Heart Rate Monitor for Sports (specifically ice hockey)

melicious276
melicious276 Posts: 38 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

I've tried asking around on a few related threads but haven't seen much response. Hopefully a brand new thread will help :)

I'm looking for a heart rate monitor. I do your standard Zumba classes, boot camps, etc., but I also play a lot of sports. Specifically, I'm looking for a heart rate monitor that will be comfortable and accurate in full ice hockey gear (everything...including chest protector, gloves).

Any ice hockey players have any heart rate monitor tips? Even thought I'm wearing gloves, I'm a little weary of wearing a watch while playing hockey, so the ideal situation would be for me to be able to synch to my phone while I'm playing (I think the NHL sized rink I play on might be too big though...). I'm not really concerned with tracking while I'm playing, but I'd like to get info after playing. The watch isn't' a deal breaker, I'm mostly concerned for my safety in case of an arm injury (circulation, etc).

I also want something that won't be slipping around, as it's hard to adjust in full gear. Plus I play mostly with men (I'm a lady!), and running back to my locker room to adjust myself could get a little tedious :)

Synching with my iPhone would be cool, but I would like the option to wear a watch when I'm doing my classes and want to focus on my target ranges. No matter what, I'd like to be able to track that data and pull it into my computer or phone somehow.

Just to give you an idea of my activities: ice hockey, dek hockey, soccer, Zumba, Brazil Butt Lift, and I'll be starting pole and aerial classes soon. Something that works for all of those!

Thank you so much for your help. I'm sorry if this has been answered a million times, I've tried searching many times and had no luck.

Replies

  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    hockey is largely sprinting and rest. heartrate is a useless measure of anything for this sport. why would you need a hrm?
  • melicious276
    melicious276 Posts: 38 Member
    hockey is largely sprinting and rest. heartrate is a useless measure of anything for this sport. why would you need a hrm?

    Perhaps I don't understand how a HRM works then. It wouldn't help me track my calories burned? When I play, typically we have only a couple subs, so we do spend far more time playing than sitting on the bench.
  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    hockey is largely sprinting and rest. heartrate is a useless measure of anything for this sport. why would you need a hrm?

    Perhaps I don't understand how a HRM works then. It wouldn't help me track my calories burned? When I play, typically we have only a couple subs, so we do spend far more time playing than sitting on the bench.
    you are correct then in not understanding how it works.

    HRM's work by counting calories the exact same way you can measure gasoline being burned by recording the RPM of your engine.

    It's only accurate when you're going at a cardio pace with no rest or stops. If you're starting, stopping, sprinting, walking, doing ANYTHING outside of going at a constant steady state cardio pace, then your heartrate has basically zero bearing on calories being burned.

    that said, it's somewhat useful as a guestimate measure. but then, if thats the case, why even bother, just guestimate it as a few hundred and skip the trouble of even wearing the thing.
  • melicious276
    melicious276 Posts: 38 Member
    Thanks for your help! My friend is the strength and conditioning coach for a pro team, I'll ask him the best way to track my calories when I play. Not sure why I didn't think to ask him before :)
  • roch5220x
    roch5220x Posts: 4 Member
    When wear a HRM for ice hockey I used the FT80, but basically any chest strap HRM will work.

    Reason being, the software allowed me to access the recorded period so I could look at my HRM on a graph during the game.
    I could see when I was out for shifts, and when the period ended.

    The only issue with the FT80 is I bought one when if first came out. Hence, many issues with it (as widely experienced). hence, I stopped buying polar products, I had previously bought 4 of the lesser models before I bought the FT80. I think by now they should have fixed the issues, but Im still pissed they sold them initially with so many issues.

    NOTE: Its not useful for counting calories for ice hockey because your HR is so high, its NOT in the fat burning zone. One of my HRM state what % fat I burned during each session, and for hockey it was only 15%.

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