Heart rate monitor

hope25
hope25 Posts: 188 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I want a heart rate monitor to be able to see my calories burned while exercising. What is a good user friendly monitor for a beginner?
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Replies

  • GretchenB02
    GretchenB02 Posts: 59 Member
    I use a basic polar (f4). Really liked it. Although I have quit using it for a while because I was becoming fixated with the numbers.
  • meggwyn
    meggwyn Posts: 226 Member
    I love the polar ft4, too!
  • KyliAnne26
    KyliAnne26 Posts: 209 Member
    I also just got the polar ft4. used it for the first time this morning! Felt like it was easy to program and use. It beeps at me every time my heart rate gets below or above my 'training range' so that was very helpful so I knew when to pick up the pace or slow down. Good luck!
  • zentha1384
    zentha1384 Posts: 323 Member
    I have the Polar FT4 and it is a good model, easy to use model. I got mine through Bodytronics.com for about $55
  • AshyyMM
    AshyyMM Posts: 131
    lol, I also have the polar ft4.. and love it..
    I got mine at a local sports store..but mostly the online prices I'd end up paying the same as i did after I considered shipping..and I got it right away vs waiting multiple weeks...
  • tarafreeman353
    tarafreeman353 Posts: 61 Member
    i am also looking for one, seem the polar is the way to go lol
  • Cairine63
    Cairine63 Posts: 40 Member
    I have a Garmin Forerunner 305. I like it as it also has the GPS function.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.

    People keep telling me that too so I sent an email to Polar and asked them if it was true. This is their response:

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you contacting Polar Customer Care, we apologize for the delayed response, Polar has received an influx of e-mails recently.

    Calories are calculated by heart rate data and user information (age, weight, height, gender). Therefore your calories would be accurate no matter how you were exercising.

    As long as the transmitter strap is wet, snug around your sternum and you are seeing accurate heart rate data on your watch, your watch will calculate your calories accurately.

    If you have any more questions or concerns please feel free to contact us directly using the link below. We have representatives available via Livechat, E-mail and our toll free line Monday-Friday 9am-5:15pm EST.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en

    Thank you for training with Polar!

    Katherine
    Polar Customer Care
    POLAR ELECTRO INC.
  • jc1961AA
    jc1961AA Posts: 283 Member
    I have a Garmin Forerunner 305. I like it as it also has the GPS function.
    Got that one but it does not do calories count for indoor activity (classes, weight lifting etc.), I just ordered a Polar FT7 now, thus the 305 is brilliant for outside activities, I use mine all the time for cycling and running, and I can link it with Endomondo which is great, instead of using my smartphone.
    JC
  • psm450
    psm450 Posts: 8 Member
    Another vote for the Polar FT4, simple and reliable
  • felinaslp
    felinaslp Posts: 30 Member
    I have a Garmin with a digifit ANT adaptor doohickey for the ipod/ipad. It's a chest strap and instead of seeing your HR on a watch, you see it on the ipod/ipad (or iphone). You can see neat graphs, charts, etc and it has an app (of course) so you see all your progress easily. I really like it when I exercise at home, but when I go to the gym for a class, it's kinda hard to keep the ipod within 3m of me or something like that so it keeps connected to the monitor (I don't have a strap yet to keep my ipod strapped to my arm or something). Sorry if my explanation is wonky...
  • kelly_c_77
    kelly_c_77 Posts: 5,658 Member
    Interested also. Bump!
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.

    People keep telling me that too so I sent an email to Polar and asked them if it was true. This is their response:

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you contacting Polar Customer Care, we apologize for the delayed response, Polar has received an influx of e-mails recently.

    Calories are calculated by heart rate data and user information (age, weight, height, gender). Therefore your calories would be accurate no matter how you were exercising.

    As long as the transmitter strap is wet, snug around your sternum and you are seeing accurate heart rate data on your watch, your watch will calculate your calories accurately.

    If you have any more questions or concerns please feel free to contact us directly using the link below. We have representatives available via Livechat, E-mail and our toll free line Monday-Friday 9am-5:15pm EST.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en

    Thank you for training with Polar!

    Katherine
    Polar Customer Care
    POLAR ELECTRO INC.
    Sorry, but they don't know what they're talking about. I'm surprised they said that actually, it makes me suspect they hired a telemarketing company to handle this stuff. Good for you for asking though. I'd send them along another message with their documents showing the equations they use are based on cardio. Particularly since they should know the math in their watches are based on cardio activities. Even universities know this (I've seen some studies come out of a University on polar watches and energy expenditure showing that even cardio calorie burns can be 33% off for women, someone made a thread about it here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/459580-polar-hrm-calorie-burn-estimate-accuracy-study ). The math for weight lifting is different. Particularly since you aren't moving around as much and not burning as much. That's kind of a silly response when you think about it actually. Heart rate, age, weight, height, gender 'therefore' calculate calories accurately? That doesn't make sense. If that were true the solution to everyones problem would be to watch a scary movie, get a hot bath, or sit out in the hot sun to spike the heart rate. I had a resting rate of over 100bpm when I was over weight, I should have been losing all kinds of weight sitting around by those standards.

    Edit: And God love Heybales:
    It will be totally inflated value for lifting.

    The formula's that tie HR to calories burned only apply to steady-state aerobic activity, so 3-5 around same HR.
    Lifting and intervals is both anaerobic, and non-steady-state with HR jumping 30-60 bpm easily.

    The HR being displayed on the machines is not used in any calculations for calorie burns if that's what you meant.

    For the treadmill, walking 2-4 mph or running 4.5 - 6.3 mph will be much more accurate than HRM if you input weight on the machines. Treadmills have been used for decades of research and the amount of energy (calories) needed to move so much mass so fast is just easily calculated. Unless you efficiency is way off the normal because of a club foot or something.

    So great test to see how close the HRM is.

    And then an adjusted HRM will be more accurate than elliptical because those formula's aren't based on studies like walking has been.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/post/new/838180-hrm-for-weight-training?quote=12587613
  • tdawg875
    tdawg875 Posts: 29 Member
    I have the Polar FT7. It's pretty simple to set up and use. One of my best purchases! The calculators on machines or on myfitnesspal are not accurate for me at all.
  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.

    People keep telling me that too so I sent an email to Polar and asked them if it was true. This is their response:

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you contacting Polar Customer Care, we apologize for the delayed response, Polar has received an influx of e-mails recently.

    Calories are calculated by heart rate data and user information (age, weight, height, gender). Therefore your calories would be accurate no matter how you were exercising.

    As long as the transmitter strap is wet, snug around your sternum and you are seeing accurate heart rate data on your watch, your watch will calculate your calories accurately.

    If you have any more questions or concerns please feel free to contact us directly using the link below. We have representatives available via Livechat, E-mail and our toll free line Monday-Friday 9am-5:15pm EST.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en

    Thank you for training with Polar!

    Katherine
    Polar Customer Care
    POLAR ELECTRO INC.
    thats nice and all, except it's blatantly not true. Once you understand how HRM's calculation works (hint oxygen/heartbeat) you see how things like anaerobic activity (hint: does not use oxygen) make your HRM completely useless for anything other than steady state cardio.
  • HillaryAnnMaroney
    HillaryAnnMaroney Posts: 15 Member
    This is such a great topic post. I've been meaning to buy a heart rate monitor for myself, and everyone is saying to get a Polar. Thanks!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    CoderGal is right. I'll go even further and say that HRMs are rarely accurate even for cardio thanks to differences in cardiovascular systems.

    BodyMedia and Fitbit are far better IMO.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.

    People keep telling me that too so I sent an email to Polar and asked them if it was true. This is their response:

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you contacting Polar Customer Care, we apologize for the delayed response, Polar has received an influx of e-mails recently.

    Calories are calculated by heart rate data and user information (age, weight, height, gender). Therefore your calories would be accurate no matter how you were exercising.

    As long as the transmitter strap is wet, snug around your sternum and you are seeing accurate heart rate data on your watch, your watch will calculate your calories accurately.

    If you have any more questions or concerns please feel free to contact us directly using the link below. We have representatives available via Livechat, E-mail and our toll free line Monday-Friday 9am-5:15pm EST.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en

    Thank you for training with Polar!

    Katherine
    Polar Customer Care
    POLAR ELECTRO INC.
    Sorry, but they don't know what they're talking about. I'm surprised they said that actually, it makes me suspect they hired a telemarketing company to handle this stuff. Good for you for asking though. I'd send them along another message with their documents showing the equations they use are based on cardio. Particularly since they should know the math in their watches are based on cardio activities. Even universities know this (I've seen some studies come out of a University on polar watches and energy expenditure showing that even cardio calorie burns can be 33% off for women, someone made a thread about it here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/459580-polar-hrm-calorie-burn-estimate-accuracy-study). The math for weight lifting is different. Particularly since you aren't moving around as much and not burning as much. That's kind of a silly response when you think about it actually. Heart rate, age, weight, height, gender 'therefore' calculate calories accurately? That doesn't make sense. If that were true the solution to everyones problem would be to watch a scary movie, get a hot bath, or sit out in the hot sun to spike the heart rate. I had a resting rate of over 100bpm when I was over weight, I should have been losing all kinds of weight sitting around by those standards.

    Your link does not work...

    I see good weight loss results using the numbers on my Polar FT4 and unless I see otherwise I guess I'll stay ignorant and believe the manufactureer of the device (crazy, I know).
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    I love my polar! I went with the FT60 for women. It's pricier but it does a fit test and 3 HR zones and other stuff.

    Eta: haven't tried viewing calories while burned. I don't see the point in that. My goal is not to burn x amt of calories rather the quality of the workout. I'm happy seeing the results post workout.
  • steadfastlove17
    steadfastlove17 Posts: 1
    Thanks everyone, I have been considering the FT4 for while now, this confirms by decision to get one!
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Your link does not work...

    I see good weight loss results using the numbers on my Polar FT4 and unless I see otherwise I guess I'll stay ignorant and believe the manufactureer of the device (crazy, I know).
    Edited the post .

    If you want to believe that the person replying to your email is the manufacturer and that they knew all about the physics and math involved, and you want to go against all the information that polar has publicly available showing that the math in their watches is indeed based on cardio, you go right ahead.

    Not to say that using one won't work, everything is going to be based on averages. If the averages you are calculating on your food is inaccurate, you'll still show progress. And that's likely considering from what I've seen people burn far more calories then they think they do. There's people on here who think an acceptable non-diet calorie intake for a tall adult male is 1200 calories.
  • gtreyger
    gtreyger Posts: 25
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.

    People keep telling me that too so I sent an email to Polar and asked them if it was true. This is their response:

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you contacting Polar Customer Care, we apologize for the delayed response, Polar has received an influx of e-mails recently.

    Calories are calculated by heart rate data and user information (age, weight, height, gender). Therefore your calories would be accurate no matter how you were exercising.

    As long as the transmitter strap is wet, snug around your sternum and you are seeing accurate heart rate data on your watch, your watch will calculate your calories accurately.

    If you have any more questions or concerns please feel free to contact us directly using the link below. We have representatives available via Livechat, E-mail and our toll free line Monday-Friday 9am-5:15pm EST.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en

    Thank you for training with Polar!

    Katherine
    Polar Customer Care
    POLAR ELECTRO INC.
    thats nice and all, except it's blatantly not true. Once you understand how HRM's calculation works (hint oxygen/heartbeat) you see how things like anaerobic activity (hint: does not use oxygen) make your HRM completely useless for anything other than steady state cardio.

    Here's another hint: heart rate monitors do not measure oxygen. They measure the number of times the heart beats. Based on other pertinent data (weight, age, sex, height), it figures out APPROXIMATE number of calories burned per heart beat. Using simple multiplication, they multiply the number of heartbeats by the approximate number of calories burned per heart beat. Really, it is just that simple. It doesn't matter what exercise you're doing. As long as you have a heartbeat, you're burning calories. The higher your heartbeat, the higher the burn.
  • Lightbulb1088
    Lightbulb1088 Posts: 189 Member
    I got a Fit Bit to keep track of my cals burnt and I love it. I've had mine since Dec 7 2012. It helps to see the cals burnt for the day and it is helping me to burn more. It gives me a daily report and it lets you know when you reach goals and levels.
  • hottiebikerchick
    hottiebikerchick Posts: 187 Member
    assuming you are female, I like my New Balance N4- comfortable chest strap, very accurate, I wear it anytime I am going to do cardio of any kind that I normally wouldnt have done that day...so NOT for a trip to the grocery store, but Definitely a long day at an amusement park with all day walking, or mowing the lawn or raking leaves, etc... I dont count things like house cleaning or doing laundry...LOL
  • barbaratrollman
    barbaratrollman Posts: 317 Member
    :-/ This stuff is getting way more complicated than I have time to figure out. :(
    Here I thought that the calories burned from my Polar FT7 were more accurate than the MFP calculated exercise calories based on minutes doing an exercise activity. I've been very much relying on those figures.
    I'm pretty disappointed that I may have been entering wrong amounts all this time.

    Is there a way to just subtract a percentage from the total the HRM calculates for a rough estimate and call it good?
    Or, just changing my age on the HRM to get a bit more accurate result?
    I don't want to have to be a math wiz to do this. I don't care if it is a perfect science...just that it gives me figure that isn't grossly inaccurate.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Keep in mind that heart rate monitors are more accurate for pure cardio only burns, not so much anything else.

    People keep telling me that too so I sent an email to Polar and asked them if it was true. This is their response:

    Dear Jen,

    Thank you contacting Polar Customer Care, we apologize for the delayed response, Polar has received an influx of e-mails recently.

    Calories are calculated by heart rate data and user information (age, weight, height, gender). Therefore your calories would be accurate no matter how you were exercising.

    As long as the transmitter strap is wet, snug around your sternum and you are seeing accurate heart rate data on your watch, your watch will calculate your calories accurately.

    If you have any more questions or concerns please feel free to contact us directly using the link below. We have representatives available via Livechat, E-mail and our toll free line Monday-Friday 9am-5:15pm EST.

    http://www.polarusa.com/us-en

    Thank you for training with Polar!

    Katherine
    Polar Customer Care
    POLAR ELECTRO INC.
    thats nice and all, except it's blatantly not true. Once you understand how HRM's calculation works (hint oxygen/heartbeat) you see how things like anaerobic activity (hint: does not use oxygen) make your HRM completely useless for anything other than steady state cardio.

    Here's another hint: heart rate monitors do not measure oxygen. They measure the number of times the heart beats. Based on other pertinent data (weight, age, sex, height), it figures out APPROXIMATE number of calories burned per heart beat. Using simple multiplication, they multiply the number of heartbeats by the approximate number of calories burned per heart beat. Really, it is just that simple. It doesn't matter what exercise you're doing. As long as you have a heartbeat, you're burning calories. The higher your heartbeat, the higher the burn.
    Alright, my heart rate is all kinds of F-ed up. I'm currently waiting EKG and blood test results. My resting rate was over healthy peoples exercising rate. I assure you, I was getting fat and not a calorie burning machine. My heart rate went down with exercise, and I assure you I lost more weight when I exercised. I could be sleeping and my hr could be through the roof. It is not equivalent when sweating my *kitten* off at the gym, even though my heart rate could be lower then when I'm lying down sometimes. Heart rate does not equal a particular calorie burn. It all depends on what you're doing. Sleeping does not equal running from zombies and I've had the same heart rate while playing zombie run as I've had just waking up.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    Myself and everyone I know had nothing but trouble with polars. I have the Garmin FR70 and I love it! Have to use a little HRM gel with it for lighter activities... But it's really great!
  • MissesForrester
    MissesForrester Posts: 66 Member
    BUMP
  • hatethegame
    hatethegame Posts: 267 Member
    Polar FT4 is a good value. I got one about 3 months ago and like it. Has all the features you need to track calories burned.

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