up my HRM so I don't have to use the silver pulse sensors to find out my heart rate .
  • jaurora2
    jaurora2 Posts: 23 Member
    I have a Polar HRM and I love it. I wear the chest strap and the watch everywhere, and it tells me how many cals I've burned all day. Its also great to use at the gym because the machines are never accurate and most of them pick up my HRM so I don't have to use the silver pulse sensors to find out my heart rate .

    What model do you have?
  • MzzNkki
    MzzNkki Posts: 57
    BUMP -- I USED TO HAVE THE POLAT FT7 I LOVED IT BUT THATS BEEN OVER A YEAR AGO
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    Polar is a great company. I like my Polar FT7.
    I got it off Amazon. It's extremely easy to use.
    Whatever you do, make SURE you get an HRM that has a chest strap.
  • f1ctional
    f1ctional Posts: 235
    I use a Polar FT7. It works well and does the trick!
  • coyoteo
    coyoteo Posts: 532 Member
    I have the polar ft4 and love it!
  • Silvara_11
    Silvara_11 Posts: 133 Member
    Highly recommend Polar HRM - I have one but I have a super expensive one with GPS to track my hiking. My first one was an F4 and it lasted me 3 years for about £40. I think now you can get the same for a lot less. Basic Heart rate tracking and calculates calorie burn based on your age, height and weight.

    But the best thing about having an HRM is that on days you feel you are really working hard the HRM will tell you if that is true or in your head so it does push you more and I have really ramped up my burn by tracking my heart rate!!

    There is a fair amount of chatter about fitbit too so worth looking into. I think that links direct to MFP and tracks both calories in and out.

    Good luck!!
  • ChristyRunStarr
    ChristyRunStarr Posts: 1,600 Member
    The most important thing is to get one that has a chest strap.

    I have 3 (I only use 2 right now-my first one is "retired" til my Tough Mudder this May lol)

    Timex Ironman-bought this cause it was on sale at EMS and I wanted something that day and not have to wait. I liked it, it does seem to show a higher than normal calorie burn, the watch didn't fit my wrist so well, so then I got

    Polar FT4-bought it on amazon.com for under 60 bucks-and that includes shipping. Love it! Fits great, never had an issue and very easy to use, fits well. Only thing I wish it did was track the miles I run

    Garmin Forerunner 420-got for Christmas, I like it, wish I loved it. I'm still getting used to the button and how I need to upload it all to the garmin site to see everything. Either I'm stupid or just doing it wrong but I have to upload one thing before it'll actually save and move onto letting me start something new (which I think is user error, my boyfriend said he'll show me tonight) this does track my miles which is partly why I wanted it
  • ozerion
    ozerion Posts: 47 Member
    if you have a supported smart phone I would recommend Polar H7 strap and use your phone for everything else (I use polar beat on an iPhone 5)
  • tgibbons1935
    tgibbons1935 Posts: 85 Member
    I have the Polar FT 7 as well and love it. You do need to make sure you get one with a chest strap because that is going to give you the best numbers. The FT 7 is very basic so if you need a GPS or anything like that, you will need to upgrade from that model. It is not expensive and works great. Good luck.
  • lulu3561
    lulu3561 Posts: 85 Member
    I have the Polar FT60 - I love it - I only wear it at the gym. Very Easy to use and program and every week it ask me to update my weight. Every 10 pounds it will prompt me to do a fit test. Highly recomend getting one.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    I have a Polar FT7 . Pretty simple and I like it fine :)

    If I get into more serious cardio exercises, etc - then I will upgrade to maybe the FT40. But for price and basics, I'd suggest the FT4 or FT7
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I have an ft4 and love it...I'd probably get an ft7 if I had it to do over again because you can set multiple (3 I think) different routines in there in RE to what you want your range to be in. For most people, either of these are just fine...If you're really training for something or an athlete, etc you'd want a more expensive model with more options.
  • LJP1982
    LJP1982 Posts: 45 Member
    I have Polar FT4 and LOVE IT!
  • bookworm_847
    bookworm_847 Posts: 1,903 Member
    I have an Oregon Scientific SE138. It seems to work pretty well, but I see everyone talking about the Polar models. I've never been one to get something just because everyone else has it, but since I'm just getting started and want to do this right, would it be better to switch over to a Polar? Thanks in advance.
  • ejwme
    ejwme Posts: 318
    I picked up a garmin 310xt last Thanksgiving and have loved it ever since. I really wanted the GPS feature (I tend to get lost on long runs and rides), and I wanted it to be able to talk to something on my bike, and I wanted hard-core waterproofing. I also didn't want something that used proprietary software, and I started free online accounts at Garmin and Polar to make sure I liked their interfaces (I prefered polar's site, but all the other features were better in a Garmin).

    For christmas I got my friend the polar wearlink+ and receiver to go with her ipod nano, and she's just started using it but says it's about the easiest thing in the world. I also got her the little foot pouch since she doesn't run with nike+ shoes. It lacks GPS, but her concern is more her health and she has a year of data via her nano so I wanted to make sure she could integrate what she was learning with what she'd experienced.

    I used http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-comparison-calculator to sort out which one I wanted for me, and for my friend I simply sorted out what would work with her current system. I recommend starting with a budget and a list of needed features, and see what your practical field of options is.
  • ejwme
    ejwme Posts: 318
    I have an Oregon Scientific SE138. It seems to work pretty well, but I see everyone talking about the Polar models. I've never been one to get something just because everyone else has it, but since I'm just getting started and want to do this right, would it be better to switch over to a Polar? Thanks in advance.

    If you like what you have, just use that. As long as it's providing you with accurate information in a format you find helpful to work with, there's no reason to switch. Now if you don't like it, it's not accurate, or it breaks, then it might be time to investigate your options. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  • annakommers
    annakommers Posts: 48 Member
    i have a beurer pm25, the watch is a bit bulky but it's cheaper than the polar's, accurate, easy to use and their selling point is "german engineering" cant go wrong!
  • bookworm_847
    bookworm_847 Posts: 1,903 Member
    I have an Oregon Scientific SE138. It seems to work pretty well, but I see everyone talking about the Polar models. I've never been one to get something just because everyone else has it, but since I'm just getting started and want to do this right, would it be better to switch over to a Polar? Thanks in advance.

    If you like what you have, just use that. As long as it's providing you with accurate information in a format you find helpful to work with, there's no reason to switch. Now if you don't like it, it's not accurate, or it breaks, then it might be time to investigate your options. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

    Thanks. I think I'm just getting information overload from browsing the forums, lol. I'll keep the Polar in mind for the future if needed :)

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