Heart Rate monitor

I use a Polar FT4 which I've used for seversl years and really like it. They have several different ones depending on how 'fancy' you want to get. Check them out at www.polar.co.

I've had a Polar FT4 for almost 2 years now and love it.

Polar, hands down. I currently have an FT60. This is my 3rd Polar....I used the first two for years until they completely died (the first one even changing the batteries wouldn't bring it back to life, and the second one the screen went all wonky and became unreadable).

Yah, POLAR all the way - mine is an FT7 - had it about 14 months, use it EVERY DAY. Tough.Durable.Accurate. nuff said!

I've had a Polar for about Five years...love it

Polar RCX3 w/GPS is what I use. There is a newer model (RCX5) so I was able to get this on Amazon for $200.

This is the 4th Polar I've had. They are very good devices and incredibly helpful, but the more bells and whistles you get, the less intuitive they are.

I like this one because I can upload my workouts to polarpersonaltrainer.com. The GPS is like any other, i.e. about 95% accurate in difficult places (trees, buildings etc..) and about 98-99% accurate otherwise.

Back light is not great either. And their buttons for whatever reason are always an issue. Too many times I hit them and find out that they didn't actually record a split.

Overall, certainly worthy of consideration. I am sure the garmin's are good but the one I had back in 2006 was a terrible device. They supposedly have gotten a lot better

Hey all!

I'm getting close to my goal weight, only 20 or so lbs to go. I've been reading a lot about maintaining to get ready for this new stage in my fitness journey. I've been thinking about getting a Heart Rate Monitor to better calculate how much I burn during exercises so I can make sure to eat everything back. I was wondering which ones you all use and if you find them to be effective.

Thanks!

How do they tell how many calories it burns?
Does it do it by Heart Rate/Pulse?
Formula?

If you took it off, does it still tell you how many calories you burned after a work out.

I'm a huge fan of all things Garmin! I love my HRM.

I've used my polar for years and I LOVE it!

I have a Polar Ft4 and like it a lot. I use gel more than water (spectra 360) it lasts longer and you only need a little bit.
My HRM never gives me high calories burned as other devices but I don't mind, I feel it's accurate within 50 calories and I know when I ran, I burned around 100 calories a mile, so I don't expect more when doing a similar time/cardio type exercise. I also notice the calories dropping slightly as I get in better shape for the same DVD for instance and I think that is also a good indicator...less energy expended so you have to bump it up a notch if you want to burn more...a good thing though to see as you progress. I also notice the quick drop in HR as I got more in shape when I rested.

When I have to start eating back some calories, which I don't do now, I would rather err on the side of caution...I knew years ago the 700 calories on the EFX was wrong but it still made me feel a little too generous with the snacks later. ; )

Another option besides a heart rate monitor is a Fitbit. It may not be as accurate as a HRM, but it works well in my maintenance phase. It is a fancy pedometer that syncs with MFP and tells you how many calories you burn during the day above your expected MFP calorie burn. It then adds (or subtracts) calories to your MFP daily calorie numbers. You can wear it on your wrist and forget it. It is fairly accurate for counting calories, and in my case, probably under counts calories when I exercise by about 1/4. A bonus is that you get competitive with friends to see who can log more steps and makes you much more mobile.

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

Another Polar FT4 user here. I've had it since the end of March. I like that it made me push myself because if I see my HR dropping to 160 ("above the zone" for me is anything 161 and higher), I will push myself harder. It's caused my caloric burns to go up over time. I have nothing to compare it to but the FT4 came highly recommended by friends (on here and in real life) so you really can't beat the ~$60 pricetag.

Just a note on Garmins - not every model that comes with a HRM uses the HR for calorie computation. Both the 405 and 305 do not. I realize they are valuable for other reasons but if you are looking for calorie estimates based on HR makes sure it uses heart rate based calorie computation.