confused about Heart rate monitors

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elizw5
elizw5 Posts: 17 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am thinking of getting one but I am confused by exactly what they do. It is really worth spending $100 on one? Please help me get through the fog!

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  • ChubbieTubbie
    ChubbieTubbie Posts: 481 Member
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    A HRM will monitor your heart rate and will track your calories burned through exercise by your heart rate. It's much more accurate than MFP's estimate of calories burned and gym machines' estimates. And you don't have to spend a fortune--I got mine for $30 from Wal-Mart. :smile:
  • bsexton3
    bsexton3 Posts: 472 Member
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    elizw5-- Heart rate monitors monitor your heart :smile:

    Actually, they are very helpful while exercising to keep your heart in your aerobic rate to burn the most calories. I will look for an article on how to figure yours out. Basically, you find your top heart rate (on a chart) based on age and sex. Then, when you exercise, you keep your heart between 70-80% of your max rate. This burns the most calories.

    Without a monitor, especially if you are brisk walking, you might be counting more calories than you are actually burning. Some, will keep track of your heart rate, and tell you how many calories you burned for your age and sex.

    I would ask around and borrow one if possible to see if it is helpful. Mine sits on my desk most the time since I cycle and usually stay at the same pace and know it is in the right range. My wife wears hers all the time. Good luck.
  • hill242
    hill242 Posts: 412 Member
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    I am personally not sure it's worth it. Maybe if I was hardcore training for a particular event like racing on foot or bike or something. A lot of what I do for exercise (Crossfit) is not really measurable by HRMs, either. My approach to exercise is also a bit different from what I feel a lot of people on MFP. I exercise to better my strength and capabilities, not to burn calories. I approach weight loss mostly from a "eat quality foods at a caloric deficit" and my work in the gym is for the improvement of my physical and mental health.

    I understand that MFP's calories-burned is just a guess. Perhaps not as accurate as an HRM, but a guess nonetheless. Sometimes I eat back all those calories, sometimes just part of them. I am losing weight with that approach so I don't see a need to spend money on an HRM based on my needs.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    My HRM has been my best investment in my fitness quest. I use it every single day, more than my shoes! I use the Polar Ft7. I use it to track my calories burned while I'm exercising and because it has a chest strap I know it gives the most accurate readings. Exercising without one would leave you just guessing how many calories you are burning. MFP and other cardio machines can be off by hundreds of calories! I know my elliptical is off by 150 cals on average! For me, at this point, every calorie in and every calorie out counts. Just my opinion.
  • flattsfan22
    flattsfan22 Posts: 86 Member
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    I also have the Polar FT7. I cannot imagine my life without it!!! I LOVE IT, it leaves no guessing in how many calories I burn each workout. I would recommend you spend the money and get a good one. Also you should get one with a chest strap because they are the most accurate. When I was doing my research on them Polar was the recommended brand. I got my FT7 on walmart.com for 90.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    The best use of a heart rate monitor is to ...monitor heart rate. They can help you stay focused during your workout sessions--so you can work hard on the hard days and easy on the easy ones. They can also be helpful for monitoring your progress. I don't think they are as good for estimating calories as most people think (actually, I KNOW they aren't), but they can be helpful in that regard.

    However, if you main concern is estimating calories, you cannot get accurate AND cheap--you can have one, but not the other.

    For more details:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472
  • tgh1914
    tgh1914 Posts: 1,036 Member
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    I can tell you how it helped me. I'm on an exercise routine & nutrition plan (P90X) that guesstimates I should be taking in an extra 600 cals per day to offset the rigorous routine, which I'd been doing for most of the time. Eventually I invested in a HRM that gave me a very different account of my cals burned. I was burning less than half of the estimate. I'm sure this is mostly because I'm under average size for a guy (5'8" & 142 lbs). In any case, once I discovered this and made the adjustment to my calorie intake I started seeing much better results.

    I realize they aren't going to be dead-on accurate, but I really feel they are much better than the predictions you'll get from exercise machines.
  • elizw5
    elizw5 Posts: 17 Member
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    Great. thank you all for your input. This has definately help me make up my mind. I am getting one!!!!!!

    This is why I love this website. there is great support here!!!!!

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